After Civil War: – Bad economy - Confederate bonds worthless (borrowed $) – Many jobless; grow own food for survival – small family farms common – Hard to find supplies for farms – Subsistence farming – meet family’s needs Bartered extras

Plantation owners – divided land and sold or rented Tenant farming – renting the land – Renter - Seldom able to purchase land; rent never ends – Between – large growth

Renters paying in crops – short of cash Two types: – Owned farming equipment, bought supplies Owed landlord for used of land – Landlord provided everything – tenants brought labor and skill Owed up to half of crops to landlord Freedmen turned to sharecropping Necessities bought on credit – renter’s share of crops could be taken; established a cycle of debt

Needed for commercial agriculture – Goods inland; ox and cart too slow Panic of 1873 – collapse of stock market; closing of banks – businesses closed 1876 – 1885; rapid expansion of railroads 1890 – more than 8,000 miles of track

Settlers – cheap land in W. TX; little rainfall – Underground water; windmills symbol of West Railroads (miracles of modern technology) – cheaper and faster to ship goods Steel plow – strong, lasts Robert Munger – processing cottonseed faster and cheaper; separated the seed from the cotton

Cotton production – ruled industry late 1800s Farmers spent most time in fields – buying items they once made – Led to new industries; growth of cities (Houston, Dallas, Galveston – cotton towns) – Lumber; 1900 – 637 sawmills – Created jobs – closely tied to farming

1880s – Cotton was King!! Life revolved around cotton – events were scheduled around farm work Bad years were felt by everyone – Droughts; boll weevil

Necessities – in a bad year, buy items on credit – Debt that is difficult to pay off – Debt supported the growth of cash crops