The Shattering of Texas Unionism: Politics in the Lone Star State During the Civil War Era

Employing a combination of traditional historical sources and quantitative analyses of county voting returns, Dale Baum painstakingly explores the double collapse of Texas unionism - first as a bulwark against secession in the winter of 1860-1861 and then in the late 1860s as a foundation upon which to build a truly biracial society. Baum illuminates the most turbulent political period in the history of the state, interpreting both the weight of continuity and the force of change that swept over it before, during, and immediately after the American Civil War. Students of the South, the Civil War, and African American history, as well as sociologists and political scientists interested in election fraud, political violence, and racial strife, will benefit from this significant volume.