Transcript Texas and World War I

th
20
Century Texas
Unit Survey
Modern Era (1900s) – World War II (1940s)
World War I
• 1914 – World War I began, but the U.S.
remained neutral (stayed out of the war).
• 1917 - German submarines sank ship (the
Luisitania) carrying American passengers.
This forces the U.S. into the war! In April,
President Woodrow Wilson officially
declares war against Germany.
The Zimmerman Telegram
• German diplomat, Arthur Zimmerman,
sent a secret-code telegram to Mexico.
• In telegram, Germany promised to help
Mexico regain its “lost territories” of Texas,
Arizona, and New Mexico in exchange for
its support.
• News reaches the U.S. and Texas;
they are furious!
Texas and World War I
• About 200,000 U.S. troops are Texans. 25% are
African Americans.
• Texas is excellent for training troops
because of wide open spaces and
many connecting railroad networks.
• Training camps include:
1.
Kelly Field in San Antonio –
world’s largest flight
training school
2.
Camp Logan near Houston
3.
other camps in Waco, Fort Worth
Texas Soldiers in the War
• The War caused significant changes for
Texas soldiers.
1. many got health and dental care for
the first time.
2. many had never before traveled
outside of Texas.
3. many received more education and
specialized training.
Texans Support the War at Home
• Texans encouraged to
“Do your bit” at home to
support troops by:
1. buying war bonds and
liberty loans
2. buying war stamps
3. giving to the Red Cross
4. ration food supplies
Wartime Prosperity in Texas
• Businesses, industries, farmers, and ranchers
prospered during the War because they
produced many things for the troops.
• Items included:
1. cotton/wool = tents, uniforms
2. leather = boots
3. meat/grain = food supplies
4. petroleum industry = gas, lubricants
for machinery
Farmers, ranchers went into debt to expand farms
for wartime production.
Ku Klux Klan
• Ku Klux Klan was a secret anti-minority
organization formed during Reconstruction
• Used violence against victims (African
Americans, Jews, Catholics)
• 1920s – very influential in Texas politics
• Many Texans fed up with Klan’s violence
and elected anti-Klan Miriam “Ma”
Ferguson as Governor. First woman to be
elected Governor in Texas!
Urban Texas
• 1920s - Texas changed from a rural,
agricultural state to an urban one in which
people had more leisure time.
• Most homes now had:
1. electricity, phone service
2. refrigerators, electric appliances
3. washing machines, irons, vacuums
Women and Equality
• 1920s – living, working conditions
improved for most white women in Texas;
limited jobs, opportunities remained for
African, Mexican American women.
• More women entered politics now. Jane
McCallum held powerful posts in
Democratic Party and was Texas
Secretary of State under 2 governors.
Texas Highway Department
• 1922 – more than one million cars and
trucks were registered in Texas, ending
the horse and buggy era.
• Traffic laws were passed and police
enforced them.
• Texas created the Texas Highway
Department and became eligible for
federal funds to build new roads.
Great Depression Begins
• In 1929, early in Republican Herbert
Hoover’s presidency, the U. S. stock
market collapsed.
• Many investors, hoping to make quick
fortunes, drove up the price of stock.
• Some investors borrowed money heavily
to buy stocks, and when stock prices fell,
those investors and the banks that loaned
them money were wiped out.
Too Much Oil
• Late 1920s - East Texas oil fields
produced more oil than the rest of the
state of Texas combined.
• Overproduction caused oil prices to
drastically drop.
• April 1931 - Texas Railroad Commission
issued an order for operators to limit
production and by 1935, oil priced
stabilized.
Cotton Crisis for Farmers
• 1930s - Cotton prices dropped and the
Great Depression forced the prices even
lower.
• The Texas Department of Agriculture
urged farmers to reduce the number of
acres planted in cotton.
The Dust Bowl in Texas
• After World War I, when wheat prices were
high, farmers tried to earn more money by
planting more crops.
• But, during the 1920s, wheat prices
dropped drastically from overproduction.
• 1930s - A severe drought added to the
problem as dust storms made the area
into a Dust Bowl; it lasted 7 years.
The Dust Bowl in Texas
Cause
1.
2.
3.
4.
Severe drought (no rain)
Overgrazing by cattle
Over plowing by farmers
High winds
Effect
1. Farmers already struggling
through the economic
depression suffered more due
to lack of rain and over-used
land
2. Many were forced to migrate
west where they were
unwelcome and faced an
even harder life.
3. Many were left
displaced/homeless as
farmland became useless.
The Dust Bowl covered a five-state area: Colorado,
Kansas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Texas.
A New Deal for Texas
• 1932 - Franklin D. Roosevelt won the
presidential election, with almost 90 percent
of Texans supporting him.
• After taking office in March 1933, he started
reform programs called the “New Deal.”
• John N. Garner, former Texas Congressman
and then the U.S. Vice President, helped
push New Deal programs in Congress.
New Deal Programs in Texas
• New agencies to deal with problems of the
Depression were known as alphabet
agencies because people called them by
their initials.
• Agencies included: Civilian Conservation
Corps (CCC), National Youth Administration
(NYA), Public Works Administration (PWA).
New Deal for Rural Texans
• New Deal programs tried to slow down soil
erosion to help farmers in the Dust Bowl
regions.
• New planting and contour plowing
techniques helped farmers protect the
topsoil from blowing away.
• The federal government paid farmers to
plant trees as windbreaks, and by 1938,
sand dunes around Dalhart were gone.
Mexican Americans Fight
for their Rights
• 1929 - The League of United Latin
American Citizens (LULAC) is
founded in Corpus Christi.
• They worked for Mexican American
rights in courts, hiring, and
education. They fought against
school segregation of Mexican
American children.
World War II
• Military leaders in Germany, Italy,
and Japan took control and began
wars of expansion. They signed a
treaty promising not to attack each
other and became known as the
Axis Powers because they thought
the earth “revolved around them.”
• When Germany invaded Poland in
1939, and continued invasions of
several smaller countries, European
democracies like France and
England were forced into action, and
World War II began.
U.S. Supports the Allies
• Roosevelt favored the Allies–nations at
war with the Axis powers–although the
United States was officially neutral.
• To assist the Allies,
Roosevelt made
military equipment
available through
the Lend-Lease Act.
U.S. Goes to War
• December 7, 1941 - Japan attacked the
U.S. troops based at Pearl Harbor in
Hawaii, and the United States officially
entered the war.
• World War II would not end until 1945 with
a victory for the Allied forces.
Texas Leaders in World War II
• General Dwight Eisenhower, who was
born in Denison, Texas, commanded
Allied forces in Europe, while
• Admiral Chester Nimitz of Fredericksburg
was one of 12 navy admirals from Texas.
• Colonel Oveta Culp Hobby of Houston,
organized and served as commander of
the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps
(WAAC).
U.S. Forces Train in Texas
• Texas’s favorable climate, location
between the two coasts, and wide open
spaces made it ideal for military bases.
• More than 100 military bases were built or
enlarged.
Industrial Production in Texas
• World War II depended heavily on tanks,
ships, airplanes, gasoline, explosives, and
other supplies.
• Texas had large supplies of natural gas,
water, timber, and sulfur and supplied 80%
of the oil needed.
• From 1942 to 1944, Texas industries
boomed, resulting in a large population
growth.
New Methods of Production
• Wartime needs encouraged development
of improved products and methods of
production.
• Scientists invented synthetic rubber from
petroleum, and plants were built in Texas.
Home Front Workers
• Between 1940 and 1943,
about 450,000 rural
Texans moved to cities to
work in wartime factories.
• There were new job
opportunities for women,
African Americans, and
Mexican Americans, but
discrimination was still a
problem.
Texans Support the War at Home
• Food items, gasoline, tires, and other
scarce supplies were rationed.
• Texans supplemented their food by
planting “victory gardens.”
• They collected scrap iron for use in
manufacturing war supplies.
• Texans contributed to the Red Cross
and other agencies serving the military.
Texas After the War
• Airplane and ship plants either closed or began
producing consumer goods, such as
refrigerators and automobiles.
• Women who worked in factories generally were
fired so that returning servicemen could have
their jobs.
• Since farming had become mechanized and
required fewer workers, most tenant farmers
never returned to work on farms.
New Attitudes of Minorities
• Many African Americans and Mexican
Americans realized the unfairness of fighting
and dying for democracy and freedom when
many of their civil rights were denied at home.
• Many Mexican American veterans joined
LULAC, while others formed the American GI
Forum of Texas.
• The NAACP also became more active during
and after the war.
Texans Return to Civilian Life
• After the war, many factories closed down and
there were not enough jobs for returning
servicemen.
• 1944 - Congress passed the GI Bill of Rights
which helped veterans in various ways, including
paying college tuition.
• The U.S. experienced an increase in the number
of marriages and births after the war. This period
was called the baby boom.
Foreign Affairs
• U.S. troops served in Germany and Japan as
armies of occupation.
• New threats emerged when the Soviet Union set
up Communist dictatorships in several Eastern
European nations.
• The United States was committed to stopping
the spread of Communism and became involved
in the Cold War.
VS.
New Threats
• 1950 - Communist North Korea invaded South
Korea and the United States was again at war.
• The Korean War would not end until 1953.