Historians In Awe Over Discovery At Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello Property

Sam Houston’s Moral Conundrum on Slavery

Sam Houston remains an extremely famous political name and is best known for being the President of the Republic of Texas after the state seceded from the United States. Sam is remembered fondly in the annals of history but he was still definitely a flawed man. He married into the Cherokee tribe and became an honorary member of the tribe. There are conflicting views about Sam Houston’s views on slavery.

Some said that he opposed it entirely, while it seems he was in the possession of twelve slaves when he died. He was said to have made the argument that emancipation might cause a former slave to be jobless and end up worse off. According to his University biographer, “While in office as president of the Republic of Texas and later as governor, he refused to permit payments to bounty hunters of escaped slaves. He also prohibited slave ships from trafficking in Texas.”