Secession and the Union in Texas (review)

352civil war history about Lincoln, Vidal seems more like a conventional biographer or historian , often using his subject's own words and speeches. But when the action shifts to other characters, Vidal reverts to novelistic form, filling the pages with fantasy, repartee, sexual adventure, and political intrigue. He does this so often, in fact, that the book ends up being overly long. Lincoln suffers from the same problem as Salmon Chase's currency: inflation . There are extraneous subplots, irrelevant cameos, and odd details , like Lincoln's scarecrow hair, that are interesting once, tolerable twice, but tiresome on third or fourth mention. But Vidal at any length is still highly entertaining, and readers of this journal will find Lincoln an absorbing and provocative work of historical fiction. David T. Courtwricht University of Hartford Secession and the Union in Texas. By Walter L. Buenger. (Austin: University of Texas Press, 1984. Pp. 255. $17.50.) This is the first full-scale, scholarly study of the secession movement in Texas. It is long overdue, for the Lone Star State's conversion from staunch L^nionism in 1859 to overwhelming secessionism in I860 provides material for a fascinating case study in the triumph of emotion over reason. Buenger thoroughly charts Texas's progression toward disunion , stressing along the way the unique features which make the state's experience in the secession crisis a distinctive one. The author clearly shows that Texas was far from being a homogeneous state, either culturally, geographically, or politically, in 1860. Its people, most of whom had immigrated from other Southern states, had brought with them their own predilections toward slavery and the Union. The cotton and sugar plantations of the East and South hardly differed from those found in the other Gulf states; but in the northern region of the state, yeoman farmers tilled smaller farms, largely without the aid of slaves; and out West, on the frontier, ranchers and subsistence farmers virtually lived in another world, often finding themselves at the mercy ofhostile Indians and dependent upon the Federal Army both for protection and economic well-being. The presence in several areas of significant minorities of ethnic Texans, most notably of Mexican and German origin, added yet another dimension to the Texas picture. In explaining why Texas evolved so rapidly from a state which had elected Sam Houston and John H. Reagan to high offices on strong Unionist platforms in 1859, to one which would endorse secession by a three-to-one margin in early 1861, the author correctly emphasizes the role of the Texas slave insurrection panic of 1860, which not only shook the state but the entire South as well, and which led many Texans to conclude that neither slavery nor social stability could be preserved if a BOOK REVIEWS353 Republican were to become president. The author also suggests that the seemingly strong Unionist coalition of 1859 was actually based upon a foundation of shifting sand. The success of the opposition in 1859 had been keyed by the support of moderate, pro-Union Democrats, who had disliked the radical leadership of John Marshall and his fire-eating cohorts. But the election of Lincoln soon radicalized these dissident Democrats who dutifully trooped back into the party of their fathers, leaving only Governor Houston and a few others to play out their losing hand on behalf of the Union. Buenger's book is solidly researched and thoroughly footnoted. Indeed his end notes and bibliography together make up fully one-fourth of the book. Unfortunately, the author's style fails to measure up to his scholarship. At best his writing lacks fluidity and imagination; at worst it becomes plodding, redundant, and ambiguous. Nevertheless, although the book is not easy reading it will reward the diligent scholar with many helpful insights into the philosophical, political, and social background of Texas's decision to forsake the Union and cast its lot with the Confederacy. Donald E. Reynolds East Texas State University Railroads, Reconstruction, and the Gospel of Prosperity: Aid under the Radical Republicans, 1865-1877. By Mark W. Summers. (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1984. Pp. xiii, 361. $37.50.) In his pioneer study of the railroad aid question across the postwar South...