Since Texas requested and received annexation by the United States of America in 1845, segments of its population have sought independence from that nation. While those who have sought to secede from the Union have often been a minority of the population, Texan nationalism has been highlighted through history in events such as the American Civil War, where Texas declared it separation from the Union and joined the Confederate States of America. The Confederacy was not recognized as a separate country by any nation, but it was recognized as a belligerent party. Defeated by the Union in 1865, the Confederacy collapsed and all states were restored to full status in the United States.
In 1868, in Texas v. White, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Texas continued to be a State,



