What impact did Texas v. White have on Reconstruction?

Answer 1

Texas v. White
• 7 Wall. 700 (1869)
• Vote: 6–3
• For the Court: Chase
• Dissenting: Grier, Miller, and Wayne

In 1861, early in the Civil War, Texas seceded from the Union to join the Confederate States of America. After the war, Texas was temporarily governed under the Reconstruction policies of the federal government. This Reconstruction government of Texas brought suit to recover state-owned bonds (certificates of debt) that the state's Confederate government had sold.

Buyers of these bonds, such as George White, argued that Texas was at that time not a state and therefore could not sue anyone in a federal court. White based his claim on the fact that Texas had not yet been fully restored to the Union.

The Issue

Was Texas able to file a suit in the U.S. Supreme Court, given the facts of its secession, its status as a Confederate state during the Civil War, and its current status under Reconstruction policies? Did the U.S. Supreme Court have jurisdiction in this case?

Opinion of the Court

The Court ruled against White, and Texas was able to get back its bonds. In his opinion, Chief Justice Salmon Chase set forth enduring ideas about the nature of the federal Union. He stated that the Constitution created “an indestructible Union, composed of indestructible States.” Thus, secession was illegal, and in a legal sense Texas had never left the Union. Therefore, as a full-fledged state of the federal Union, Texas could file suit in the federal courts.

Significance

Chief Justice Chase's decision established that secession was not valid under the U.S. Constitution. A constitutional argument that had persisted from the founding of the United States through the Civil War was finally settled.