Chapter 97 Juneteenth
"With the signing of this law Texas is now and forever shall be a truly free nation. For too long we have allowed the vile institution of slavery to grow in our lands. Sadly it was also a cause of Revolution that created our great nation. No more. Until the end of its days, the Lone Star Republic shall be a country that lives by its Constitution with every man free to pursue the rights of Life, Liberty, and Property."-President Juan Seguin 1864
"For the past half a century the people of Coahuila have been living in tyranny and desolation. Once we were part of the same state under the Mexican flag, and since independence we have forsaken our godly duty to protect and care for our southern neighbors, that comes to an end today. Under my watch I will make sure that Coahuila becomes a productive and prosperous Commonwealth of the Republic."- Lieutenant General Albert Sidney Johnston 1865
"My country is in good hands."- Last words of President Sam Houston 1865
Once again Texas had come out victorious in a war with Mexico, the bastion of democracy in the Southwest proudly flying its Lone Star Flag against the tyranny of Juarez. After three decades of continued existence, Texas had more than proven itself as a regional power and a Republic that was going to stay for good. Yet while the war may have been one and all over the Republic people were celebrating, there were still many issues to be solved. The primary one of them was the integration of Coahuila and the "Mexican problem" of Juarez still coming out of the war with a victory and Texas' southern neighbors continuing the same expansionist rhetoric that they had espoused before the war. Then there were other more immediate domestic issues; primarily the continuation of slavery and making peace with the final wild Indian tribes who still resisted Texas settlement and the growth of the railroads. While Texas had a plethora of issues to deal with, at the end of the day there was still hope. Hope that the spirit of the Lone Star would be able to brave through any oncoming storm and come out stronger than before. For Texas was entering the age of Nationalism, and it was during this time that the true Texan ideal came to fruition.
The first and most immediate task to the Republic of Texas was the integration of Coahuila into a future Commonwealth of the Lone Star Republic. While Texas may have had a strong claim on Coahuila due to Texas itself once begin a part of the former Mexican state, the two could not have been more alike, with Texas junior relationship to Coahuila being a main part of its revolution in the first place. Now the Republic had the important task of integrating tens of thousands of former Mexicans into the fold as a productive member of their nation, a task easier said than done. Too often in Texas textbooks and historical pieces in the post-Mexican War period have simply glossed over the occupation of Coahuila and focused on matters north of the Rio Grande such as the Southern Exodus. Outside of the modern Coahuilan commonwealth many Texans just assume that the transition was a rather peaceful one, rather it was far from the truth. The main reason this time in history is often forgotten is due to the absence of wide-scale Coahuilan revolts in support of Juarez, just as the Mexican Patriots had done in the beginning of the Mexican War to overthrow the Rio Grande. While this did not happen the main reason was not local support or love, rather because Coahuila was simply to devastated to do so. Most of the working men of age either fled to Mexico after Havana or died during the war, leaving the elderly and children behind. During both the beginning and late stages of the war, the Coahuilan countryside was scoured by both armies in need of supplies, ruining what little of an economy was left. With Coahuila having been devastated by three decades of anarchy, it was no position to rise up. That did not mean that unrest did not exist though. Thousands of Mexican Patriots and hundreds of members of the Republican Gaurd elected to stay after the war and fight as guerrilla bands against the Texan fighters, hoping to drive them out through attrition. There were also hundreds of outlaws and bandits roaming the countryside, making travel very unsafe for the average citizen. In order to meet these challenges head on, Major General Albert Sidney Johnston was given command of the territory as military Governor with a full division of 10,000 troops, along with over 700 Texas Rangers. For the next decade Johnston waged a tough war against the Mexican guerillas, showing little to no mercy against these desert warriors and relentlessly pursuing any visible presence of armed opposition. With continuing supplies from north of the Rio Grande along with modern weapons, the Texans gained the momentum of the conflict and slowly but surely were able to establish a sense of law and order in the land.
Texas Rangers on patrol in Coahuila
Before the Mexican War slavery had been a rather tense topic for most Texans to deal with. In the early years of the Republic most people were supportive of at least keeping slavery legal, as that had after all been one of the main reasons for the Texas Revolution. Time however was not kind to the slave cause in Texas, as with each passing year the calls of abolition grew. To the low-informed consumer of history, it would seem strange how Texas became so anti-slavery and managed to rally the entire country behind abolition without a major division over the issue. Most assume that Texas had similar feelings to the Confederacy in regards to their slaves. However, two important things that had separated Texans from the Confederate States was culture and economics. In the centuries leading up to the civil war, the South had been one homogeneous region that concentrated on White, Anglo-Saxon, Protestants (WASPs). Nearly all shared common beliefs, ideals, philosophies, and traditions. Slavery became ingrained in Southern culture as it had been the main practice that allowed the South to prosper and compete with the North in the first place thanks to cash crops such as cotton and tobacco. As the farmers and plantation owners of the early 19th century saw their wealth rise thanks to the work of their slaves, they became convinced that slavery was an essential part of their life; a horrible belief that was passed down to their children with each generation. In contrast while a large portion of the early Texans could be classified as Southerners, over the years the Dixie immigrants soon found themselves an increasing minority in the land that they founded. European immigrants came to form between a third and half of the total population, Europe itself having finished its usage of slavery, with many from Eastern and Central Europe remembering the horrors of serfdom, they were determined not to repeat that same experience towards a man or woman of dark skin. Latin America had rebelled against Spain with abolition of slavery being an important cause, almost all Tejanos being disgusted with the practice when they arrived. Then there were the Chinese who came from a culture where slavery never existed for centuries and saw their social improvement as one that could only be achieved with their hard work. Then there is the economics issue with slavery and sugar, the two highest cash crops, only forming a small portion of Texas' GDP and most of its agriculture dedicated to food such as wheat. In short slavery was never a practice that Texas relied on nor needed, the institution only staying alive due to the efforts of East Texas congressman as well as apathy towards finding a solution. The American Civil War changed all of this however as now Texas was one of only three nations left in the entire world that practiced slavery. With the much more powerful United States embracing abolition and looking down upon all who owned slaves, many people in the Republic of Texas felt that they needed to abandon slavery now or become a pariah in the eyes of the world.
Black slaves picking cotton on an Texas plantation
Ever since Abraham Lincoln passed the Emancipation Proclamation in 1862, Juan Seguin had been secretly working together with members of the Republican party in drafting up a potential constitutional amendment that would call for the eradication of slavery. Had the Confederate States won the war or were at any point looking to win the conflict, Seguin may not have at all considered such a move. Yet by the end of the first year it was clear that the momentum would forever be in favor of the Union and unless Britain or God himself intervened, there was no likelihood of the Confederacy and in turn slavery surviving the war. With the Mexican War dragging on and Texas having met several defeats in the first year, Seguin left most of the efforts to the Republican minority (along with a large sympathetic section of the Western Union) and focused on the war. After Havana Seguin dove right into the issue headfirst with House Minority Leader Johann Schafer announcing in early December, that the Republicans were working on an amendment to ban slavery. Responses across the Republic to this news varied widely. Most of the immigrants and non-white Texans were happy that they were being rid of such a barbaric practice, the intensity of the celebrations mostly centered on the Pacific coast with California never being pro-slavery once during its history as the first Commonwealth. The Indian tribes were in general pleased at such a development as they hoped that with such an event occurring, the status of non-whites/non-Tejanos in Texas would overall improve and the Indians could further integrate themselves as equal partners. The people who did not take such news well however were the Dixie settlers of East Texas. East of the Nueces slavery was very much an integrated economic practice with cotton sales fueling the economy. From Galveston to Lamar there were tens of thousands of jobs that were linked to slavery and many feared that their economic livelihood would go down the drain with abolition. Protests erupted in several cities and towns, demanding that Seguin would stop such abolitionist rhetoric at once. Unfortunately for these few Texans they found themselves increasingly surrounded by those who would not stand to see such a practice continue any longer. Counterprotests erupted and violent clashes met the slavery supporters head on. In both Austin and San Antonio, Western Union legislatures who were desperate not to allow their party be remembered as the party of slavery, banded together with their Republican counterparts in droves and resolved to support such a venture. The stage was set for abolition.
In Congress the framework for this potential 17th amendment, which had been worked on for months beforehand, was introduced to both the House and the Senate in September. At first pro-slaver Western Union congressmen attempted to stall the amendment as much as possible by holding filibusters in the Senate. Houston Senator Fletcher Stockdale attempted to wage one, bragging that he would stand on the pulpit for two days if needed to be. Unfortunately for him he soon found his filibuster attempt quickly override by nearly 80% of the Senate with the Indian caucus as well as non-Texan WU Senators flocking against him. The slave caucus of the Western Union realizing that there was little they could effectively do to stop the passing of
a amendment. All that was left was shaping its contents. Tactics were switched and multiple Senators and Representatives brought up points of how they were to possibly allow tens of thousands of unskilled laborers into the open market and how the cotton planters of East Texas could possibly move on with the loss of their labor force, representing a drop in possibly millions of Redbacks in Agriculture. This actually caused a general pause in the creation of the 17th as while all were generally supportive of the measure, no one wanted Texas to enter a recession so soon after the end of a major war. Even if Texas only had a little over a hundred thousand slaves compared to America's three million, such a sudden emancipation could have adverse effects on the economy. Thus the next two months were spent on negotiating for a stable transition period that would allow for the economy to settle itself and have the slave owners proper enough time to deal with their losses. While some of the more zealous abolitionists wanted an immediate emancipation, in the end they saw for a slow transition rather than a chaotic one as reports from the East showed already how badly the occupied South was taking towards the freeing of their slaves. After weeks of debate a compromise was reached. The 17th amendment would be as follows, "In three years of the passing of this amendment, the practice of slavery will forever be illegal in the Republic of Texas. Leading up to the implementation of this law, slave owners will be allowed to emancipate their slaves in return for a payment of twenty Redbacks from the Treasury. From henceforth it shall be illegal to sell a slave to a foreign citizen or outside of the nation, such an action will be interpreted as a severe Republic offense." While many fiscal conservatives grumbled at the handing of such money to the owners, such an action was seen as a necessary evil in order to incite the slave owners to liberate their property and make sure they had some economic safeguard in the loss of their practice. The 17th amendment would be passed by both Houses of Congress and be given to the Commonwealths to sign on February 13th. To the surprise of many the Commonwealth legislatures were already highly backing of such a measure and were quick to work in approving it. One by one the legislatures fell in line with California, Deseret, Arizona passing it within weeks. Finally the Texas Commonwealth fell in line after stubborn resistance from the East, and the 17th amendment was passed on June 15th, 1864; today being celebrated as a national holiday as Juneteenth, a day to celebrate the history and culture of Black Texans and their liberation from the shackles of slavery.
Juneteenth celebration in Galveston in 1901
When the time came for the Presidential Elections in 1865, it was unspoken that Juan Seguin had the race practically in the bag. With his staunch leadership in the Mexican War and the passing of the 17th amendment, Seguin's popularity was at an all-time high and some in Texas regarded him as the greatest president they ever had. The only viable chance the Western Union had of mounting an attack was a potential drop in the economy that many feared would take place after the war. No recession would come however as economic reports suprisingly showed a booming Texas economy, one which would have frequent highs until the doldrums of the mid 1880's. The only blight on Seguin's campaign at the moment was the ongoing Coahuila annexation, though with Johnston's stern cracking down on dissent there was little chance of a fullscale insurrection. With most Western Union politicians fearful of taking on Seguin, few threw their hats in the ring and in the end the party's nomination went to Califonria Attorney General James A. McDougall. In McDougall's defence, he ran a spirited campaign bringing to new light the issues of law and order in what was increasnigly called the Wild West. However with no major scandals for the Seguin administration, the Tejano rode a comfortable victory to the finish. However two new issues would arise in Seguin's final term that wouldn't see a proper conclusions until the 1880's and the Bourbon Presidency. The Indian Wars and the Southern Exodus.
1865 Republic of Texas Presidential Results:
Seguin/Pease: 341,208 votes (Republican) 60%
McDougall/Warburton: 227,545 votes (Western Union) 40%
Juan Seguin (Left). James A. McDougall (Right)
