Precursor of Succession
Texas had voted to break with the Union and join the Confederate states. Governor Sam Houston urged Texans to stay a part of the Union. Houston was forced out of office and Texas voted to succeed. Many Texans felt that to succeed from the Union was to waste the hard work that it took to achieve annexation in the first place.
Slavery in Texas
Only one in four Texas families owned slaves. However, Slavery helped drive the most important "cash crop' Cotton. Even those who did not own slaves benefited by the slave trade. As the cotton trade increased so to did the slave trade in Texas.
Politics
Texas was considered a largely Democratic state. The sentiments in Texas mirrored those the rest of the Southern states. Cotton was King and slavery powered the engine of the Texas Economy.
Slavery was necessary to keep the cotton trade going. It was natural for Texas to take the side of the Confederacy. Numbers of Unionists however wanted to keep Texas part of the United States.
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