Lonelygirl15

[theratdiva]

Whoa, whoa, whoa, Longlost! You know I love ya, babe, but you can't be asking Jonas to lay down his life, and you know why not, lol!
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[theratdiva]

Okay, here's what I found on Texas and its statehood. Of course, people might disagree based upon where they're from, etc. I can tell you I'm from Chicago, but have Southern kin (and a family history of involvement in the Civil War) and this is what I understand to be correct.

From Wikipedia:

"On March 2, 1836, the Convention of 1836 signed a Declaration of Independence, declaring Texas an independent nation. On April 21, 1836, the Texans—led by General Sam Houston—won their independence when they defeated the Mexican forces of Santa Anna at the Battle of San Jacinto. Santa Anna was captured and signed the Treaties of Velasco, which gave Texas firm boundaries; Mexico repudiated the treaties, considered Texas a breakaway province, and vowed to reconquer it. Later in 1836, the Texans adopted a constitution that formally legalized slavery in Texas. The Republic of Texas included the area of the present state of Texas, and additional unoccupied territory to the west and northwest.

Texans wanted annexation to the United States. Texas was fast-growing, but still poor and had great difficulty maintaining self-defense. Events such as the Dawson Massacre and two recaptures of Béxar in Texas of 1842 helped add momentum to the desire for statehood. However, American politics intruded; strong Northern opposition to adding another slave state blocked annexation until the election of 1844 was won on a pro-annexation platform by James K. Polk. On December 29, 1845, Texas was admitted to the U.S. as a constituent state of the Union. The Mexican–American War followed, with decisive American victories. Soon after, Texas grew rapidly as migrants poured into the cotton lands.

Just prior to the American Civil War, elected delegates met in convention and, in an act whose legality was later upheld by the Texas Legislature, authorized secession from the U.S. on February 1, 1861. After a thundering majority of its voters approved the measure in referendum, Texas was accepted as a state by the provisional government of the Confederate States of America on March 1, 1861. Partly due to its distance from the front lines of the war, a major role for Texas was to supply hardy soldiers for Confederate forces (veterans of the Mexican–American War), especially in cavalry. Although Texan regiments fought in every major battle throughout the war,
Texas was largely considered a "supply state" for the Confederate forces until mid-1863, when the Union capture of the Mississippi River made large movements of men or cattle impossible. The last battle of the Civil War was fought in Texas, at Palmito Ranch, on May 12, 1865, well after Lee's surrender on April 9, 1865 at Appomattox Court House in Virginia.

Texas descended into near-anarchy during the two months between the surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia and the assumption of authority by Union General Gordon Granger, as Confederate forces demobilized or disbanded and government property passed into private hands through distribution or plunder. June nineteenth commemorates the announcement of the Emancipation Proclamation on June 19, 1865 in Galveston by General Gordon Granger; nearly 1-1/2 years after the original announcement of January 1, 1863. On March 30, 1870, although Texas did not meet all the requirements, the United States Congress readmitted Texas into the Union.
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