How Did Sam Houston Prevent The Civil War

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Did you know that Sam Houston was a slave owner but then wanted to end the civil war and prevent slavery? Sam Houston is known for a lot of things, like trying to prevent the civil war and being a slave owner. If you were to ask me if he should be better remembered for his prevention of the civil war or being a slave owner, I think he should be better remembered for preventing the civil war. He did a lot of things that impacted the civil war. After serving as attorney general in Nashville, Houston won election to the U.S. House of Representatives and headed to Washington, D.C. in 1823 alongside Jackson, a newly minted U.S. senator. Houston won a second congressional term in 1825, and two years later became governor of Tennessee at the age of 34.Houston's rapid rise in public office continued in 1823, when, as a member …show more content…
In the months leading up to the Civil War, he became the only governor of a Southern state to oppose secession. When Texas voted to secede, Houston accepted the decision but refused to swear allegiance to the new Confederate States of America. In response, the Texas convention removed him from office and replaced him with Lt. Gov. Edward Clark. Houston always characterized himself as a Southern man for the Union and opposed any threats of disunity, whether from Northern or Southern agitators. He incurred the permanent wrath of proslavery elements by supporting the Compromise of 1850, a series of measures designed to ensure sectional harmony.His career in the Senate was effectively ended when, in 1855, the Texas legislature officially condemned his position on the Kansas-Nebraska Act.Houston ran for governor of Texas in 1857. He was defeated in a rigorous campaign by the state Democratic Party official nominee, Hardin R. Runnels. Predictably, the state legislature did not reelect Houston to the Senate; instead, in late 1857, it replaced him with John Hemphill. Houston ran a second time for governor in