The Texas Volunteer Guard, created by the Militia Law of 1879, continued to
allow African Americans to serve as citizen soldiers. From 1880 to 1906 over six
hundred black men faithfully served in the various state militia companies of Galveston
and San Antonio; yet, their service has rarely obtained scholarly attention. Often
discounted by historians as mere social clubs or deemed too few and insignificant to
warrant study, these men sought not only to demonstrate their citizenship, but to improve
their social status during a period of racial segregation.
The differences and similarities of these groups of African American men at the
grassroots level are illuminated by using the comparative method to examine socioeconomic
characteristics. Furthermore, this examination demonstrates how racial
attitudes remained flexible enough during this period to allow these men to participate in
military-type activities.
An examination of these activities, both as citizens and as soldiers, makes
evident what inspired this state military service. Framed within the network of local
fraternal, social, religious, educational, and political organizations, coupled with a study of previous military service, the militia companies expose the aim of these African
American men to improve their social status as citizens through militia participation.
The Adjutant General of Texas issued firearms, ammunition, and equipment to the
respective companies of African American militiamen from these cities, and coordinated
training exercises, which involved the travel of armed black men over the state’s existing
railroads.
Despite their segregated status, the very presence of armed, uniformed black men
officially sanctioned by the Democratic-controlled government of Texas suggests that
race relationships still remained flexible enough during this time for African Americans
to display their citizenship and manhood through state military service. Conversely,
their dissolution in 1906 reveals the termination of that flexibility and solidified their
status as second-class citizens. Even though they were unsuccessful in continuing their
military organization, the heroic efforts of these men deserves inclusion in the written
history of the long struggle for African American civil rights in this country.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:tamu.edu/oai:repository.tamu.edu:1969.1/ETD-TAMU-2522 |
| Date | 15 May 2009 |
| Creators | Blair, John Patrick |
| Contributors | Dawson, Joseph G. |
| Source Sets | Texas A and M University |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Book, Thesis, Electronic Thesis, text |
| Format | electronic, application/pdf, born digital |
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