Unit 09: Modernizing Texas in An Age of Oil

1900-1929

Unit 9 Vocabulary• boom and bust cycle – an economic pattern characterized

by periods of economic growth and periods of economic decline

• industrialization – the economic development of manufacturing products from natural resources

• petroleum – a thick, oily substance found deep in the Earth, use as a fuel

• prohibition – to ban something, generally refers to the movement to ban the manufacture, sale, transportation and use of alcoholic beverages

• progressives – those who advocate social reforms and legislative programs to improve society

• suffrage – the right to vote• rural – Country, or country life• urban – City, or city life

Timeline of Events

• Age of Oil

• 1880 – 1920 Progressive Era

• 1900 – Hurricane of 1900

• 1901 – Spindletop

• 1917 – 1918 World War I

• 1918 – 1931 Prohibition

• 1920 - 19th Amendment – Women’s Suffrage

Age of OilAnd other events from

1880-1920

The Oil Boom

© Tara Fountain

Warm-Up:What is oil and how

is it created?

How is oil created?

Oil or petroleum is viscous black liquid used as a fuel source; it is

created by the remains of organic matter (dead

plants/animals) under pressure over thousands of years.

Think about it

Name 3 ways we use oil each day?

How do we use it?

Step 1

On your note sheet, choose Which products are created from oil

MAJOR ERAS IN TEXAS HISTORY

THE AGE OF OIL

• Hurricane of 1900

• Spindetop

• Populism

• Progressive Era

• Texas Railroad Commission

• James Hogg

• Growth of urban areas

• Women’s Suffrage

• Temperance Movement

• Prohibition

• World War I

Age of Oil

• 1880 – 1920 Progressive Era

• 1900 – Hurricane of 1900

• 1901 – Spindletop

• 1917 – 1918 World War I

• 1918 – 1931 Prohibition

• 1920 - 19th Amendment – Women’s Suffrage

The Oil Industry in Texas

•Railroads began using oil for fuel in the 1880’s, which increased the demand for the fossil fuel.

•Pennsylvania was the first state to produce American Oil in 1859

•Seven years later Melrose Petroleum Oil Company drilled Texas’s first successful oil well in Nacogdoches but it wasn’t a long term success.

•In 1894 a major reserve in Corsicana was tapped creating the first major oil supply in the state. This discovery encouraged drilling across East Texas.

•On January 10, 1901, Anthony Lucas hit the largest oil reserve the world had ever seen at Spindletop.

•The discovery at Spindletop began the first of many oil booms in Texas.

1894: Oil discovered at Corsicana

Effects of the spindletop discovery

•The large number of wells at Spindletop caused over-drilling to occur.

•Spindletop wells went from producing nearly 50,000 barrels per day to about 10,000 barrels per day in just 2 years.

•By this time Spindletop had already made it’s name in history.

•The Spindletop oil boom led to the creation of over 600 oil companies, including Texaco, Gulf, and Mobil.

•Oil replaced lumber as the leading Texas industry and oil companies produced millions of gallons per year.

•By providing a new source of inexpensive, efficient fuel, Oil changed the future for transportation and for industries.

The Oil Boom after Spindletop•The oil boom of the 1920’s & 1930’s caused rapid growth in Texas and rural areas were out run with oil derricks.

•In 1901 a flour milling company started using oil as a fuel source to run its machinery and soon after other mills started doing the same.

•As the drilling for oil increased, boomtowns developed around the successful wells, which caused crowded noisy conditions.

•Crime, diseases and a lack of safe drinking water were major concerns during this time.

•Towns developed so quickly there wasn’t time for adequate development of water and sewer systems which caused dysentery, typhoid fever and other diseases.

•Lack of sewage and drainage systems, along with frequent rainstorms made mud a huge problem too.

The Oil Boom after Spindletop continued…•The oil discoveries created a demand for new industries and businesses.

•Refineries were built near oil fields to make the oil usable for industry. Companies built pipelines to connect their refineries to distant oil fields.

•The Humble Oil and Refining Company (later Exxon Mobil) built the largest refinery on the Gulf Coast.

•After Spindletop the search for oil spread and wildcatter’s made discoveries all over Texas.

•The Great Depression hit and oil prices dropped tremendously. Texas Railroad Commission had to regulate the amount of oil that producers could supply.

•Because Texas was the world’s leading producer of oil, slight changes in production levels were felt world wide. The more oil Texas produced, the lower the prices dropped. The less oil Texas produced, the higher the prices rose.

•The changes in oil prices had major effects on the automobile industry, shipping costs, travel and many other areas of life.

Impact of oil

•Automobiles are powered by oil and gasoline

•Many of the plastic and rubber products in our homes and classrooms are made from oil-based chemicals.

•In the 1920’s chemists learned how to remove chemicals from petroleum to make everyday household items, which started the petrochemical industry.

•World War II - chemicals used to make explosives + synthetic rubber for tires.

•Petrochemicals raised environmental concerns because the processes created large amounts of toxic waste.

Use the flow chart to answer the following questions

1. According to the title, what is the flow chart about?

2. What step follows the location for underground oil being identified?

3. What is the function of the derrick?

Step 3

Oil in Texas

• Age of Oil• Maps – Texas Oil Fields

• Chart – Population of Texas between 1880 – 1945

Oil in Texas

• Age of Oil• Maps – Texas Oil Fields

• Chart – Population of Texas between 1880 – 1945

having oil

Analyze the photo below. Use the T-Chart on your note sheet to compare 19th century troubles with 20th century comforts.

PLACES OF IMPORTANCE IN TEXAS

• Political and cultural regions• Dallas/Ft. Worth Metro (political)

• Houston Metro (political)

• Austin/San Antonio Corridor (political)

• African-Americans – East/Southeast Texas (cultural)

• Mexican Americans/Tejanos – South Texas (cultural)

• Cowboys – West Texas (cultural)

Texas Boomtowns

Boomtowns – Beaumont grew from a lumber town of 9,000 to 50,000

Oil Workers, speculators, gamblers, adventurers all flocked to the oil boom towns like Beaumont

Very similar to what happened 30 years earlier in the cowtowns of the Mid-West.

Texas BoomtownsProblems:

1.Major housing shortages

2.Strangers, criminals, flocked to towns to make money from oil drilling and people living there

3.Lack of oil producing restrictions caused many wells to be pumped dry

4.Overdrilling and production caused severe drop in oil prices

Oil in North Texas

•Petrolia - 19 miles from Wichita Falls

•Electra – discovered by cattle rancher W.T. Waggoner had the first big boom in North Texas

•Burkburnett – well named ‘Fowler’s Folly’, “gusher” that produced thousands of barrels a day

Houston Benefits from Oil Boom

Houston became the center of the oil business industry; “Where 17 railroads meet the sea”Petroleum companies need: banking,

insurance, transportation, and legal services 1914 – Houston Shipping Channel

opened which allowed large ships and barges into the port.

TEXAS LEADERS IN SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

•Howard Hughes Sr.•Howard Hughes Sr.

developed a new type of drill bit -rotary drill bit.• Made it possible to drill

through very hard rock to reach oil deep underground. (1909 patent)

Texas in the progressive Era

1880-1920

Galveston Hurricane of 1900

• September 8, 1900: Galveston was struck by a hurricane of unbelievable force.

• Impact:

1. worst natural disaster in U.S. history

2. more than 6000 killed or injured

3. aftermath brought new changes in city government, housing and protective seawall construction for residents

Aftermath of Galveston Hurricane

• Engineers built a seawall around the shoreline to prevent damaging waves and water surges from destroying homes and businesses. Houses were raised on platforms or stilts as protection.

• Galveston adopts a new city manager form of government to handle the rebuilding (most common form of city government in Texas today)

Progressive Movement in Texas

•Population growth in the cities brought in new problems and forced Texans to deal with existing ones.

•The Progressive Movement attempted to reform (solve) these problems.

Progressive Movement Reforms

• Reforms included:

1. new form of city government (after Galveston hurricane),

2. the Terrell Election Law,

3. women’s suffrage,

4. prohibition,

5. evangelical and other social services organizations

Progressive Reforms

• Terrell Election Law was passed in 1903 and remains the basic voting law in Texas today. This Law ensured:

1. elections would be carried out fairly

2. secret ballot voting

3. restricted campaigning near voting booths

4. primary elections held before the last general election

Progressive Reforms

• Women were still working to reform election laws and gain voting rights.

• 1918 - Governor William P. Hobbygranted Texas women voting rights in Texas primary elections.

• 1920 – 19th Amendment passed gave women constitutional voting rights in elections.

Progressive Reforms• Progressive reformers targeted the sale of alcoholic

beverages as the center of social ills (no-good).

• They argued that saloons were associated with illegal activities like gambling, theft, and left many families in poverty.

• 1918 -Texas approved a statewide prohibition law.

• 1920 – 18th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution made prohibition the law of the land.

THE FARMERS’ ALLIANCE –Populism in Texas

IMPACT OF “BOOM AND BUST” CYCLES OF LEADING TEXAS INDUSTRIES THROUGHOUT THE

20TH AND EARLY 21ST CENTURIES

• Farming• Reconstruction to Progressive Era

• Agriculture was the leading industry in Texas

• Expansion of urban areas created demand of agricultural products

• The value of agricultural products increased

• Farmers continued to increase the production of agricultural products

• Farmers began to organize and machines were used to produce goods faster and more efficiently

• Prices began to drop because there were too many agricultural products on the market

IMPACT OF PROGRESSIVE AND OTHER REFORM MOVEMENTS IN TEXAS IN THE

19TH AND 20TH CENTURIES

• Populists• Populism – Nationwide movement of rural citizens who had not benefited

from the modern lifestyle made by the growth in industry

• Goal in Texas – Wanted the government of the people to protect the interests of common workers

• Farmer’s Alliance (farmers, ranchers, and farm laborers) spread throughout South Texas forming their own party in 1892.

• They called themselves the People’s Party or Populist Party

IMPACT OF PROGRESSIVE AND OTHER REFORM MOVEMENTS IN TEXAS IN THE

19TH AND 20TH CENTURIES

• Populists• Demanded government regulation of businesses; public ownership

of the railroads, telephone, and telegraph lines; and elimination of the national banking system

• Called for labor reform, a graduated income tax, and the direct election of U.S. Senators (17th Amendment 1913)

• Supported the creation of public warehouses where farmers could store their excess crops until prices increased

• Won some elections in 1892 and 1894 at the state level but movement faded after 1896 because the Democratic Party began to adopt many of the Populists’ ideas