1. The Rise of Agriculture in Texas
King Cotton

2. Small Farms Businesses failed that had thrived during the war.
Many people turned to farming to provide for themselves.
The infrastructure of the South and some in Texas was either ruined or not sophisticated enough to transport farm products to market.
Many farmers turned to subsistence farming (just enough to provide for their families).

3. Tenant Farms
Tenant farming was renting land to farm and provide for your family.
The problem was that a tenant farmer hardly made enough to ever buy their own piece of land.

4. Sharecropping
Some poor farmers turned to sharecropping (many were freedmen).
This allowed the sharecropper to farm a rich landowners land and give ½ of the yield or harvest to the owner.
The negative was that the sharecropper had to buy items for his family on credit from the landowner. If he couldn’t pay his debts, he mortgaged the remaining amount by making an agreement to give more of his crop next year to the landowner.

5. Railroads
Before 1876 there was very little way for a farmer to transport goods (very little commercial farming).
Between nearly ½ of the state’s railroads were built greatly expanding commerce (trade).
Bustling cities grew up around the railroads.
West Texas began to thrive with the railroads and the invention of the Windmill (available water).

6. Agriculture inventions
Steel Plow (John Deere)– More durable than the iron plow and lighter weight.
Cotton Gin (Eli Whitney) – Robert Munger invented a larger steam powered gin that would clean the cotton from it’s seeds. Cotton production was sped up and increased dramatically.

7. King Cotton Cotton was the #1 crop.
It was perfect for the climate of Texas – pretty much a drought resistant crop. It was although a very labor intensive crop. The cotton gin helped tremendously with this, but cotton still had to be harvested by hand.
Farmers began to spend more time in the fields and as a result bought more manufactured goods.
Industries sprang up, towns boomed from the industry (lumber mills).
The raising and harvesting of cotton pretty much set the pace and schedule of everyone’s lives.
Cotton was eventually overproduced and this dropped the price dramatically.
Drought, economic bad times, and pest like the Boll Weevil caused the farmer to lose money.
The farmer had to turn to credit and was often in deep debt.