Two Counties in Crisis: Measuring Political Change in Reconstruction Texas by Robert J. Dillard (review)

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Reviewed by:

• Two Counties in Crisis: Measuring Political Change in Reconstruction Texas by Robert J. Dillard
• Kenneth W. Howell

Two Counties in Crisis: Measuring Political Change in Reconstruction Texas. By Robert J. Dillard. ( Denton: University of North Texas, 2023. Pp. 241. Illustrations, maps, notes, bibliography, index).

Two Counties in Crisis provides new insights on the political history of Texas during the Civil War and Reconstruction eras by utilizing "an interdisciplinary approach that blends political science theory and the traditional primary-source evidence" to offer a "broader perspective on the persistent questions of Reconstruction's failure" in the Lone Star State (p. xii). In a concise examination of local politics, Robert Dillard convincingly argues that the political culture of Collin and Harrison counties went through major changes between 1861 and 1876. According to the author, these transformations resulted from reactionary politics triggered by statewide events, including the Secession crisis in 1861, support for the Confederacy between 1861–1865, and the adoption of the 1876 Texas Constitution.

Dillard explains that political culture was initially forged by geographical locations and migration patterns. For example, the citizens of Collin County lived on the frontier and had migrated from the Upper South, circumstances that led them to place more faith in rugged individualism than in "southern concepts of elitism" commonly associated with traditional southern plantation societies of the Lower South (p. 32). Conversely, Harrison County, situated in East Texas, was heavily populated with Lower South migrants, who were more economically dependent on the use of slave labor and embraced the cultural values of the Old South. These cultural differences led the voters of Collin County to vehemently oppose secession in 1861, while their eastern counterparts strongly favored disunion.

Once the Civil War erupted, however, Collin and Harrison counties accepted the fact that they faced a common enemy, prompting them to support the Confederacy. Furthermore, after the war ended, the counties embraced the concept of a new threat—the Republican Party. For the citizens of Collin and Harrison counties, Texas Republicans, especially prominent party leaders such as Gov. Edmund J. Davis, became the new symbols of federal tyranny. In response, these counties became politically aligned against Republican policies, including legislation related to the militia bill, the state police, railroad development, and a state school system. These positions were consistent with the majority of voters in Texas and eventually led to Democratic victories in the elections of 1872 and the complete dismantling of Governor Davis's policies.

Beginning in 1874, Democrats called for the replacement of the Republican Constitution of 1869, a feat which was accomplished two years later. With the ratification of the Constitution of 1876, Dillard reveals how much the political culture in Collin and Harrison counties had changed since 1861. By the time of the ratification vote, Collin County embraced a conservative political stance, voting 1,154 to 88 in favor of the new constitution; while Harrison County, which now included many new black voters, overwhelmingly rejected the [End Page 106] proposed constitution by 2,338 to 839 votes. In both cases, the political culture of the counties was opposite what it had been before the war.

Two Counties in Crisis is well researched and provides new insights into the evolving political landscape of Texas in the years between 1861 and 1876. Academic and lay historians will undoubtedly commend Dillard for his efforts to explain how the evolution of political culture contributed to the failure of Republican policies in Texas, providing continuity to the ever-shifting political sands of Reconstruction politics.

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