This paper discusses a case between Texas and White. The case was Texas v. White in 1869. The state of Texas brought suit in the United States Supreme Court to have certain United States government bonds declared the property of the state, and to prevent the present holders of the bonds from collecting upon them. Texas had owned the bonds before the Civil War. As a means of financing during the war, while Texas was a member of the Confederacy, the bonds were sold. Texas now claimed that the sale was void and the bonds still belonged to the state. (Pollack, 1983) The question was simple: Was Texas a State of the Union or a member of the Confederacy? This was the larger question to be answered before the decision regarding the bonds could be made.
