Exploring the most important 55 months in American history
OTD 165 YEARS AGO: Delegates to the Texas State Convention remove Governor Sam Houston from office for refusing to take an oath of allegiance to the Confederacy. Texas officials also seize Federal property, marking a pivotal moment in the state’s history.
Delegates to the Texas State Convention at Austin voted 166 to 7 to secede from the United States, and the Federal military commander in the state controversially turns over all property to the Texans.
Texas Governor Sam Houston opposes secession but cannot stop the state convention from proceeding. The Federal military commander in the state expresses concerns about Texas’s impending departure from the Union and asks again for instructions.
The Florida legislature kicks off the month by meeting in special session to consider seceding from the Union. Other states would soon follow.
As the secession frenzy intensified in Georgia, it began rapidly spreading into other southern states as well.
Federal commanders accept the surrender of the last major organized Confederate force still in the field.