RUSK COUNTY AND THE CIVIL WAR

On August 5, 1860, the booming town of Henderson burned. Forty-three buildings, including two hotels, were destroyed for a loss of 220,000.

John Crow remembered the fire:
"I was about eight years old when Henderson burned. I went to town with my father the day after the fire. It burned every house as well as I recollect, except the Flanagan Brick Building. I remember I was barefooted and careful not to burn my feet…
My father said at the time they thought a fellow named Green Herndon, a union man, had hired a negro woman to burn Henderson. Herndon was a northerner and was a pronounced opponent of secession. On the negro woman's testimony, a mob gathered, threw a loop around his neck, tied it to a saddle horse which went around the public square dragging Herndon to death. Then they hung the boy to a tree and shot it full of holes…War was in preparation and people were in fits of anger…
When the war broke out, the men got all the files they could find and went to the blacksmith shops and made knives and swords. There was much laughter and I remember they said, "We'll whip those damn Yankees with axes and butcher knives. Everyone was anxious to go."

In 1861, Rusk County citizens voted 1376 for, and 135 against secession from the union. The confederate cause was eagerly taken up and the county, the largest in Texas in 1860, sent more men to fight than did any other Texas county. More than 1500 men signed up.
There were 12 companies from Rusk County in the confederacy, and although there were no battles in the county, the men fought in many of the most important battles of the war.
The first company mustered into service from Rusk County volunteers was the Battle of Murfreesboro and Chickamauga. During the last stages of the war, many county men participated in the Battles of Atlanta, Mobile and Mansfield.
The Battle of Mansfield was won by the Confederates and the frightening sounds of cannon fire were heard at the Tatum Plantation and along Martins Creek on April 8, 1864.
The county provided pottery and leather articles for the military forces during the war and even contributed its "Iron Cage" jail to be melted down for cannon balls.
The news of the Fall of Vicksburg in 1863 came through the first telegraph in Texas, from Marshall-Camden-Millvile-Henderson, along the old wire road.

RECONSTRUCTION

Reconstruction was a period of marked irregularity for Southerners as they tried to gain readmission to the United States and rebuild a devastated economy suffering from the emotional, psychic burden of defeat and the "Lost Cause".
Reconstruction governments, imposed by the North, pursued active government policies that resulted in higher taxes. The traditional political leaders of the South were temporarily disfranchised and blacks temporarily enfranchised.
Before qualifying for readmission, Southern states would hold constitutional conventions which took each of the following actions:
· Abolish the institution of slavery by ratifying the 13th Amendment to the Constitution.
· Establish the civil status and rights of ex-slaves in the society.
· Refuse to accept the ordinances of session, avowing that secession was unconstitutional.
· Refuse to pay the confederate war debt.
The states of the South would be under military occupation until the entire Reconstruction process was complete. Only those individuals who would swear the "iron clad oath" would be eligible to vote and to participate in the political process. Individuals who had participated in secession or the Confederate war effort were to be temporarily disfranchised.
Texas reentered the United States in 1869. They met the requirements in order to rid Texas of the hated army of occupation. Given the tremendous unpopularity of Reconstruction, it is understandable that Texas moved to undo everything associated with Reconstruction as soon as the state was readmitted to the Union.
The Constitution of 1876 replaced the Reconstruction Constitution with a government that was kept small and as weak as possible. We are still operating in Texas under that Constitution. The Reconstruction period created bitterness against black Texans that would delay the attainment of equal rights a full century.
The legacy of Reconstruction in Texas is considerable. It includes the century long domination of the Democratic Party, a suspicion of office holders, reluctance to tax adequately for vital services, such as public schools, and a state constitution that requires voters to decide many local issues on a statewide basis.
Reconstruction in Texas after the Civil War was a hard time for everyone. Many people had lost jobs from the destruction of the war, others lost family and possessions. Life also changed for African Americans with the end of slavery. Even though they were free, they were still treated unfairly.
Although Reconstruction is often thought of in political terms, economic reconstruction was necessary as well. A new labor system had to be devised to replace slavery. The resulting sharecropping or tenant farming had its roots in the Reconstruction period.

CONFEDERATE VETERAN ORGANIZATIONS

The first organized veteran groups were established in both the North and the South after the Civil War. The national association in the South was called the United Confederate Veterans, and the counter part in the North was called the Grand Army of the Republic.
Southern veterans organized around brigades and regiments. Green's, Granbury's, Sibley's, Ross's. Parson's, Polignoc's and Hood's Texas Brigade Association and Terry's Texas Ranger's Association were organized in the 1870's. Texas also had a State Confederate Veterans Association.
These association's goals were first to provide aid for fellow veterans who were destitute or sick and to care for the families of the deceased comrades. (Texas did not adopt pensions for its Civil War veterans until 1899). Second, to perpetuate friendships formed during the war. Third, to care for the graves of departed comrades and to erect monuments to their memories and fourth, to collect data and preserve records for historical purposes.
Reunions of these associations were held as long as old soldiers were able to attend.

LESSON PLAN

Topic: Juneteenth (slavery)

Grade: 3-4

Curriculum Connections: History, Citizenship, Culture, and Writing

TEKS: Grade: 3 (12A0
Grade 4: (4A0, (17D), (20)

Objectives: The student will: understand ethnic/cultural celebrations of the US and Texas; describe the impact of the Civil War and reconstruction on Texas; understand the contribution of people of various racial, ethnic and religious groups in Texas.

Vocabulary: Juneteenth, reconstruction, Civil War, slavery, freedom, proclamation, democrats, confederacy

Background Material: Read about reconstruction in Texas and Juneteenth

Lesson Activities:
1. Briefly discuss Civil War, reconstruction, Emancipation Proclamation, and Juneteenth.
2. Activity: Have students create a poster stating that the slaves are free. Optional-can dye paper with tea to make paper look aged; also can burn the edges (this should be done or supervised by an adult).

Example of statement to put on poster:

" The People of Texas are informed that in
Accordance with a Proclamation from the
Executive of the United States, all slaves
Are free…"

Materials Needed: paper, pen pencil, markers, tea, matches

References: www.risd.org/schools/rwjh/Reconstruction_Texas/
                  www.austin.cc.tx.us/1patrick/his1693/reconstruction.html
                  www.juneteenth.com