Sam Houston was a slaveholder who had a complicated history with the institution of slavery. He was the president of the independent Republic of Texas, which was founded as a slave-holding nation, and governor of Texas after its 1845 annexation to the union as a slave state. He voted various times against the extension of slavery into the Western United States and he did not swear an oath to the Confederate States of America, which marked the end of his political career.

Houston believed that it was more important to stand by other states and their interests than to divide the United States over slavery. He stated that the country was founded on slavery, but when it did not suit the economic needs of Northern states, those states abolished slavery. He claimed that Northern states benefited from slave labor when they bought cotton and sugar produced from Southern plantations. Although he governed Texas as a slave-holding state and was a slave owner himself, he did not feel that it was in the best interests of Texas to secede from the Union over slavery.

Houston and his wife, Margaret Lea Houston, relied on slaves to perform household, agricultural, carpentry, blacksmithing, and other duties for the family. Eliza, who came with Margaret into Houston's family, was critical to running the household and raising the children. She stayed with the daughters of Sam and Margaret until she died in 1898. The multi-skilled Joshua was important to meeting the needs of the family. Houston often hired his slaves out for money and allowed them to keep a portion of the money for themselves. When Houston died, Joshua offered to give money to Margaret to help support her children.

Evolution of Houston's attitudes

Early life Sam Houston was born into a slaveholding family in Virginia. His father, Samuel Davidson Houston, an American Revolutionary War veteran, died in 1806 when Houston was eleven. When he was thirteen, his mother Elizabeth Blair Paxton (1757–1831) moved the family of nine children to the wilderness of Blount County, Tennessee. He had little formal education, but read the classics like Caesar's Commentaries (Commentarii de Bello Gallico and Commentarii de Bello Civili), the Iliad, and other books that he could find.

Houston's elder brother placed him in a job at a trading post. He later decided to follow his adventuresome spirit and ran away to a Cherokee village led by Chief John Jolly (Cherokee: Oolooteeskee) on Hiwassee Island. He was welcomed into a community of Native Americans who lived in log cabins. They were farmers and slaveholders, who had a written language. Houston, who wore the clothing of the Cherokees, lived in the village until he was about 18 years of age.

After teaching and completing his education at Porter Academy, Houston fought in the Creek War. He was badly injured but developed what would be a life-long friendship with Andrew Jackson, who was also his political mentor.

President of the Republic of Texas (1836–1838; 1841–1844) In 1837, a law was passed while Houston was president of the Republic of Texas that outlawed the illegal importation of slaves into the republic and he prohibited slave ships from doing business in Texas. He also refused to allow bounty hunters to receive payments for capturing enslaved people who were on the run and refused to enforce a law that enslaved blacks who lived in Texas for more than two years while free.

U.S. Senator (1846–1859)

Prior to the 1913 Seventeenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, United States senators were chosen by their state legislatures, rather than by popular election. Houston served the United States Senate for 13 years, during which he voted against the westward expansion of slavery. He believed that slave labor would not be practical for the types of crops that would be grown in the Western states.

He opposed John C. Calhoun's Address of the Southern Delegates in Congress, to Their Constituents of 1849. A year later, he supported the Compromise of 1850 to promote harmony among the states, which "incurred the permanent wrath of pro-slavery elements". By 1850, Houston was being discussed as a possible candidate for president of the United States, but his marriage to Eliza Allen (his first wife) took him out of the presidential race.

Opposing fellow Southerners, Houston voted against the Kansas–Nebraska Act (1854), which would have spread slavery into western territories and states. It would repeal the Missouri Compromise of 1820 that outlawed slavery north of latitude 36°30'. He warned that passing the act would lead to a civil war.

Houston initially had the support of many of his constituents in Texas. As more slaveholders moved into the state, he suffered politically for holding firm to his belief that every state should decide for itself whether it wanted to be a slave state. The only Southern Democrat to vote against the act, the Texas legislature did not reappoint him to the Senate, but allowed him to finish out his term until March 4, 1859. It later earned him a spot, though, in John F. Kennedy's Profiles in Courage. Houston said of his stance: "The glory of my life was that I had the moral manhood on that occasion to stand up against the influences which surrounded me, and to be honest in the worst of times." Houston lost the 1857 Texas gubernatorial election against Hardin Richard Runnels, but defeated Runnels in the 1859 election, becoming the 7th Governor of Texas.

Speech on slavery (1855) Houston gave a speech on slavery on February 22, 1855, in Boston in which he stated that each of the original states relied on slave labor, although Northern states later outlawed slavery. He felt that each state should determine whether to allow slavery or not.

Houston stated that progress in the United States was due to the supply of low-cost foreign labor, and if low-cost foreign labor could be sustained without the capital investment to purchase black people, slavery would die. He expressed his belief that blacks were better suited to performing long hours of hard work in hot weather in a way that white people could not sustain. Throughout his speech, Houston talked of the need for Northern and Southern states to work together for their individual and mutual interests. The products of slave labor, sugar and cotton were purchased by Northern states so that there was a mutual dependence on slavery.

He felt that if slaves were to be freed altogether, they would end up living on the streets without jobs, without means to sustain themselves, and the Southern economy would be ruined.

He expressed his opinion about a possible future for slaves in the Colony of Liberia:

Governor of Texas (1859–1861)

Houston was elected governor when there was growing support for the secession of Texas from the Union. In addition, its white citizens became particularly upset after John Brown raided Harpers Ferry (October 16–18, 1859). It was a key topic of conversation at the time. Slaveholders became more fearful of slave rebellions.

Houston continued to oppose secession. Fearlessly loyal to the United States, he said that he would rather have Texas destroyed than cause disharmony within the Union. He warned that secession would lead to civil war, resulting in a victory by the North and ruination of the South. Houston toured Texas in one last plea to stay with the Union. He said:

In San Antonio, at what is now San Pedro Springs Park, Houston spoke against secession in 1860. He narrowly escaped an assassination attempt in Waco, being chased through the streets by an angry mob in late 1860. Throngs of enraged malcontents surrounded the Texas Governor's Mansion in Austin. Around December 1860, Margaret closed the mansion doors to all but those with an invitation from the Houstons.

Houston was the only Southern governor to oppose secession from the Union before the Civil War. On February 1, 1861, a state convention overwhelmingly voted (168 to 8) to secede from the Union. The vote was taken over Houston's opposition. The Confederate States of America was established on February 8, 1861, and by March 2, Texas seceded from the Union. On March 16, 1861, Houston refused to swear an oath to the Confederacy. In response, the Texas legislature removed him from office. The pro-Confederacy lieutenant governor Edward Clark assumed his position.

Civil War (1861–1865) About the civil war, Houston stated that he loved Texas too much to support what he was sure would come to it: the death of its citizens and civil strife.

During August 1861, Sam Houston, Jr., enlisted in the Confederate States Army 2nd Texas Infantry Regiment, Company C Bayland Guards, sending Margaret into melancholia. Margaret dreaded that her first-born child would never be home again. Before Sam Jr. left, his mother gave him a pocket-sized Bible and his father gave him a Confederate uniform.

Houston himself tried to help out by assuming care of their other children in between his extended visits to Galveston. Margaret's fears seemed well-founded when her son was critically wounded and left for dead at the April 1862 Battle of Shiloh. A second bullet was stopped by his Bible, bearing an inside inscription from her. He was found languishing in a field by a Union Army clergyman who picked up the Bible and also found a letter from Margaret in his pocket. Taken prisoner and sent to Camp Douglas in Illinois, he was later released in a prisoner exchange and received a medical discharge in October.

Houston's slaves Houston owned 12 enslaved people

Marriage to Margaret Lea

Before Sam married Margaret, he was the slaveholder of two men named Tom Blue and Esau (also Esaw). Houston, known for having a drinking problem, entered a phase of his life that "worked a complete reformation" of his character, according to Ramage. He married the young Margaret Moffette Lea of Marion, Alabama, on May 9, 1840, and he was baptized at the Baptist Church in Independence, Texas, in 1854.

Margaret became a slave owner at the age of 14. Her father, Temple Lea, died on January 28, 1834, and in his will, he left her four enslaved people, including Eliza, who was a young girl at the time, and Joshua, who was 12 at the time. Vianna and Charlotte had also been with the Lea family for about as long as Joshua and Eliza.

Households

Of their many households, the Houstons generally spent the summers in Cedar Point on Trinity Bay. The family lived there in a house built of logs that were weather-boarded. Separate buildings accommodated their servants. In the fall, they resided in Huntsville (at Woodland) or in a house near Baylor College in Independence. Other residences were the Texas Governor's Mansion and Raven Hill. Joshua, who was a carpenter, managed the construction of Raven Hill. The estate included the main house and a large kitchen connected to the big house by a covered walkway. There were rows of slave cabins, a smokehouse, barns, and stables. A large vegetable garden provided most of the food for the family and servants. They also had a smokehouse where bacon, sausage, and ham were cured. The family and servants traveled between residences for over a year.

Due to her health, Margaret was not able to travel much with Houston. She never visited him in Washington, D.C., when he was a senator and did not accompany him on campaign trails. She created a home environment, with their family of eight children, that he longed to return to.