Chapter 18

Bond: Certificate issued by a government promising to pay back the money they borrowed with interest People’s savings were tied up in Confederate bonds, which became worthless.

Credit: An agreement where a buyer is allowed to pay over a period of time with interest During the Civil War, businesses had sold goods to the Confederate government on credit & now their debts would never be paid.

As more businesses failed, many people lost their jobs. For many, the only way to survive was to grow their own food. As a result, the small farm became common in Texas again.

After the Civil War, most Texas farmers turned to Subsistence Farming, where only enough food was grown to meet the family’s needs.

Since many people lost their land after the Civil War, many turned to Tenant Farming, where they could rent the land on which they lived & farmed. Problem: Rental payments never end; no ownership.

Sharecropping: Tenant farming where the farmer receives a share of the value of the crop, minus rent & expenses. Sharecroppers owed their crop to the landlord & had to buy food & clothing on credit.

Along with poor Anglos, African American families also had to turn to sharecropping to survive. Sadly, this system established a cycle of debt & poverty that was very difficult to break free from.

By 1890, Texas had over 8,000 miles of railroad tracks. By the early 1900s, goods could be shipped to any place in the U.S. from anywhere in Texas.

This encouraged farmers to buy land for commercial farms from railroad companies, who owned a lot of Texas land. Farms & cities grew along the railroads & into West Texas.

The expansion of railroads allowed the cotton industry to grow. Cotton produced so much money that Southern states named the crop “King Cotton.”