Texas History Test Risk Assessment & Management 3 ā Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which action by the Texas provisional government in 1835 best illustrates the concept of risk escalation in the lead-up to the Texas Revolution?
- Declaring immediate independence from Mexico
- Forming the Consultation to debate but not yet declare war (Correct answer)
- Seizing Mexican customs houses along the Rio Grande
- Requesting military support from the United States Congress
Correct answer: Forming the Consultation to debate but not yet declare war
The Consultation took a measured stance, debating options rather than declaring outright independence, trying to manage the risk of full-scale war.
Question 2: The Galveston hurricane of 1900 prompted which major risk mitigation infrastructure project?
- Construction of the Houston Ship Channel to divert storm surge
- Building a massive seawall and raising the grade of the entire island (Correct answer)
- Relocating the city of Galveston inland to safer ground
- Dredging Galveston Bay to create a storm water reservoir
Correct answer: Building a massive seawall and raising the grade of the entire island
After 8,000 deaths, Galveston built a 17-foot seawall and raised the island's elevation to protect against future storm surges.
Question 3: During the Comanche raids of the 1830sā1850s, how did Texas frontier settlers primarily mitigate the risk to isolated homesteads?
- Constructing underground shelters beneath farmhouses
- Establishing ranger companies to patrol and respond rapidly (Correct answer)
- Negotiating individual peace treaties with local Comanche bands
- Abandoning farms and consolidating in fortified urban centers
Correct answer: Establishing ranger companies to patrol and respond rapidly
The Texas Rangers were created partly as a rapid-response force to patrol the frontier and counter Comanche raiding parties.
Question 4: What financial risk did the Republic of Texas take when it issued land scrip (certificates) to pay soldiers and creditors?
- Inviting foreign nations to claim Texas land as collateral
- Creating inflation and land speculation that destabilized property values (Correct answer)
- Granting land already promised to Native American tribes
- Overpaying soldiers above the rate agreed in enlistment contracts
Correct answer: Creating inflation and land speculation that destabilized property values
Issuing land scrip as currency led to rampant speculation and devaluation, making it difficult to plan or fund government operations.
Question 5: How did the King Ranch use risk diversification to survive economic downturns in the late 19th and early 20th centuries?
- Focusing exclusively on breeding premium thoroughbred horses
- Combining cattle ranching, horse breeding, sheep herding, and later oil leasing (Correct answer)
- Expanding into cotton farming to replace declining cattle prices
- Partnering with foreign investors to spread financial exposure
Correct answer: Combining cattle ranching, horse breeding, sheep herding, and later oil leasing
The King Ranch diversified across multiple livestock types and eventually oil and gas royalties, reducing dependence on any single commodity.
Question 6: What risk did the defenders of the Alamo accept by choosing to stay and fight rather than retreat in February 1836?
- They risked losing their land grants under Mexican law
- They accepted near-certain death in exchange for buying time for the Texas army (Correct answer)
- They risked being tried for treason by the Mexican government
- They accepted the risk of surrendering their weapons without a fight
Correct answer: They accepted near-certain death in exchange for buying time for the Texas army
The Alamo defenders knowingly stayed against overwhelming odds, buying critical weeks for Sam Houston to train and organize the Texian army.
Question 7: Which historical event best illustrates the risk of over-reliance on a single commodity in Texas's economy?
- The collapse of the Texas cotton market after the Civil War
- The oil bust of the 1980s that devastated the Texas economy (Correct answer)
- The drought of the 1950s that wiped out wheat farms in the Panhandle
- The decline of the cattle industry due to barbed wire fencing
Correct answer: The oil bust of the 1980s that devastated the Texas economy
When oil prices collapsed in the mid-1980s, Texas's heavy dependence on petroleum revenue caused widespread bank failures and recession.
Texas History Test Risk Assessment & Management 3
Which action by the Texas provisional government in 1835 best illustrates the concept of risk escalation in the lead-up to the Texas Revolution?