Unit 2

Nationhood to Reconstruction

Behavioral Items (Test Items)

Here are the specific tasks you will be called upon to perform successfully on the Unit 2 Exam. The information required for mastery of the reading objectives is contained in Chapters 4-6 of The History of Texas . The information required for mastery of the lecture objectives is contained in the lectures for this unit - "Life on the Precipice: The Republic of Texas", "Fighting on the Fringe: The Civil War in Texas", and "The World Turned Upside Down: Reconstruction in Texas".

Launching A Nation, 1836-1848

1. Identify the problems facing Texas immediately following San Jacinto.
2. Identify the outcomes of the September, 1836 elections in the new republic and the type of governmental system implemented.
3. Describe and evaluate the effectiveness of President Sam Houston's efforts during his first term of office in the following areas: (a.) securing diplomatic recognition of the Republic of Texas, (b.) finances, (c.) land policy, (d.) Indian affairs.
4. Contrast Mirabeau B. Lamar's presidency with that of Houston paying particular attention to spending and the deteriorating financial picture and its causes.
5. Be familiar with demographic trends during the years of the republic such as population and the rising number of towns and cities.
6. Describe the growing institution of black slavery being sure to cover governmental guarantees which helped the labor system thrive.
7. Contrast the Republic's Indian policies as carried out by Houston and Lamar being sure to show how these policies impacted the Cherokees of East Texas and the Comanches further west.
8. Describe the situation of the Tejano community during the years of the Republic being familiar with racial prejudice and cultural acclimation.
9. Explain how frontier conditions impacted education and transportation.
10. Be familiar with President Lamar's ill-advised Santa Fe Expedition, the Mexican government's response, as well as the failed Mier Expedition. Further, explain how these events convinced Texans to more vigorously pursue annexation by the United States.
11. Describe the battle in the United States over Texas annexation, the outcome and aftermaths of the annexation debate, and the particular terms of Texas' admittance to the Union.
12. Identify the various historical interpretations put forward as explanations for the Mexican War.
13. Describe the role of Texas Ranger companies in the war with Mexico, how their actions were perceived by Mexicans, and the impact this had on future relations.
14. Be familiar with the terms of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo.

1. Describe the numerical dominance of Anglo-Americans in 1850s Texas being sure to differentiate between those of the Border South and those from the Deep South.
2. Be familiar with each of the following aspects of the Texas economy in the 1850s: (a.) cash crop vs. subsistence agriculture, (b.) the spread of cattle ranching, (c.) industrialization, (d.) inadequate transportation.
3. Characterize Texas society at mid-century being sure to describe the stratification as well as the situation of Black Texans, Mexican Americans, Native Americans, and Women. To what degree did these groups share the state's opportunities?
4. Identify the provisions of the Compromise of 1850.
5. Discuss the changing political party scene in the 1850s being sure to include: (a.) the emergence of the Whig party, (b.) the brief existence of the Know-Nothings, (c.) the increasing militancy of Deep South Democrats (as distinguished from Unionist Democrats), (d.) the reaction to the emergence of the new Republican party in the states of the North.
6. Explain why the majority of Texans and other southerners refused to accept the election of Republican presidential candidate, Abraham Lincoln.
7. Identify those groups who supported and those who opposed secession as well as the outcome of the election of February, 1861.

1. Identify the attitudes and foremost goals of "radical" and "conservative" Republicans as well as southern Democrats at the beginning of Reconstruction.
2. Characterize the situation in Texas in each of the following areas as the Civil War ended and Reconstruction began: (a.) the stability of government, (b.) economics, (c.) attitudes of Unionists and northern sympathizers as opposed to ex-Confederates.
3. Enumerate the requirements of Presidential Reconstruction as laid down by Andrew Johnson.
4. Be familiar with each of the following battles of Presidential Reconstruction and how they reflected an unrepentant attitude by Texans toward Johnson's rather lenient plan: (a.) the constitutional convention of 1866, (b.) statewide elections and the constitutional referendum of 1866, (c.) the actions of the Eleventh Legislature (which convened in August, 1866), (d.) reaction to the presence and operations of the Freedmen's Bureau and military occupation forces.
5. Describe the different Republican attitudes in Congress toward Johnsonian Reconstruction and explain how southerners' actions helped produce a far more sweeping set of requirements to gain readmission.
6. Identify the new requirements of Congressional Reconstruction.
7. Describe the constitutional convention of 1868-69 as well as the document produced.
8. Be familiar with the election of Governor E. J. Davis, the nature and actions of the Twelfth Legislature, and the performance of the Davis administration following Texas' readmission to the Union.
9. Characterize the situation/status of freedmen in Texas during the Reconstruction experience.
10. Be familiar with the undoing of Reconstruction as expressed in each of the following: (a.) the special congressional election of October, 1871, (b.) the general legislative election of November, 1872, (c.) the actions of the Thirteenth Legislature, (d.) the gubernatorial election of December, 1873.
11. Characterize Richard Coke and his supporters as "Redeemers". What were their attitudes toward race relations, white supremacy, and the "New South"?
12. Describe in detail the government established by the Constitution of 1876 being sure to demonstrate how it was a reaction against the perceived excesses of the Reconstruction experience.

"Life on the Precipice: The Republic of Texas" (HIS1693.HUP.22539x)

1. Identify the particulars of the Treaty of Velasco signed by Santa Anna following the Battle of San Jacinto and Mexico's compliance with the treaty.
2. Describe in detail the precariousness of Texas independence and its vulnerability vis-à-vis the Republic of Mexico.
3. Describe in detail the Santa Fe expedition authorized by President Lamar being sure to cover each of the following: (a.) reasons for the expedition and its goal, (b.) the attitudes of the residents of Santa Fe and the Republic of Texas, (c.) the outcome of the expedition, (d.) Mexico's response to the Santa Fe expedition.
4. Be familiar with the two Mexican invasions of the Republic of Texas in 1842.
5. Be familiar with each of the following events: (a.) the Dawson "Massacre", (b.) the Somervell Expedition, (c.) the Mier Expedition (under W. S. Fisher's command), (d.) the attempted escape of the Mier prisoners.
6. Evaluate why Texans were eager for annexation by the United States in light of the events covered in this lecture.

1. Describe and be familiar with the military and economic significance of each of the following Civil War engagements: (a.) the evacuation and seizure of U. S. military installations in Texas, (b.) the New Mexican campaign of John R. Baylor and G. H. Sibley and the Battle of Glorietta Pass, (c.) the Battle of Galveston, (d.) the Battle of Sabine Pass, (e.) the Red River campaign and Battle of Pleasant Hill, (f.) the Battle of Brownsville.
2. Explain why Texas witnessed so little significant military action during the Civil War.

1. Contrast the popular myth of Reconstruction perpetuated by Texans for nearly a century with the overall view of Reconstruction now held by historians.
2. Contrast the wartime Reconstruction views and programs of President Abraham Lincoln and Congress: (a.) Lincoln's 10% Plan, (b.) Congress' Wade-Davis Bill.
3. Identify the particulars of President Andrew Johnson's Reconstruction program.
4. Describe in detail how Texans responded to the requirements of Presidential Reconstruction.
5. Explain why Texas was not readmitted to the Union under Johnsonian requirements even though President Johnson had declared Texas "reconstructed".
6. Identify and describe in detail the new requirements set by Congress for readmission to the Union in 1867.
7. Describe in detail how Texans responded to the requirements of Congressional Reconstruction: (a.) the constitution of 1869, (b.) the composition and actions of the Twelfth Legislature, (c.) the actions of Governor E. J. Davis.
8. Explain in detail how Texans, once readmitted to the Union, undid the products of congressional Reconstruction between 1871 and 1876.
9. Identify the various enduring impacts of Reconstruction in Texas.