Edmund J. Davis of Texas
Subtitle: Civil War general, Republican leader, Reconstruction governor
By: by Carl H. Moneyhon
Series: The Texas biography series -- no. 2; TCU Texas biography series -- no. 2.
Publisher: TCU Press; Texas Christian University Press
Published: 2010
Place of publication: Fort Worth, Tex
Language: eng
Number of pages: 337
ISBN-13: 9780875654058
Description: Volume two of The Texas Biography Series reveals Edmund J. Davis, the heroic man who stood in strong opposition to his peers and better reflected the ideals of the nation than those of so many of his contemporaries. Carl H. Moneyhon presents a long overdue favorable account of a man who was determined to make progressive changes and stand in stark opposition to the state?s political elite. What moved this man to take such a dramatic stand against his political peers? Moneyhon strives to answer this very question. Edmund J. Davis was not only a part of the political elite during the Civil War, but he also opposed secession. He refused to follow most of Texas? leaders and actively opposed the Confederacy by attempting to bring Texas back to the Union. After the war, Davis was a leader in reconstructing the state based on true free labor and pursued progressive and egalitarian policies as governor of Texas. Through the entire reconstruction process Davis faced extreme Confederate hostility. After leaving the governor?s mansion an unpopular man and politician, he still remained dedicated to changing Texas. He worked to change his adopted state until the day he died.--Amazon.com.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. 313-322) and index.
Table of contents: title: A Southern born man; title: Creation of a Texas Unionist, 1855-1862; title: Civil War service; title: Postwar Unionist; title: Unionism to republicanism; title: Davis and the Republican schism : the Constitutional Convention of 1868-1869; title: The election of 1869; title: E.J. Davis and the future of Texas : the legislative program; title: The fight against lawlessness and violence; title: Edmund Davis, Texas politics, and the destiny of republicanism; title: The struggle for political survival : searching for new political strategy and national recognition; title: A new political direction.