Texas History Test Risk Assessment & Management 5 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: What risk assessment error did the Mexican government make in the early 1830s that accelerated tensions leading to the Texas Revolution?
- Underestimating Texian loyalty to the Mexican federal constitution when centralism was imposed (Correct answer)
- Overestimating the strength of Texian military forces along the Sabine River
- Miscalculating the willingness of the United States to intervene militarily
- Underestimating the strategic importance of the port at Matagorda Bay
Correct answer: Underestimating Texian loyalty to the Mexican federal constitution when centralism was imposed
The Mexican government underestimated how strongly Anglo colonists valued the 1824 Constitution's federalist protections, pushing them toward revolt when centralism replaced it.
Question 2: Which Texas governor most aggressively used state militia to manage the risk of labor unrest during early 20th-century oil field strikes?
- James Hogg
- James Ferguson
- Pat Neff
- Ross Sterling (Correct answer)
Correct answer: Ross Sterling
Governor Sterling declared martial law in East Texas oil fields in 1931 to enforce production limits and manage the violence and chaos of the oil boom.
Question 3: How did the Texas legislature manage the long-term risk of groundwater depletion from the Ogallala Aquifer?
- Banning all irrigation from the Ogallala for a 20-year recovery period
- Creating Groundwater Conservation Districts to regulate local pumping rates (Correct answer)
- Purchasing federal water rights to supplement Ogallala supplies via canal
- Mandating that all Panhandle farmers switch to dryland farming by 2000
Correct answer: Creating Groundwater Conservation Districts to regulate local pumping rates
Texas established Groundwater Conservation Districts giving local authorities power to regulate pumping and slow aquifer depletion in their regions.
Question 4: What strategic risk did the Confederate Texas government face when Union forces gained control of the lower Rio Grande in 1863?
- Loss of the primary cotton export route through Mexico to avoid the Union blockade (Correct answer)
- Exposure of San Antonio to direct Union overland invasion from the south
- Loss of the cattle supply chain feeding Confederate armies in the East
- Union forces could now arm and recruit Texas Unionist and Mexican populations
Correct answer: Loss of the primary cotton export route through Mexico to avoid the Union blockade
Texas smuggled cotton through Mexico to reach European buyers and avoid the Union naval blockade, so Union control of the Rio Grande threatened this lifeline.
Question 5: Which Texas city implemented the most comprehensive risk mitigation response after a major industrial disaster killed hundreds in 1947?
- Houston, following the Texas City ship explosion
- Texas City, which rebuilt its port with new safety regulations after the ammonium nitrate explosion (Correct answer)
- Galveston, following a chemical plant fire in the ship channel
- Port Arthur, after an oil refinery explosion destroyed its waterfront
Correct answer: Texas City, which rebuilt its port with new safety regulations after the ammonium nitrate explosion
The 1947 Texas City disaster, caused by ammonium nitrate cargo igniting, killed nearly 600 people and led to sweeping federal hazardous materials shipping reforms.
Question 6: What risk did Texas annexation in 1845 pose that nearly prevented the United States Congress from approving it?
- The risk that Texas debt would become a federal obligation
- The risk that annexation would trigger war with Mexico and expand slavery (Correct answer)
- The risk that Texas would demand too many Congressional seats for its size
- The risk that European nations would intervene militarily to block annexation
Correct answer: The risk that annexation would trigger war with Mexico and expand slavery
Annexing Texas risked war with Mexico, which disputed the Rio Grande border, and also inflamed sectional tensions by adding a massive slave state.
Question 7: During the 1950s Texas drought, how did the state government manage the risk of catastrophic agricultural losses across the Great Plains?
- Declaring drought emergency zones and channeling federal disaster relief to affected counties (Correct answer)
- Nationalizing cattle herds to prevent mass slaughter and market collapse
- Temporarily suspending property taxes for all farmers in drought-affected counties
- Redirecting water from the Sabine River westward through emergency canals
Correct answer: Declaring drought emergency zones and channeling federal disaster relief to affected counties
Texas worked with the federal government to designate disaster counties, unlocking relief funds and subsidized feed programs for farmers and ranchers.
Texas History Test Risk Assessment & Management 5
What risk assessment error did the Mexican government make in the early 1830s that accelerated tensions leading to the Texas Revolution?