Reform

1
Reform Railroads, Part 1

• Essential Questions
• Identify and define characteristics of the
  Cotton, Cattle, and Railroads Era of Texas
• Explain the significance of 1876
• Main Idea A new constitution changed the
  political and social scene of Texas in the late
  1800s.

2
A New Era Brings New Concerns

• Cotton, Cattle, and Railroads Era
• During the late 1800s, Texas experienced a lot of
  growth.
• Railroads expanded, farming/agriculture boomed,
  and industries and populations grew.
• State had a healthy economy along with new
  problems and concerns

Main Street Waco, Texas in late 1800s
3
Democrats Rewrite the Constitution

• In 1874 Democrats returned to power in Texas
• They wrote a new state constitution in 1876
  this is the states current constitution (400
  amendments have since been added).
• Reduced governors powers
• Authorized legislature to meet every 2 years
• Limited legislators terms
• Lowered state employees salaries
• Guaranteed low taxes
• Reduced money spent on education

4
Democrats Control State Politics

• Most elected leaders after Reconstruction were
  conservative Democrats who cut public spending,
  taxes, and services such as education and medical
  care for the mentally ill.
• The Texas Republican Party, which African
  Americans supported, had little power. They were
  continually threatened for trying to exercise
  their rights.

5
Spending Cuts Reduce State Debt

• The large public debt at the end of
  Reconstruction was 3 million and continued to
  increase.
• Governor Oran M. Roberts took office in 1879 and
  balanced the budget by cutting pensions for
  veterans and school funding.

6
Texas Lawlessness

• Lawlessness was a major problem in Texas after
  the Civil War as many unemployed people flocked
  to the Texas frontier.
• Some turned to robbing trains, stagecoaches, and
  banks, as well as cattle rustling and horse
  theft.
• Outlaws included Jesse James, Billy the Kid, and

Sam Bass
John Wesley Hardin
7
Texas Needs a Capitol

• The Constitution of 1876 included a plan for a
  new capitol.
• On November 9, 1881, the existing state capitol
  burned after catching fire during a rainstorm.
• Work on a new capitol began in 1882 and was
  completed in 1888.
• Modeled after the U.S. Capitol
• Largest state capitol building and 7ft taller
  than U.S. Capitol

8
Historical photo of the Texas Capitol on fire
(1881)
9
Women Fight for Their Rights

• Although women in Texas made up about half of the
  population by 1900, they did not have the same
  legal rights as men.
• The Womens Christian Temperance Union was the
  first Texas group to endorse suffrage.
• The Texas Equal Rights Association had 48 charter
  members, including 9 men.
• Texas women would not gain the right to vote
  until after World War 1.

10
Women at Work

• Most Texas women at the turn of the 20th century
  worked at home as wives, mothers, and homemakers.
• Teaching was the most important profession open
  to women at the time. Some even started schools.
• Some women worked as maids, secretaries,
  physicians, journalists, artists and merchants.

1800s one-room schoolhouse
11
Elizabet Ney

• Elizabet Ney made important contributions to
  Texas as a sculptor who won national praise for
  creating statues of Stephen F. Austin and Sam
  Houston which were erected on the grounds at the
  Texas State Capitol.

12
Stephen F. Austin
13
Sam Houston
14
Reform Railroads, Part 2

• Power Point will be at my website under Unit 9.
• A link to a short video lecture may supplement
  the Power Point.
• YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR YOUR OWN NOTES AND REVIEW
  OF PART 2!!!