On March 15, 1866, the Texas Constitutional Convention formally declared the 1861 Ordinance of Secession null and void, explicitly renouncing the state’s claimed right to secede from the Union. This historic declaration came during a convention that began on February 7, 1866, where delegates were sharply divided between radical Unionists and radical secessionists. J.W. Throckmorton, a former Confederate soldier who had originally opposed secession, was elected president of the convention through a coalition of moderate Unionists and various secessionist factions.
The convention faced several crucial tasks required for Texas’s restoration to the Union. These included not only addressing secession but also dealing with the abolition of slavery, determining the status of freedmen, and handling the war debt. While the delegates agreed to protect freedmen’s basic rights to sue, be sued, and testify in certain court cases, they stopped short of granting them the right to hold public office or vote. The convention also took decisive action by repudiating both the war debt and all civil debt incurred between January 1861 and August 1865.
Though the convention initially claimed supreme legislative and constituent powers, it ultimately decided to submit its proposed changes to Texas voters as the Constitution of 1866. However, the path to full restoration wasn’t immediate – Texas remained under military government until 1870, when it finally met all requirements for readmission to the Union, including ratification of the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments.