I will offer this thread these few opines...the Jeferson Davis statue was erected in 1935 on the UT campus. I have no idea as to why, as to my knowledge h had no direct connection to Texas other than being the President of the confederate States. If any particular President'e statue should be erected, I would think it would be Sam Houston. At least he was the President of the Republic of Texas.
1. Texas joined the United States because it was broke as hell. Period. Nothing more and nothing less. The Republic lasted 10 years and went bankrupt. It was a barron land. They were still giving away land to anyone that settled it. Mostly German immigrants. But make no mistake, they were broke and could not defend their own borders. Now one could if they chose to, could cherry pick further as to why they were broke and why joining the States would help them, but bottom line, Texas was flat *** broke.
2. Hood's Texas Brigade fought in every major battle in the Civil War under the Army of N. Virginia but one. So yes, they were heavily involved in the Civil War. I believe the misconception is/was that battles did not occur in Texas. But Texas did indeed battle. Hood's Brigade most notable battle was at Gettysburg. It was on the 2nd day of the Battle of Gettysburg. The 1st & most of the 2nd day went to the Confederacy. If you study the Battle of Gettysburg, you'll see that Hood's Div did a lot of damage and eventually took over and controlled Devil's Den albeit they were weakened. They never could muster the strength and cannon power to take Little Hill Top. Although they tried charging the hill over & over, & over. By day 3, Lee's Army, including Hood's Brigade was spent. It was the turning point of not just the war, but the will of the people in the South. They went in retreat and never really battled again in northern territory. The march to Wahignton soon became Sherman's march on the South. The rest as they say is history.
To the victors of war goes the spoils. As such, the victor writes the narrative of it's history. While many wish to think is was all about slavery and some think it was about States rights, I'm one to believe that is is/was all about their perception of Liberty. My Great Granfather fought at Gettysburg. He didn't own a slave. Hell he was so poor he didn't own a pot to piss in. Most of the Confederate army was in the same situation. What they had though was a liberty they believed was crashing and falling apart. Great Grand Daddy was shot and became a POW at Gettysburg. He was moved to a prison outside of Baltimore until the war was over. He died in the Confederate Veterans Hosptial and buried in the Texas State Cemetery.
Today's understanding of the civil war, the right and the wrong of it, the statues of it's war heroes etc, are much different today than it was in 1935. For example, the Confederate Veteran's Hospital was actually on the grounds of the UT. Yes Sir, the hospital, building & land was purchased, then flattened by UT and now has dorms etc on the same ground. The Texas State Cemetery is a block or two East of I-35, opposite the UT campus. Great Grandpa is buried on Confederate Hill. It's a beautiful cemetery that is maintained by the state and has many, many politicians and dignitaries buried there.
What CT posted is correct. After the war, slavery was outlawed, that's about all that happened. Segregation etc was permitted by the North as they had enough of the fighting as well. So for 100 years after the freeing of slaves, it took a Civil Rights movement to get things better for the Black man. Fast forward 50 years to today and we are seeing another movement to rid the history of the leaders of the Confederacy.
Whether right or wrong, there is no doubt that... to the victors goes the spoils. Peace out.