The later phases of the secession movement in Texas

When President Roberts adjourned the first session of the Convention on February 5, 1861, exhorting the members to go to their homes and appeal to the people to sustain their work by voting for secession, the first session of the Convention passed into history and the issue was in the hand of the people. It is the purpose of this paper to trace the movement for secession from the date of adjournment, Feb. 5, 1861, to the adjournment of the Second Session of the Convention on March 25, 1861, or rather until the adjournment of the legislature on April 9, 1861. It has not been possible to make a thoroughly comprehensive study of this eventful period of Texas history; and attention has therefore been centered on the following topics: (1) the campaign preceding the secession election, (2) the election itself, (3) the activities of the Committee of Public Safety, (4) the admission of Texas to membership in the Confederacy, and (5) the adjustments made in the constitution and government of Texas in order to bring the state into harmony with its new relations as a member of the Confederate States of America