Texas History Part Four - Watermelon Kid · The 1900 Galveston Hurricane. On September 8, 1900...
Transcript of Texas History Part Four - Watermelon Kid · The 1900 Galveston Hurricane. On September 8, 1900...
Texas History Part Four
10: From Progressivism to Depression
Dr. Butler
All images used in this slideshow that aren’t my own photos, are
either in the Public Domain or used under the “Fair Use”
provision of U.S. Copyright law.
The Worst Natural Disaster in U.S. History
The 1900 Galveston Hurricane
On September 8, 1900 Galveston, Texas was struck by a category
4 hurricane. It remains the worst natural disaster in U.S. history.
The death toll was estimated at between 6,000 and 12,000 people.
Between 1902 and 1904, to protect against
future hurricanes, Galveston built a
seawall, which has periodically been
raised in height and lengthened.
13 min. 38 sec.
Spindletop and the Texas Oil Boom
1901
In 1900, John D. Rockefeller, who made his fortune in the
petroleum industry, was one of the wealthiest men in America.
“Nobody knows how many millions Rockefeller is worth.”---H. D. Lloyd, ”Story of a Great Monopoly,” Atlantic Monthly, March 1881
Rockefeller made his fortune selling kerosene.
“In the United States, in the cities as well as the country,
petroleum is the general illuminator. ---H. D. Lloyd, ”Story of a Great Monopoly,” Atlantic Monthly, March 1881
Using cut-throat business practices, Rockefeller outsold and bought out his
competitors until his Standard Oil Company controlled 90% of the petroleum market.
“Very few of the forty millions of people in the United States
who burn kerosene know that its production, manufacture, and
export, its price at home and abroad, have been controlled for
many years by a single corporation, the Standard Oil
Company.”---H. D. Lloyd, ”Story of a Great Monopoly,” Atlantic Monthly, March 1881
But when Thomas Edison invented the light bulb in 1880,
it threatened to drive Rockefeller out of business.
Rockefeller was saved from ruin
by another invention, the
automobile, which created a
demand for oil and gasoline.
The increased demand for oil and
gasoline also led to the rise of a
new breed of men, called
“wildcatters,” anxious to make
their fortunes in the oil business.
One of them was a man named
Patillo Higgins, who believed
that oil could be found in
southeast Texas. He was right.
Although oil had been found in Texas in the
19th century, it wasn’t until 1901, when the
Higgins’ Spindletop gusher came in, that
the oil industry in Texas began to boom.
In 1906, during the presidency of Theodore Roosevelt, the federal
government filed an anti-trust lawsuit against Rockefeller’s Standard Oil.
In 1909, the Supreme Court ruled that the Standard
Oil company must be broken up in order to restore
competition and in Texas, the company was fined
for violating state anti-trust laws.
10 min. 56 sec.
5 min. 14 sec.
Today, the Spindletop-Gladys City Boomtown
Museum at Beaumont preserves the history of
the early days of the Texas oil boom.
TR Comes to Texas
1905
In the spring of 1905 Theodore Roosevelt
became the first sitting president to visit Texas.
On his way to Dallas, TR made short stops at
Denison, Sherman, McKinney, and Plano.
TR arrived in Dallas on April 5, 1905. An editorial in the Dallas Times Herald
praised him, saying, “He is not a Republican except in name; he is not a Democrat,
except in practice.”
Following a parade, TR spoke to a crowd of thousands
outside the Oriental Hotel. That evening, he attended a
banquet in his honor, attended by civic leaders.
“This afternoon I passed through a
veritable garden of the Lord, and it
is only a few weeks since I signed
the bill under which the Trinity
River will be improved, and I was
mighty glad to do it, for I think that
we Americans have learned the
lesson that whatever is good for
some of us is good for all.”
--Theodore Roosevelt, Dallas, Texas April 5, 1905
At Austin, TR addressed the state
legislature and then gave a public
speech outside the capitol.
At San Antonio, TR gave a speech in
front of the Alamo and attended a
reunion of the Rough Riders.
In May 2019, a statue of TR, as leader of the Rough Riders,
was installed outside San Antonio’s Menger Hotel.
The Brownsville Affair
1906
In 1906 TR dishonorably discharged 167 black soldiers
(including 6 medal of honor winners) stationed at Fort Brown,
Texas for an alleged riot. There was no court martial.
1 min. 40 sec.
A New Form of Transportation
The Interurban
In the early 1900s a new form of public transportation
began to appear in Texas, the Interurban.
In 1902 a regular electric Interurban service began
operating between Dallas and Fort Worth.
6 min. 25 sec.
The Big Chief Speaks
Quanah Parker visits the State Fair
Some Indians adjusted to their new life better than others.
One was Comanche Chief Quanah Parker.
Quanah (fourth from left) became the recognized spokesman for his people.
Although he continued to wear his
hair long and in braids, practiced
polygamy, and used peyote,
Quanah urged the Comanches to
live like whites. On many
occasions he wore a white Stetson
and a 3-piece suit. Quanah also
raised cattle and lived in a
wooden house.
Quanah Parker’s “Star House” in Cache, Oklahoma, at the foot of the Wichita
Mountains, was built for him about 1884 by Cattleman Burk Burnett.
Quanah Parker’s “Star House” today, on the
grounds of an old amusement park in Cache.
Quanah often traveled to Washington on behalf of the Comanches.
In 1885 Quanah’s father-in-law Yellow Bear died in a tragic accident
when he and Quanah visited the Fat Stock Show in Fort Worth, Texas.
In 1905 both Quanah and the Apache Chief Geronimo rode in President
Theodore Roosevelt’s inaugural parade in Washington. Later, “TR”
hunted wolves with Quanah in Oklahoma and was entertained at the Star
House for dinner. Although he genuinely liked the Progressive Republican
president, Quanah was himself a Democrat.
Quanah had a North Texas town and a short-line railroad named for
him. He was one of its best-known promoters.
In 1909 and 1910 Quanah Parker visited
the Texas State Fair in Dallas to promote
the Quanah and Acme Railroad.
During one of his visits, Quanah and his wives
toured the fairgrounds in an automobile.
Quanah Parker died in 1911. This is his grave at Fort Sill,
Oklahoma. His mother, Cynthia Ann, is buried here too.
10 min. 01 sec.
Trouble in Mexico
1913-1914
In 1913 President Francisco
Madero was overthrown and
murdered in 1913 by General
Victoriano Huerta.
President Wilson refused to
recognize Huerta’s government
and supported Mexicans who
sought to overthrow him.
Villa
Zapata
Obregon
Carranza
1914: To stop a German ship carrying
arms for Huerta’s government U.S. troops
seized the port of Veracruz.
In a booklet published by the Democratic National Committee, President Wilson and
others explained the his actions in Mexico were always well-intended.
After Venustiano
Carranza overthrew
Huerta in 1914, the
U.S. withdrew its
troops and restored
diplomatic relations..
3 min. 02 sec.
The Border or “Punitive” Expedition
1916-1917
March 9, 1916: Mexican
presidential aspirant
Francisco “Pancho” Villa
leads a raid on Columbus,
NM, destroying property
and killing 17 Americans.
1916: Gen. John J. “Black Jack” Pershing leads
U.S. “Border Expedition” (5,800 troops) into
Mexico to find Villa. Some of those troops
came from Texas and were stationed in Texas. 2 min. 28 sec.
Texas and the Great War
1917-1918
During the First World War, some
200,000 Texans served in the armed
forces of the United States. About
450 women served as nurses. 3 min. 14 sec.
During the First World War, there
were several Army forts and
National Guard camps in Texas.
There were also a number of
military aviator training fields.
Some of these facilities are still in
existence today.
Love Field in Dallas was one of the
aviator training fields.
Camp Dick, located in the infield of the race
track at Dallas’ Fair Park, was named for a
pilot killed in a crash at Love Field.
Camp Logan, in Houston, was another training
camp, remnants of which can still be seen today.
4 min. 10 sec.
World War One also brought a lot of social changes
to Texas and the nation. One was women working
in munitions factories.
3 min. 20 sec.
Prohibition in Texas
Prohibition vs. Local Option
The Prohibition Movement of the 1890s and early twentieth
century was led by the Women’s Christian Temperance
Union and the Anti-Saloon League. Their goal was to rid the
entire United States of intoxicating beverages. 8 min. 54 sec.
Employing a state-by-state strategy, the movement put pressure
on individual states to pass statewide Prohibition laws.
In Texas, a battle broke out
between “Wets” and “Drys,”
people who either supported
“Local Option,” allowing
individual communities to
decide for themselves whether
to allow intoxicating
beverages, or Prohibition, a
statewide ban on intoxicating
beverages. This 1908 map
shows which counties had a
ban, and those that allowed
local option.
On July 22, 1911, Texans went
to the polls to vote on a
proposed statewide Prohibition
amendment to the Texas
constitution. The “wets” won.
By 1917, Texas was one of 20 states that still had local
option. 26 states were completely “dry” and 2 were
completely “wet.”
In 1917, the Eighteenth Amendment, calling for
nationwide Prohibition was passed by Congress and
submitted to the states for ratification.
On March 4, 1918, Texas became
the eighth state to ratify the
proposed federal amendment.
And in 1919, when statewide
Prohibition was voted on again in
Texas, this time the “Drys” won.
On January 16, 1919, Nebraska became the 36th state
to ratify the Eighteenth Amendment, and a year later,
nationwide Prohibition took.
13 min. 20 sec.
Woman Suffrage in Texas
A Hard-fought Battle for Equality
When the twentieth century began, the
National American Woman Suffrage
Association was working for state-by-
state enfranchisement of woman.
Women Reformers
In Texas, woman hoped to add their state to the
white states on the suffrage map (states that had
given women the right to vote).
Women Reformers
In 1903, the Texas Woman Suffrage
Association was formed in Houston, Texas.
In 1908, NAWSA President Anna
Howard Shaw toured Texas.
In 1918, Governor William Hobby
signed a bill, giving women the
right to vote in party primaries (but
not in general elections).
In May 1919, when a state
constitutional amendment giving
women the right to vote in all elections
in Texas was voted on, it lost.
Ironically, on June 28, 1919,
Texas became the ninth state to
ratify the national woman
suffrage amendment, which had
passed Congress, and then had
been submitted to the states on
June 4, 1919.
On August 18, 1920, Tennessee
became the 36th state to ratify the
nineteenth amendment.
In the 1920 election, all American women were allowed to vote.
4 min. 49 sec.
“Jim Crow” in Texas
Racial Discrimination and
Segregation
In 1883, by a 8 to 1 vote, the Supreme Court ruled
the 1875 Civil Rights Act unconstitutional.
“The 1st and 2nd sections of the Civil Rights Act passed March 1st, 1875 are
unconstitutional enactments as applied to the several States, not being authorized
by the XIIIth or XIVth Amendments of the constitution.”--1883 Supreme Court Decision
And in 1896: the Supreme Court’s decision in Plessy vs. Ferguson gave further
federal sanction to the doctrine of “separate but equal.”
In the wake of the Supreme Court rulings of 1883 and 1896, all the
former slave states (plus Oklahoma) enacted “Jim Crow” laws that:
• Made separate public accommodations for blacks and whites lawful
• Required businesses to treat black and white customers differently
• Made interracial marriage unlawful
Texas had 29 “Jim Crow” laws. Here are just a few.
• 1891: Separate railroad cars for blacks and whites
• 1907: Separate sections on streetcars for blacks and
whites
• 1909: Separate waiting rooms at train stations for
blacks and whites
• 1915: Intermarriage between blacks and whites made
punishable by prison term of from 2 to 5 years
• 1919: Separate libraries for blacks and whites
• 1922: White only primary law; blacks not allowed to
vote in primary elections
3 min. 20 sec.
Racists attitudes were also manifested in
lynching. Between 1882 and 1968, 4,742
people were lynched, mostly in the South. The
majority (3,445) were African-American.
“Lynching” means unlawful execution, without
due process of law.
In one notorious case, on March 3,
1910, Allen Brooks was thrown with a
rope around his neck from an upper
floor of the Dallas County Courthouse.
His body was afterward hanged from a
downtown lamppost.
In another notorious case, in 1930, an
overzealous Sherman, Texas mob burned
down the Grayson County courthouse while
lynching a black man.
The Rebirth of the Ku Klux Klan
1920s
By the early 1920s the Ku Klux Klan had become a
powerful organization with 4 million members.
Klansmen saw themselves as
patriots and the upholders of
Christian moral values.
The “new” Klan was a national phenomenon,
attracting members from all over the country.
The reason for the Klan’s national appeal was due
to the fact that it was not only anti-black but also
anti-Catholic, anti-Jewish, and anti-immigrant.11 min. 43 sec.
In 1924 the Klan’s anti-immigration
policy inspired Congress to pass a
restrictive law setting quotas that favored
immigrants from Northern Europe.
The Ku Klux Klan in Texas
1920s
From 1923 to 1939. the KKK Imperial Wizard (national
leader) was Hiram Wesley Evans, a former Dallas dentist.
The KKK was particularly active in Texas,
committing all sorts of outrages.
The KKK was also very active in Texas politics, backing
candidates who supported their agenda.
October 24, 1923 was “Klan Day” at the State Fair. Thousands
attended and Imperial Wizard Evans held a nighttime rally (complete
with burning cross) at the racetrack grandstand, during which more
than 7,000 new Klansmen were initiated.
That same day (October 24, 1923) Evans and other klansman attended
the dedication of “Hope Cottage,” a home for unmarried mothers,
which was built with funds provided by the Dallas klavern (#66), in an
effort to provide the KKK with a more positive image.
“Ma” and “Pa” Ferguson
“Two for the Price of One”
Pa (Jim) Ferguson was elected governor in 1914. He was inaugurated in January 1915.
Pa was only the third native Texan to hold the office and his inaugural ceremony was the briefest.
Pa Ferguson’s time in office was also one of the briefest.
In 1917, he was impeached. Following a trial in the Texas Senate, he was removed from office and barred from holding any future office.
Pa Ferguson was impeached on 10 counts of illegal behavior, including misapplication of public funds and receiving $156,000 from an anonymous donor.
In 1920, Ferguson ran for President on the American Party ticket. Texas was the only state on which his name appeared on ballots.
In 1922, Pa Ferguson tried and failed to win the Democratic nomination for Senator from Texas.
Two years later, his wife, Miriam or “Ma” Ferguson, ran for governor, and won!
In 1924, Pa’s wife, Miriam (“Ma”) Ferguson, was elected governor, the first woman to hold the office of governor in Texas and one of the first two woman governors anywhere in the United States. She was inaugurated in January 1925, serving until January 1927.
During “Ma’s” administration, her husband Jim (“Pa”) served as her
advisor. He even had an office in the capitol. During her campaign she
said she would seek his advice and that if elected, the people of Texas
would have “Two [Governors] for the price of one.”
During her term, “Ma” managed to win passage of an anti-Klan law that forbade the wearing of masks in public. However, opponents thought she was a little too generous in granting pardons and of irregularities in granting road building contracts. She was threatened with impeachment, but no charges were brought.
In 1926, “Ma” lost her bid for re-election, but ran again in 1932 and won. She served a second term from January 1933 to January 1935.
During her second term, “Ma” held the line on state spending and advocated a state sales tax and income tax (which the legislature did not pass). She continued a generous pardon and parole policy.
After “retiring” from politics for the remainder of the decade, “Ma” tried and failed to win the Democratic nomination for governor in 1940. After “Pa” died in 1944, she retired for good.