82R16094 JNC-D
By: Branch H.C.R. No. 150
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
WHEREAS, March 16, 2011, marks the 150th anniversary of
Governor Sam Houston's refusal to take the oath of allegiance to the
Confederate States of America; and
WHEREAS, An ardent unionist, Sam Houston had spent much of
his life in public service; born in Virginia in 1793, he fought with
valor during the War of 1812 and afterward rose to prominence in
Tennessee, where he served as attorney general, won two elections
to the U.S. House of Representatives, and was elected governor; and
WHEREAS, After moving to Texas in 1832, he quickly became
involved in the struggle for independence; he served as a delegate
to the Convention of 1833, the Consultation of 1835, and the
Convention of 1836, during which he signed the Texas Declaration of
Independence and received appointment as commander in chief of the
Texas Army; his victory at the Battle of San Jacinto secured Texas'
independence from Mexico and led to his election as president of the
new republic; he then served in the Texas House of Representatives
before holding the presidency again for a second term; and
WHEREAS, With Texas' admission to the Union, Sam Houston
became one of the state's first two senators; his pro-Union stance,
however, cost him support in the Texas Legislature, which chose
John Hemphill to replace him when his term in the senate ended in
1859; Sam Houston then ran for the governorship of Texas and won,
assuming office on December 21, 1859; and
WHEREAS, The following year, the fear that Abraham Lincoln
and the Republican Party might capture the presidency and threaten
the institution of slavery gave further momentum to the
secessionist movement in the South; Sam Houston understood that
disunion would provoke a lengthy war, one the South would stand
little chance of winning; in the fall of 1860, he undertook a
speaking tour in an effort to rally adherence to the Union, even in
the event of a Republican victory in November; and
WHEREAS, Addressing an audience in Austin on September 22,
1860, Governor Houston told his listeners: "when . . . in 1836, I
volunteered to aid in transplanting American liberty to this soil,
it was with the belief that the Constitution and the Union were to
be perpetual blessings to the human race--that the success of the
experiment of our fathers was beyond dispute, and that whether
under the banner of the Lone Star or that many-starred banner of the
Union, I could point to the land of Washington, Jefferson, and
Jackson, as the land blest beyond all other lands, where freedom
would be eternal and Union unbroken. It concerns me deeply, as it
does everyone here, that these bright anticipations should be
realized; and that it should be continued not only the proudest
nationality the world has ever produced, but the freest and most
perfect"; and
WHEREAS, The tide of public sentiment was against him,
however, and on January 28, 1861, a convention convened in Austin to
take up the question of secession; several days later, speaking to a
committee of the convention, Governor Houston laid out the
consequences of their project in stark terms: "To secede from the
Union and set up another government would cause war. . . . If you
go to war with the United States, you will never conquer her, as she
has the money and the men. If she does not whip you by guns, powder,
and steel, she will starve you to death. . . . if you go to war, it
will take the flower of the country--the young men. . . . There
will be thousands and thousands who march away from our homes never
to come back"; and
WHEREAS, Notwithstanding his impassioned argument, the
delegates proceeded to adopt an ordinance of secession; after Texas
voters ratified that decision on February 23, 1861, the Secession
Convention reconvened and demanded that all current officeholders
take an oath of allegiance to the Confederacy; Governor Houston was
summoned to take the oath before the convention on March 16, but he
refused to appear; the delegates consequently declared the office
of governor vacant and swore in the lieutenant governor to take his
place; and
WHEREAS, Explaining his course of action in an address to the
public, Governor Houston avowed: "In the name of the Constitution
of Texas, which has been trampled upon, I refuse to take this oath";
he went on, though, to say, "I love Texas too well to bring civil
strife and bloodshed upon her. To avert this calamity, I shall make
no endeavor to maintain my authority as Chief Executive of this
State. . . . "; and
WHEREAS, Sam Houston never again held public office; he
settled with his family in Huntsville, where he died on July 26,
1863; as he had predicted, the North blockaded southern ports, and
the greater manpower and industrial resources of the Union
contributed heavily to its ultimate victory; by the war's end, in
April 1865, total Confederate losses stood at approximately
258,000, and slavery as an institution was essentially dead; and
WHEREAS, In his biography of Sam Houston, one historian was
reminded of an observation made by the German philosopher G. W. F.
Hegel, who "wrote that the mark of a great man is his ability to tell
the people of his era what their will is and accomplish it"; "the
tragedy of Sam Houston['s life]," concluded the historian, "was
that he told his era what its will should have been and it cost him
everything"; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That the 82nd Legislature of the State of Texas
hereby honor Sam Houston for his statesmanship on the 150th
anniversary of his refusal to take the oath of loyalty to the
Confederate States of America.