Texas History Test Texas Economic & Social Development 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: What role did the 'empresario' system play in the early settlement of Texas under Mexican rule?
- It was a military garrison system
- It granted land agents contracts to bring settlers to Texas (Correct answer)
- It established trade routes between Texas and Mexico City
- It organized indigenous peoples into mission communities
Correct answer: It granted land agents contracts to bring settlers to Texas
The empresario system allowed land agents like Stephen F. Austin to receive land grants in exchange for bringing a specified number of Catholic settlers to Texas from 1820s onward.
Question 2: The construction of railroads in post-Civil War Texas had what major economic impact?
- It ended the cattle drives entirely
- It connected Texas markets to national commerce and ended cattle drives' necessity (Correct answer)
- It caused massive immigration from Asia
- It led to the decline of cotton farming
Correct answer: It connected Texas markets to national commerce and ended cattle drives' necessity
Railroad expansion in Texas from the 1870s–1890s connected the state to national markets, eventually making long cattle drives unnecessary as cattle could be shipped directly.
Question 3: The Texas 'sharecropping' system after the Civil War primarily affected which group?
- German immigrants
- Freed African Americans and poor white farmers (Correct answer)
- Mexican border communities
- Native American groups
Correct answer: Freed African Americans and poor white farmers
After emancipation, sharecropping became the dominant labor system in East Texas cotton country, trapping many formerly enslaved African Americans and poor white farmers in cycles of debt.
Question 4: Which Texas city grew rapidly in the 20th century to become the fourth-largest city in the United States, driven largely by energy and trade?
- Dallas
- San Antonio
- Austin
- Houston (Correct answer)
Correct answer: Houston
Houston grew from a modest city to the fourth-largest in the U.S., fueled by the petroleum industry, the Houston Ship Channel, and the Texas Medical Center.
Question 5: The 'Dust Bowl' of the 1930s severely impacted which region of Texas, forcing thousands of 'Okies' to migrate westward?
- The Rio Grande Valley
- The Texas Panhandle (Correct answer)
- East Texas
- The Gulf Coast
Correct answer: The Texas Panhandle
The Texas Panhandle was one of the hardest-hit areas of the Dust Bowl, with massive dust storms devastating farms and driving many families off their land.
Question 6: What major demographic shift occurred in Texas during the 20th century as its economy industrialized?
- Texas became predominantly rural
- Texas's population moved from rural areas to urban centers (Correct answer)
- Texas lost half its population to migration
- Texas became primarily an agricultural state again
Correct answer: Texas's population moved from rural areas to urban centers
Texas underwent massive urbanization during the 20th century, shifting from a predominantly rural agricultural state to one of the most urbanized states in the nation by 2000.
Texas History Test Texas Economic & Social Development 2
What role did the 'empresario' system play in the early settlement of Texas under Mexican rule?