Semester Exam Study Guide

People:

 Lyndon B Johnson – Texas senator who dominated the Senate by bullying people; vice president to JFK; after he became president he pushed congress to pass Civil Rights legislation  Oveta Culp Hobby – helped form the Women’s Army Corps during WWII; became involved in politics; held a cabinet post – Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare  James K Polk – president of the US when Texas was annexed; ran on the idea of fulfilling Manifest Destiny  Buffalo Soldiers – African American regiment who after the Civil War helped protect settlers of the Frontier  Hector P Garcia – founding of the GI Forum led to expanded rights for Hispanic Americans  Barbara Jordan – first African American elected to the US Congress since Reconstruction  Horton Foote – Texas playwright; wrote the screenplays for To Kill a Mockingbird and Tender Mercies; awarded National Medal of Arts  Audie Murphy – mostly highly decorated soldier from WWII; became of movie star after the war  Anson Jones – president of Texas when we were annexed  Texas Rangers were created to protect Texans living on the frontier from Native American attacks

Texas Annexation:

 1845- year Texas was annexed; Delayed for 9 years because northern states feared adding another slave state would upset the political power in Congress

 Many people in the US were NOT in favor of annexation because they were afraid it might result in a war with Mexico

 US – Mexican War – ended with the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo; US got the land all the way to the Pacific Ocean; Rio Grande established as the southern border of the US

Civil War (1861-1865):

 Sam Houston removed from office in 1860 because he refused to take the Oath to the Confederacy  Texas seceded from the Union in 1961  Slavery- the majority of Texans supported slavery, but some where opposed to it; many Texans argued that slavery was vital to the southern economy  After the south surrendered, the 13th, 14th, & 15th amendments were added to the US Constitution (13th – abolished slavery; 14th – guaranteed equal protection; 15th – gave the right to (all men) vote – regardless of race); each state that seceded had to ratify the amendments before they would be readmitted; each state also had to write a new constitution; included in the Texas Constitution of 1876 (our current state constitution) was the right to vote (for all men) regardless of race  After the Civil War most freed slaves began making a living as sharecroppers

Economics:

 West Texas is home to many large cattle ranches; West Texas leaders in goat and sheep ranching – use large irrigation systems due to a lack of natural water sources  Cattle drives from 1860-late 1870s helped the economy recovery after the Civil War; demand for beef in the Northeast led to rapid growth in the cattle industry  Railroads and barbed wire (late 1870s) helped bring an end to the long cattle drives and the open range  Railroads – new cities developed along the railroad lines in Texas including such cities as Dallas and Houston  Overproduction of oil during the Great Depression led to a drop in prices and slowed economic growth  With improvements/innovations in drilling the oil industry has helped Texas maintain a healthy economy and made us a world leader in the petroleum industry  International conflict continues to increase profits in the oil industry  Texas continues to be a leader in world economics due to our advances in technology and medicine – we trade with a large number of countries and our economy is influenced by the world economy  Houston – home to NASA has helped make Texas a leader in the aerospace industry

Immigration/Migration:

 Hispanic population will increase faster than the Anglo population  The large number of immigrants who continue to move to Texas results in a very diverse culture  During the Contemporary Era of Texas a large number of people continued to move into the state due to job opportunities

Politics/Government:  First Amendment rights – free speech, free religion, free press (which keeps people informed and ensures that the government does not become corrupt) are important parts of both the Texas and US constitutions

 Responsibilities of citizens include serving on juries, registering cars, maintaining your driver’s license

 State and local governments are funded by property and sales taxes

Texas in the 1900s:

 Texas was occupied with the numerous battles with Native Americans in the first several years of the 20th century as we continued westward expansion

 Galveston Hurricane (1900) – deadliest natural disaster in the US; claimed over 6,000 lives; millions of dollars in destruction; town built a seawall to protect the city afterward; a number of businesses moved inland to Houston to avoid future storms which in turn helped it become a major port city

 Spindletop (1901) – first major discovery of oil; changed the economic future of Texas forever; drew a large number of people to Texas hoping to make it rich in the oil industry; created growth in Urban areas

 WWI (1914-1918)– Texas helped supply the troops; because of our natural resources we were able to make great profits off the war;

 Temperance movement – movement led by those who believed the abuse of alcohol was destroying the American family; wanted to stop the sale, manufacture, and transport of alcohol – they succeed when the 18th amendment was passed in 1920; the amendment was later repealed in 1933

 Women’s suffrage – right for women to vote; began in the late 1800s; many states allowed women to vote before the national government; finally achieved success in 1920 when the 19th amendment was passed

 LULAC – created to protect the rights of Spanish speaking people

 Great Depression (1929-1940s) – did not really hit Texas until 1932 when prices declined and economic growth slowed

 Dust Bowl – happened after the Great Depression; damaged crops in the panhandle- resulting in many family farms being lost to banks; thousands of people moved West

 Roosevelt’s New Deal – put people back to work building bridges, roads, dams and other public work construction projects during the Great Depression

 WWII – brought us out of the Great Depression; Texas recovered quickly as we supplied various equipment, materials, and agriculture to the troops; built new military bases and installations that were used to support the war effort

Definitions:

 boom/bust – period of economic prosperity, followed by a sharp economic downturn

 Popular sovereignty – one of the 7 principles of the Constitution – reflects the will of the people