1.
Texas
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Texas is the second largest state in the United States by both area and population. Other major cities include Austin, the second most populous state capital in the U. S. Texas is nicknamed the Lone Star State to signify its former status as an independent republic, and as a reminder of the states struggle for independence from Mexico. The Lone Star can be found on the Texan state flag, the origin of Texass name is from the word Tejas, which means friends in the Caddo language. Due to its size and geologic features such as the Balcones Fault, although Texas is popularly associated with the U. S. southwestern deserts, less than 10 percent of Texas land area is desert. Most of the centers are located in areas of former prairies, grasslands, forests. Traveling from east to west, one can observe terrain that ranges from coastal swamps and piney woods, to rolling plains and rugged hills, the term six flags over Texas refers to several nations that have ruled over the territory. Spain was the first European country to claim the area of Texas, Mexico controlled the territory until 1836 when Texas won its independence, becoming an independent Republic. In 1845, Texas joined the United States as the 28th state, the states annexation set off a chain of events that caused the Mexican–American War in 1846. A slave state before the American Civil War, Texas declared its secession from the U. S. in early 1861, after the Civil War and the restoration of its representation in the federal government, Texas entered a long period of economic stagnation. One Texan industry that thrived after the Civil War was cattle, due to its long history as a center of the industry, Texas is associated with the image of the cowboy. The states economic fortunes changed in the early 20th century, when oil discoveries initiated a boom in the state. With strong investments in universities, Texas developed a diversified economy, as of 2010 it shares the top of the list of the most Fortune 500 companies with California at 57. With a growing base of industry, the leads in many industries, including agriculture, petrochemicals, energy, computers and electronics, aerospace. Texas has led the nation in export revenue since 2002 and has the second-highest gross state product. The name Texas, based on the Caddo word tejas meaning friends or allies, was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves, during Spanish colonial rule, the area was officially known as the Nuevo Reino de Filipinas, La Provincia de Texas. Texas is the second largest U. S. state, behind Alaska, though 10 percent larger than France and almost twice as large as Germany or Japan, it ranks only 27th worldwide amongst country subdivisions by size. If it were an independent country, Texas would be the 40th largest behind Chile, Texas is in the south central part of the United States of America. Three of its borders are defined by rivers, the Rio Grande forms a natural border with the Mexican states of Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo León, and Tamaulipas to the south
2.
United States
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Forty-eight of the fifty states and the federal district are contiguous and located in North America between Canada and Mexico. The state of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east, the state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The U. S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean, the geography, climate and wildlife of the country are extremely diverse. At 3.8 million square miles and with over 324 million people, the United States is the worlds third- or fourth-largest country by area, third-largest by land area. It is one of the worlds most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, paleo-Indians migrated from Asia to the North American mainland at least 15,000 years ago. European colonization began in the 16th century, the United States emerged from 13 British colonies along the East Coast. Numerous disputes between Great Britain and the following the Seven Years War led to the American Revolution. On July 4,1776, during the course of the American Revolutionary War, the war ended in 1783 with recognition of the independence of the United States by Great Britain, representing the first successful war of independence against a European power. The current constitution was adopted in 1788, after the Articles of Confederation, the first ten amendments, collectively named the Bill of Rights, were ratified in 1791 and designed to guarantee many fundamental civil liberties. During the second half of the 19th century, the American Civil War led to the end of slavery in the country. By the end of century, the United States extended into the Pacific Ocean. The Spanish–American War and World War I confirmed the status as a global military power. The end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 left the United States as the sole superpower. The U. S. is a member of the United Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Organization of American States. The United States is a developed country, with the worlds largest economy by nominal GDP. It ranks highly in several measures of performance, including average wage, human development, per capita GDP. While the U. S. economy is considered post-industrial, characterized by the dominance of services and knowledge economy, the United States is a prominent political and cultural force internationally, and a leader in scientific research and technological innovations. In 1507, the German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller produced a map on which he named the lands of the Western Hemisphere America after the Italian explorer and cartographer Amerigo Vespucci
3.
Sherman, Texas
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Sherman is a city in and the county seat of Grayson County, Texas, United States. The citys population in 2010 was 38,315 and it is one of the two principal cities in the Sherman–Denison Metropolitan Statistical Area, and it is part of the Texoma region. Sherman was named after General Sidney Sherman, a hero of the Texas Revolution, the community was designated as the county seat by the act of the Texas legislature which created Grayson County on March 17,1846. In 1847, a post office began operation, Sherman was originally located at the center of the county, but in 1848 it was moved about 3 miles east to its current location. By 1850, Sherman had become a town under Texas law. It had also become a stop on the Butterfield Overland Mail route through Texas, by 1852, Sherman had a population of 300. It consisted of a square with a log court house, and several businesses, a district clerks office. During the 1850s and 1860s, Sherman continued to develop and to participate in regional politics, the first flour mill was built in 1861. In 1862 the publisher of Shermans anti-secessionist Whig newspaper, the Patriot, was murdered, during and after the Civil War, north Texas outlaw bands led by Jesse James and William Quantrill were seen in Sherman. Years later, James spent at least part of his honeymoon in Sherman, education developed in north Texas during this time. The Sherman Male and Female High School started accepting students during 1866 and it was one of three private schools in Sherman at the time. This school operated under several names until 1935 and it gradually lost Methodist support, after the opening of Southern Methodist University in 1915 in Dallas. In 1876, Austin College, the oldest continuously operating college in Texas, Sherman Female Institute, later known as Mary Nash College, opened in 1877 under sponsorship of the Baptist Church. It continued operation until 1901 when the campus was sold to Kidd-Key College, carr–Burdette College, a womens college affiliated with the Disciples of Christ, operated there from 1894 to 1929. Jews have had a history in Sherman, too, settling in the area. While there was general depression and lawlessness during Reconstruction, Sherman remained commercially active, during the 1870s Shermans population reached 6,000. In 1875, two fires destroyed many buildings east of the square and they were rebuilt with superior materials. This included a new Grayson County Courthouse built in 1876, in 1879, the Old Settlers Association of North Texas formed and met near Sherman
4.
Texas's 4th congressional district
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It also includes counties in East Texas such as Rains County. As of the 2000 census, District 4 represents 651,620 people who are predominantly Caucasian, Texas has had at least four congressional districts since the state was readmitted to the Union after the Civil War. The districts current seat dates from 1903, only four men have represented it since then, once a reliably Democratic district, the district swung rapidly into the Republican column as Dallas suburbs spilled into the western portion of the district. In fact, it has not supported a Democrat for president since 1964, in the process, District 4 was pushed slightly to the north, picking up Texarkana from District 1. Ralph Hall, the dean of the Texas congressional delegation. Originally a Democrat, he became a Republican in 2004, Halls voting record had been very conservative even by Texas Democratic standards, which served him well as the district abandoned its Democratic roots. By the turn of the century, he was the only elected Democrat above the county level in much of the district. He had been rumored as a party switcher for some time, Hall was defeated in the 2014 Republican primary by John Ratcliffe, a former United States Attorney and the former mayor of Heath, near Halls hometown of Rockwall. No Democrat even filed, though the district is so heavily Republican that any Democratic candidate would have faced nearly impossible odds in any event, Ratcliffe took office in January 2015, becoming only the fourth person to hold the seat. The districts best-known congressman was Sam Rayburn, the longtime Speaker of the House, president Dwight D. Eisenhower was born in the fourth district. Even as late as 1996, Bill Clinton carried 10 of the 16 counties currently in this district, the district was created in 1869, one of two new districts that Texas gained after the 1860 Census, but was not filled due to the Civil War and Reconstruction. List of United States congressional districts Martis, Kenneth C, the Historical Atlas of Political Parties in the United States Congress. The Historical Atlas of United States Congressional Districts, Congressional Biographical Directory of the United States 1774–present
5.
Republic of Texas
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The Republic of Texas was an independent sovereign country in North America that existed from March 2,1836, to February 19,1846. The citizens of the republic were known as Texians, the Mexican province of Tejas declared its independence from Mexico during the Texas Revolution in 1836. The United States recognized the Republic of Texas in March 1837, the Republic-claimed borders were based upon the Treaties of Velasco between the newly created Texas Republic and Antonio López de Santa Anna of Mexico. The republics southern and western boundary with Mexico continued to be disputed throughout the republics existence, Texas claimed the Rio Grande as its southern boundary, while Mexico insisted that the Nueces River was the boundary. However, the United States again inherited the southern and western border dispute with Mexico, Texas had been one of the Provincias Internas of New Spain, a region known historiographically as Spanish Texas. Though claimed by Spain, it was not formally colonized by them until competing French interests at Fort St. Louis encouraged Spain to establish permanent settlements in the area. Sporadic missionary incursions occurred into the area during the period from the 1690s–1710s, in 1762, France ceded to Spain most of its claims to the interior of North America, including its claim to Texas, as well as the vast interior that became Spanish Louisiana. During the years 1799 to 1803, the height of the Napoleonic Empire, Spain returned Louisiana back to France, starting in 1810, the territories of New Spain north of the Isthmus of Panama sought independence in the Mexican War of Independence. Many Americans fought on the side of Mexico against Spain in filibustering expeditions, one of these, the Gutiérrez–Magee Expedition consisted of a group of about 130 Americans under the leadership of Bernardo Gutiérrez de Lara. Gutierrez de Lara initiated Mexicos secession from Spain with efforts contributed by Magee, bolstered by new recruits, and led Samuel Kemper, the expedition gained a series of victories against soldiers led by the Spanish governor, Manuel María de Salcedo. Their victory at the Battle of Rosillo Creek convinced Salcedo to surrender on April 1,1813, on April 6,1813, the victorious Republican Army of the North drafted a constitution and declared the independent Republic of Texas, with Gutiérrez as its president. Soon disillusioned with the Mexican leadership, the Americans under Kemper returned to the United States, the ephemeral Republic of Texas came to an end following the August 18,1813 Battle of Medina, where the Spanish Army crushed the Republican Army of the North. Since Mexican independence had been ratified by Spain shortly thereafter, Austin would later travel to Mexico City to secure the support of the new country in his right to settle. The establishment of Mexican Texas coincided with the Austin-led settlement, leading to animosity between Mexican authorities and ongoing American settlement of Texas, the First Mexican Empire was short lived, being replaced by a republican form of government in 1823. Following Austins lead, additional groups of settlers, known as Empresarios, in 1830, Mexican President Anastasio Bustamante outlawed American immigration to Texas, following several conflicts with the Empresarios over the status of slavery in the region. Angered at the interference of the Mexican government, the Empresarios held the Convention of 1832, on the eve of war, the American settlers in the area outnumbered Mexicans by a considerable margin. Mexican President Antonio López de Santa Anna revoked the 1824 Constitution of Mexico, the Texian leadership under Austin began to organize its own military, and hostilities broke out on October 2,1835 at the Battle of Gonzales, the first engagement of the Texas Revolution. In November,1835 a provisional government known as the Consultation was established to oppose the Santa Anna regime, on March 1,1836 the Convention of 1836 came to order, and the next day declared independence from Mexico, establishing the Republic of Texas
6.
Denison, Texas
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Denison is a city in Grayson County, Texas, United States. It is 75 miles north of Dallas, the population was 22,682 at the 2010 census. Denison is part of the Texoma region and is one of two cities in the Sherman–Denison Metropolitan Statistical Area. It is best known for being the birthplace of Dwight D. Eisenhower, Denison was founded in 1872 in conjunction with the Missouri–Kansas–Texas Railroad or Katy depot. It was named after the wealthy Katy vice president George Denison, because the town was established close to where the MKT crossed the Red River, it came to be an important commercial center in the 19th century American West. In 1875, Doc Holliday had offices in Denison, in 1901 the first electric Interurban railway in Texas, the Denison and Sherman Railway, was completed between Denison and Sherman. In 1915, the Kentucky-based evangelist Mordecai Ham held a meeting in Denison. Denison played host to 20th century notables such as the Marx Brothers and President Dwight D. Eisenhower, Denison is located in northeastern Grayson County, with the city limits extending north to the Red River, which forms the Oklahoma state line. It is bordered to the south by the city of Sherman, the city centers are 11 miles apart. According to the United States Census Bureau, Denison has an area of 23.4 square miles, of which 23.0 square miles are land and 0.46 square miles. Denison Dam, which forms Lake Texoma on the Red River, is 5 miles north of Denison, the city is in the center of the Texoma region, encompassing parts of Texas and Oklahoma. Denison has a subtropical climate. At the census of 2000, there were 22,773 people,9,185 households, the population density was 1,008.1 people per square mile. There were 10,309 housing units at a density of 456.3 per square mile. The racial makeup of the city was 84. 02% White,8. 62% African American,1. 67% Native American,0. 46% Asian,0. 06% Pacific Islander,2. 19% from other races, and 2. 98% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 5. 23% of the population,29. 1% of all households were made up of individuals and 14. 4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.43 and the family size was 2.97. In the city, the population was out with 24. 6% under the age of 18,8. 8% from 18 to 24,26. 7% from 25 to 44,22. 4% from 45 to 64
7.
Fort Worth, Texas
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Fort Worth is the 16th-largest city in the United States and the fifth-largest city in the state of Texas. The city is in North Central Texas and covers nearly 350 square miles in the counties of Denton, Parker, Wise, according to the 2015 census, estimates, Fort Worths population is 833,319. The city is the second-largest in the Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington metropolitan area, the city was established in 1849 as an Army outpost on a bluff overlooking the Trinity River. Today, Fort Worth still embraces its Western heritage and traditional architecture, USS Fort Worth is the first ship of the United States Navy named after the city. Fort Worth is home to the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, also of note is the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, designed by Tadao Ando. The Amon Carter Museum of American Art, designed by Philip Johnson, the Sid Richardson Museum, redesigned by David M. Schwarz, has one of the most focused collections of Western Art in the U. S. emphasizing Frederic Remington and Charles Russell. The Treaty of Birds Fort between the Republic of Texas and several Native American tribes was signed in 1843 at Birds Fort in present-day Arlington, Texas. Article XI of the treaty provided that no one may pass the line of trading houses without permission of the President of Texas and these trading houses were later established at the junction of the Clear Fork and West Fork of the Trinity River in present-day Fort Worth. At this river junction, the U. S, War Department established Fort Worth in 1849 as the northernmost of a system of 10 forts for protecting the American Frontier following the end of the Mexican–American War. The City of Fort Worth continues to be known as where the West begins, originally 10 forts had been proposed by Major General William Jenkins Worth, who commanded the Department of Texas in 1849. In January 1849, Worth proposed a line of 10 forts to mark the western Texas frontier from Eagle Pass to the confluence of the West Fork, One month later, Worth died from cholera in South Texas. General William S. Harney assumed command of the Department of Texas, Arnold to find a new fort site near the West Fork and Clear Fork. On June 6,1849, Arnold, advised by Middleton Tate Johnson, established a camp on the bank of the Trinity River, in August 1849, Arnold moved the camp to the north-facing bluff, which overlooked the mouth of the Clear Fork of the Trinity River. The United States War Department officially named the post Fort Worth on November 14,1849, E. S. Terrell from Tennessee claimed to be the first resident of Fort Worth. The fort was flooded the first year and moved to the top of the bluff, the fort was abandoned September 17,1853. As a stop on the legendary Chisholm Trail, Fort Worth was stimulated by the business of the cattle drives, millions of head of cattle were driven north to market along this trail. Fort Worth became the center of the drives, and later. It was given the nickname of Cowtown, during Civil War, Fort Worth suffered from shortages of money, food, and supplies
8.
Red River of the South
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The Red River, or sometimes the Red River of the South, is a major tributary of the Mississippi and Atchafalaya rivers in the southern United States of America. The river was named for the country of its watershed. It is one of several rivers with that name. The Mexicans and Indians on the borders of Mexico are in the habit of calling any river, the Red River formed part of the US-Mexico border from the Adams-Onís Treaty until the Texas Annexation and the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. The Red River is the second-largest river basin in the southern Great Plains and it rises in two branches in the Texas Panhandle and flows east, where it acts as the border between the states of Texas and Oklahoma. It forms a border between Texas and Arkansas before entering Arkansas, turning south near Fulton, Arkansas and flowing into Louisiana. The total length of the river is 1,360 miles, the Red River rises near the edge of the northwestern dip slope of the Llano Estacado mesa in two forks in northern Texas and southwestern Oklahoma. The North Fork Red River meets the southern and largest fork near the Texas-Oklahoma border, the southern fork, which is about 120 miles long, is generally called the Prairie Dog Town Fork. It is formed in Randall County, Texas, near the county seat of Canyon, by the confluence of intermittent Palo Duro Creek and Tierra Blanca Creek. The Red River turns and flows southeast through Palo Duro Canyon in Palo Duro Canyon State Park at an elevation of 3,440 feet, then past Newlin, Texas, past that point, it is generally considered the main stem of the Red River. Near Denison, the exits the eastern end of Lake Texoma. The lake is fed by the Washita River from the north. After the river out of the southeastern end of the lake, it runs generally east towards Arkansas. Soon after, the river crosses south into Louisiana and its waters eventually discharge into the Atchafalaya River and flow eastward or southward into the Gulf of Mexico. In 1946, the Red River flood spilled over into Pineville because of insufficient levee height, however, the taller and stronger levee held in Alexandria. Willie E. Kees, Jr. the young newly elected mayor of Pineville, the Red Rivers watershed covers 65,590 square miles and is the southernmost major right tributary of the Mississippi, and the southernmost major river system in the Great Plains. Its drainage basin is mostly in the states of Texas and Oklahoma and its basin is characterized by flat, fertile agricultural land, with only a few major cities. The drainage basin of the Red River is very arid and receives little precipitation, as a result, much of the river above the Texas-Oklahoma border is intermittent, and until the river is past its great bend south in Arkansas, the flow varies widely
9.
Secession
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Secession is the withdrawal of a group from a larger entity, especially a political entity, but also any organization, union or military alliance. Threats of secession can also be a strategy for achieving more limited goals, theories of secession relate to a fundamental question of political philosophy, the basis of the states authority. Ramet, Rights of Secession by Daniel Kofman, The Very Idea of Secession by Donald Livingston and Secession, Autonomy, in 2007 the University of South Carolina sponsored a conference called Secession As an International Phenomenon which produced a number of papers on the topic. Some theories of secession emphasize a general right of secession for any reason while others emphasize that secession should be considered only to rectify grave injustices, if it can not live in the affections of the people, it must one day perish. Congress possesses many means of preserving it by conciliation, but the sword was not placed in their hand to preserve it by force, former President of the United States Thomas Jefferson, in a letter to William H. If any State in the Union will declare that it prefers separation with the first alternative, to a continuance in union without it, I have no hesitation in saying, let us separate. I would rather the States should withdraw, which are for unlimited commerce and war, economic enfranchisement of an economically oppressed class that is regionally concentrated within the scope of a larger national territory. e. Tax schemes, regulatory policies, economic programs, etc, cultural Secessionism, any group which was previously in a minority has a right to protect and develop its own culture and distinct national identity through seceding into an independent state. Institutional empowerment - The growing inability of empires and ethnic federations to maintain colonies, relative strength - Increasingly powerful secessionist movements are more likely to achieve statehood. Negotiated consent - Home states and the international community increasingly consent to secessionist demands, during the 19th century, the single British colony in eastern mainland Australia, New South Wales was progressively divided up by the British government as new settlements were formed and spread. Victoria in 1851 and Queensland in 1859, however, settlers agitated to divide the colonies throughout the later part of the century, particularly in central Queensland in the 1860s and 1890s, and in North Queensland in the 1870s. Western Australia Secession movements have surfaced several times in Western Australia, the referendum had to be ratified by the British Parliament, which declined to act, on the grounds that it would contravene the Australian Constitution. The Principality of Hutt River claims to have seceded from Australia in 1970, according to a lexicon on nationalist movements across the world, Macau happened to recognise that Principality. Austria successfully seceded from Nazi Germany on April 27,1945 and this took place after seven years of Austria being part of Adolf Hitlers Third Reich due to the Anschluss annexation of Austria into Nazi Germany in March 1938. On August 25,1830, during the reign of William I, soon after, the Belgian Revolt occurred, which resulted in the Belgian secession from the Netherlands. The peace treaty accepted Uruguay independence, reasserted the rule of both nations over their land and some important points like free navigation in the Silver River, three rather disorganized secessionist rebellions happened in Grão-Pará, Bahia and Maranhão, where the people were unhappy with the Empire. The Malê Revolt, in Bahia, was an Islamic slave revolt and these three rebellions were bloodily crushed by the Empire of Brazil. In the attempts the rebels were crushed, the shot and its territory divided
10.
Lynching in the United States
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Lynching is the practice of murder by extrajudicial action. Lynchings in the United States rose in number after the American Civil War in the late 1800s, following the emancipation of slaves, Lynchings most frequently targeted African American men and women in the South. They were most frequent from 1890 to the 1920s, with a peak in 1892, starting with large mob actions attended by hundreds or thousands of watchers, lynchings in the 20th century began to be conducted secretly by small groups of people. Lynchings were also common in the Old West, where Native Americans, Mexican Americans, after the Reconstruction era, most of the South was dominated politically by Democrats. Lynchings enforced white supremacy and intimidated blacks by racial terrorism, the rate of lynchings in the South has been strongly associated with economic strains, although the causal nature of this link is unclear. Low cotton prices, inflation, and economic stress are associated with higher frequencies of lynching, constitutional rights to freedmen after the American Civil War was resisted by many white Southerners. Some blamed the freedmen for their own wartime hardships, and post-war economic losses, during Reconstruction, freedmen and whites working for civil rights were attacked and sometimes lynched. Black voting was suppressed by violence, White Democrats regained control of state legislatures in 1876, and a national compromise resulted in the removal of federal troops from the South in 1877. In later decades, violence continued around elections until blacks were disenfranchised by the states across the South from 1890 to 1908, Whites enacted segregation and Jim Crow laws to enforce blacks second-class status. During this period of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Florida led the nation in lynchings per capita from 1900-1930. Georgia led the nation in lynchings from 1900-1931 with 302 incidents, Lynchings peaked in many areas when it was time for landowners to settle accounts with sharecroppers. There is no count of recorded lynchings which claims to be precise, and numbers vary depending on the source, years considered, and definition used in defining an incident. A five-year study published in 2015 by the Equal Justice Initiative found that nearly 3,959 black men, women, over this period Georgias 586 lynchings led all states. African Americans mounted resistance to lynchings in numerous ways, intellectuals and journalists encouraged public education, actively protesting and lobbying against lynch mob violence and government complicity. Anti-lynching plays and literary works were produced, African-American womens clubs raised funds and conducted petition drives, letter campaigns, meetings and demonstrations to highlight the issues and combat lynching. From 1910 to 1930 particularly, more blacks migrated from counties with high numbers of lynchings, from 1882 to 1968, nearly 200 anti-lynching bills were introduced in Congress, and three passed the House. Seven presidents between 1890 and 1952 petitioned Congress to pass a federal law, none succeeded in gaining passage, blocked by the Solid South - the delegation of white Southerners in the Senate. During the 1950s and 1960s Civil Rights Movement, black activists were attacked and murdered throughout the South, in 1964 three Mississippi civil rights workers were murdered, galvanizing public support for passage of civil rights legislation that year and the next
11.
Confederate States of America
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The Confederate States, officially the Confederate States of America, commonly referred to as the Confederacy, was a breakaway country of 11 secessionist slave states existing from 1861 to 1865. It was never recognized as an Independent country, although it achieved belligerent status by Britain. A new Confederate government was established in February 1861 before Lincoln took office in March, after the Civil War began in April, four slave states of the Upper South – Virginia, Arkansas, Tennessee, and North Carolina – also declared their secession and joined the Confederacy. The government of the United States rejected the claims of secession, the Civil War began with the April 12,1861, Confederate attack upon Fort Sumter, a Union fort in the harbor of Charleston, South Carolina. In spring 1865, after four years of fighting which led to an estimated 620,000 military deaths, all the Confederate forces surrendered. Jefferson Davis later lamented that the Confederacy had disappeared in 1865, Missouri and Kentucky were represented by partisan factions from those states, while the legitimate governments of those two states retained formal adherence to the Union. Also fighting for the Confederacy were two of the Five Civilized Tribes located in Indian Territory and a new, but uncontrolled, Confederate Territory of Arizona. Efforts by certain factions in Maryland to secede were halted by federal imposition of law, while Delaware, though of divided loyalty. A Unionist government in parts of Virginia organized the new state of West Virginia. With the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1,1863, the Union made abolition of slavery a war goal, as Union forces moved southward, large numbers of plantation slaves were freed. Many joined the Union lines, enrolling in service as soldiers, teamsters and laborers, the most notable advance was Shermans March to the Sea in late 1864. Much of the Confederacys infrastructure was destroyed, including telegraphs, railroads, plantations in the path of Shermans forces were severely damaged. Internal movement became increasingly difficult for Southerners, weakening the economy and these losses created an insurmountable disadvantage in men, materiel, and finance. Public support for Confederate President Jefferson Daviss administration eroded over time due to repeated military reverses, economic hardships, after four years of campaigning, Richmond was captured by Union forces in April 1865. Shortly afterward, Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrendered to Union General Ulysses S. Grant, President Davis was captured on May 10,1865, and jailed in preparation for a treason trial that was ultimately never held. The U. S. government began a process known as Reconstruction which attempted to resolve the political and constitutional issues of the Civil War. By 1877, the Compromise of 1877 ended Reconstruction in the former Confederate states, Confederate veterans had been temporarily disenfranchised by Reconstruction policy. The prewar South had many areas, the war left the entire region economically devastated by military action, ruined infrastructure
Media related to Grayson County, Texas at Wikimedia Commons
Grayson County, Texas
