Railroads SOCIAL STATION ECONOMIC STATION POLITICAL STATION

Railroads Expand! In 1870, there was 400 miles of railroad track in Texas… By 1890, there was 8,000 miles of track! How big is that?

Economic Station Railroads expand cotton farming in Texas. Talk at your table about why this happened. – How does cotton make it from farm to factory? – What was the major means of transportation? The easiest way to transport cotton was to use steamboats. Now railroads can be built where there are no rivers, and more farms can produce cotton more cheaply by saving on shipping costs. What other product can be more easily shipped because of the expansion of the railroads?

Social Station Expansion of the railroads in Texas continues to open western Texas. – More land leads to more farms. – More farms lead to more cotton. – More cotton leads to higher supply. – Higher supply leads to lower prices. – Lower prices lead to poorer farmers. – Poorer farmers lead to a political movement  the Farmers’ Alliance

Political Station James Steven Hogg is elected the Governor of Texas in 1891 as a Democrat. The Farmers’ Alliance supported Hogg because he promised farmers to regulate railroads. Hogg establishes the Texas Railroad Commission to regulate and oversee railroad rates and fees. The Railroad Commission has limited success, and the Farmers’ Alliance dissolves, only to come back a few years later as the Populist Party. The Populist Party is a political party which stands for the common man/farmer.