The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 87, July 1983 - April, 1984 Page: 153
468 p. : ill. (some col.), maps (some col.), ports. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Texas and the Riddle of Secession
growth of southern nationalism, based on common institutions and
customs or on a common political ideology.4 After 1970, when Steven
A. Channing's Crisis of Fear: Secession in South Carolina was pub-
lished, a fourth interpretation of secession emerged. Channing called
attention to the importance in South Carolina of people's perceptions,
"the forebodings of disaster based upon exaggerated racial and politi-
cal fears." In a dissertation, "Slavery, Fear and Disunion in the Lone
Star State: Texans' Attitudes toward Secession and the Union, 1846-
1861," Billy D. Ledbetter drew upon Channing's example and re-
focused on slavery as the cause of secession. Ledbetter argued that not
only did Texans desire to maintain the institution of slavery, but
that they were powerfully motivated by a fear of slave insurrections
resulting from Republican control of the North and the national
government.5
Each of these interpretations of secession has merit, but none clearly
explains either the persistent strength of unionism in Texas or the de-
bate over secession. Well-organized leadership aided the secessionists'
cause, but secession was not a conspiracy, nor was it the work of a
small cadre of revolutionaries. In December, 186o, Franklin B. Sexton
captured the spirit of the secession movement in Texas when he de-
scribed a local secession meeting by writing, "The sober, reflecting,
sterling men of the county were present [and] no division of feeling
existed." Secession was both a spontaneous popular movement present
in most counties of the state and a process openly led by the pillars of
the community."
and Politics (New York, 1914), 63-79. For a look at the particular features of East Texas
and how they affected secession see Allan C. Ashcraft, "East Texas in the Election of 186o
and the Secession Crisis," ETHJ, I (July, 1963), 7-16. For the argument that the particular
concerns of the commercial classes of Texas could motivate them to support secession see
Earl Wesley Fornell, The Galveston Era: The Texas Crescent on the Eve of Secession
(Austin, 1961), 267-301. For the argument that particular circumstances created unionism
on the frontier see Floyd F. Ewing, Jr., "Origins of Unionist Sentiment of the West Texas
Frontier," West Texas Historical Association Year Book, XXXII (Oct., 1956), 21-29.
4Avery O. Craven, The Growth of Southern Nationalism, 1848-1861 (Baton Rouge,
1953). For a Texas study which stresses the evolution of southernness see Nancy Ann
Head, "State Rights in Texas: The Growth of an Idea, 1850-186o" (M.A. thesis, Rice In-
stitute, 196o). For an early version of the argument that economic differences created a
distinct South see Anna Irene Sandbo, "Beginnings of the Secession Movement in Texas,"
SHQ, XVIII (July, 1914), 41-73.
5Steven A. Channing, Crisis of Fear: Secession in South Carolina (New York, 1970);
Billy D. Ledbetter, "Slavery, Fear, and Disunion in the Lone Star State: Texans' Attitudes
toward Secession and the Union, 1846-1861" (Ph.D. diss., North Texas State University,
1972); review of Crisis of Fear by Richard O. Curry in Journal of American History, LIX
(Sept., 1972), 421 (quotation).
OF. B. Sexton to Dear Judge, Dec. 2, 186o, Oran Milo Roberts Papers (Eugene C. Barker153
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 87, July 1983 - April, 1984, periodical, 1983/1984; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth117150/m1/189/: accessed April 30, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.