Unit 4

Depression, War, and Political Change

Behavioral Objectives

Here are the specific tasks you will be called upon to perform successfully on the Unit IV Exam. The information required for mastery of the reading objectives is contained in Chapters 11-13 of The History of Texas. The information required for mastery of the lecture objectives is contained in the lectures for this unit - "The Crash and Early Depression," "Water and Wires: Flood Control and Electricity in the Lower Colorado River Valley," "Texas Democrats and the Court Fight of 1937," and "The New Deal and the Emergence of the Republican Party in Texas".

READING OBJECTIVES

Texas and the Great Depression

1. Identify the weaknesses or excesses of the American economy during the 1920s.
2. Describe in detail President Herbert Hoover's attempts to limit and reverse the Great Depression's impact being sure to cover each of the following: (a.) the "confidence" campaign, (b.) the "volunteerism" approach to keep the economy from falling further, (c.) government loans to business and agriculture, (d.) private charities and philanthropists providing relief to the needy rather than government.
3. In general terms, contrast Franklin Roosevelt's approach to recovery and relief with that of his predecessor.
4. Be familiar with Texans' initial attitude towards the economic collapse as well as the efforts of the private sector and local governments to deal with spreading unemployment and poverty.
5. Describe changing attitudes regarding unemployment and relief as the economic collapse spread to and then engulfed the middle-class in Texas.
6. Describe in detail the East Texas oil boom of the early 1930s being sure to address each of the following: (a.) the quantity of oil produced and the effect overproduction had on the value of crude oil on the open market, (b.) the battle for control of the field between the majors (Humble, Texaco, Shell, etc.) and small independent operators, (c.) depression relief the field provided East Texans, (d.) the battle to limit production levels (prorationing) involving the Texas Railroad Commission, (e.) Governor Ross Sterling's use of National Guard troops and Texas Rangers to halt production and restore order, (f.) the eventual outcome of the prorationing battles.
7. Describe in detail the agricultural depression which hit Texas in 1931 being sure to address each of the following points: (a.) the falling value of agricultural crops (most particularly cotton) which resulted from both overproduction and the Depression, (b.) the inability of farmers to redress the collapse in crop values independent of government, (c.) the failure of both national and state governments to solve the problem of overproduction and depressed values in the early years of the Depression.
8. Evaluate Governor Miriam A. Ferguson's second term as governor being sure to include efforts to raise state revenues, cooperate with New Deal relief and recovery programs, and charges of corruption.
9. Describe the state's extraordinary political clout in Washington, D.C., during the 1930s being sure to identify influential individuals and the offices they held.
10. Identify and describe in detail the goal, operation, and impact of each of the following Roosevelt New Deal programs: (a.) the "bank holiday" and Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, (b.) National Recovery Administration, (c.) Wagner Act, (d.) Public Works Administration, (e.) Federal Emergency Relief Administration, (f.) Civilian Works Administration, (g.) Works Progress Administration, (h.) Civilian Conservation Corps, (i.) National Youth Administration, (j.) Home Owners Loan Corporation, (k.) Social Security, (l.) Agricultural Adjustment Act, (m.) Farm Credit Administration/Commodity Credit Corporation, (n.) Rural Electrification Administration.
11. Describe the impact of the Depression and the New Deal on racial minorities and women in Texas.
12. Identify changes taken during the administration of Governor James V. Allred reforming state government and dealing with Depression conditions.
13. Describe rising conservative opposition to the New Deal during FDR's second term of office being sure to identify specific reasons for this opposition and the impact of improving economic conditions.
14. Be familiar with the controversial political career of W. Lee "Pappy" O'Daniel being sure to explain both his popular appeal and his reflection of growing conservative discontent in Texas with organized labor and the New Deal.

1. Describe in detail Texans' World War II experience being sure to address each of the following: (a.) the state's manpower contribution, (b.)military training facilities and prisoner of war camps, (c.) the economic impact.
2. Be familiar with the growing conservative trend in Texas during the war years being sure to address each of the following: (a.) the "No-Third-Term" movement, (b.) Governor Coke Stevenson's governorship, (c.) the Manford Act, (d.) the insurgency of the Texas Regulars.
3. Be familiar with the postwar industrialization of Texas, particularly changes in petroleum, petrochemicals, exporting, banking, and transportation infrastructure.
4. Be familiar with the demographic and socioeconomic impacts of industrialization in Texas.
5. Identify the reasons for increasing anti-union sentiment following the war as well as state and federal laws aimed at organized labor.
6. Describe postwar changes in Texas agriculture.
7. Identify each of the following judicial decisions and describe in detail the efforts of racial minorities to force the desegregation of Texas educational facilities: (a.) Delgado v. Bastrop Independent School District (1948), (b.) Sweatt v. Painter (1950), (c.) Brown v. Topeka Board of Education (1954).
8. Be familiar with conservative attacks upon education from 1945 to 1960 that led to the Rainey Affair at the University of Texas, the Ebey Affair in Houston, etc.

1. Be familiar with each of the following and evaluate the impact of each in light of the conservative-liberal factionalism within state Democratic ranks following the war: (a.) the 1946 gubernatorial contest between Homer Rainey and Beauford Jester, (b.) the actions of the Fiftieth Legislature, (c.) the Dixiecrat challenge in the 1948 presidential contest, (d.) the 1948 senatorial contest between Lyndon Johnson and Coke Stevenson.
2. Evaluate and discuss in detail the governorship of Allan Shivers in light of Democratic factionalism in Texas being sure to address each of the following: (a.) the "tidelands" issue, (b.) Shivers' support of Republican presidential candidate Dwight Eisenhower, (c.) the bitter 1954 gubernatorial contest with Ralph Yarborough and the role of red-baiting and racism in the primary, (d.) Shivers' response as governor to the Brown decision and subsequent efforts to desegregate public schools in Texas, (e.) scandals involving the insurance industry and the veteran's land program, (f.) necessary and far-sighted legislative enactments involving redistricting, education, roads, eleemosynary institutions, and taxes.
3. Be familiar with the election of Price Daniel as governor, Ralph Yarborough as U. S. Senator, the creation of the Democrats of Texas (DOT), and the liberals' battle with Lyndon Johnson and Sam Rayburn for control of party machinery in 1956.
4. Be familiar with John Tower's election to the United States Senate, the role played by disgruntled liberal Democrats, and the unquestioned growth of the Republican party among the middle-class whites of Texas during the 1960s.
5. Be familiar with John Connally's repeated gubernatorial victories as a moderate conservative and his subsequent switch to the Republican party as reflections of Texas' changing political climate.
6. Identify the strategy adopted by 1968 by conservative Democrats in Texas for retaining electoral control and be familiar with the strategy's success in the 1970 senatorial contest.
7. Identify changes in apportionment, registration/voting requirements, and election systems in the 1960s-1970s as well as their impact on minority political participation and influence.

"The Crash & Early Depression" (HIS1693.HUP.22571x)

1. Identify and describe in detail the various causes of the economic crash and start of the Great Depression according to John Kenneth Galbraith.
2. Be familiar with the Depression's impact in each of the following areas: (a.) stock market values, (b.) bank failures, (c.) business failures, (d.) unemployment, underemployment, and wage reductions, (e.) home and farm mortgage foreclosures, (f.) declining government revenues.

1. Identify the various potential uses/benefits of the Colorado River which had originally attracted settlers to the Central Texas region.
2. Be familiar with the historic problem of flooding along the Colorado River and attempts to control the problem being sure to identify the major floods of the Depression era of the 1930s.
3. Describe in detail life in the Texas Hill Country prior to the acquisition of electricity being sure to cover each of the following areas: (a.) agriculture, (b.) household chores, (c.) indoor plumbing, (d.) refrigeration/heating/cooling, (e.) sanitation, (f.) entertainment.
4. Identify the reasons Hill Country residents had been unable to obtain electricity prior to the New Deal of the 1930s.
5. Describe in detail the manner in which Central Texans were finally able to control flooding being sure to cover such particulars as: (a.) the creation of the Lower Colorado River Authority, (b.) the role of the Public Works Administration, (c.) the importance of Texas' congressional delegation, including James P. Buchanan and Lyndon Johnson, in obtaining federal funding, (d.) the role of Buchanan, Mansfield, and Tom Miller Dams in the Highland Lakes chain administered by LCRA.
6. Describe in detail the manner in which Hill Country residents, like rural dwellers across the rest of the country, finally acquired electrical service being sure to identify the role of the Rural Electrification Administration and the Pedernales Electric Cooperative.
7. Identify the reasons the successful marketing of electricity in both the urban and rural areas of Central Texas was so critical to the financial viability of the LCRA.

1. Identify and describe in detail the threat posed by the Supreme Court to President Roosevelt's New Deal by 1935-36 and explain why he felt it best to deal with the Court in early 1937.
2. Identify particulars of FDR's court reorganization proposal and explain how its passage would have allowed him to change the voting behavior of the Court.
3. Characterize the attitudes and actions of each of the following Texas Democrats and their effectiveness in blocking the president's proposal: (a.) Vice-President John Nance Garner, (b.) Representative Hatton Sumners, (c.) Senator Tom Connally.
4. Explain how the Court fight demonstrated the ideological split within the Democratic party nationally and how President Roosevelt had only limited success in keeping the various factions of the party working together in harmony.

1. Identify and describe in detail the two political cornerstones upon which Texas had historically rested.
2. Explain those factors which had historically prevented the Republican party from being viable in Texas.
3. Describe the relationship conservative Southern Democrats had with FDR and the New Deal from 1932 to 1936: (a.) Why did Texas Democrats, despite their inherently conservative ideology, support Roosevelt and the New Deal?, (b.) What attitudes and events signaled growing tensions between conservative Democrats and the New Deal by 1936?
4. Be familiar with the breach between Texas conservatives and FDR following 1936 being sure to describe each of the following: (a.) the "Court Packing" Fight, (b.) the sit down strike against General Motors, (c.) the recession of 1937-38, (d.) the attempted purge of the Democratic party in 1938, (e.) the 3rd Term issue.
5. Trace the growth of the Republican party in Texas stemming from the alienation of many conservative Democrats familiarizing yourself with each of the following: (a.) the Texas Regulars movement, (b.) the Dixiecrat campaign of 1948, (c.) Shivercrats and Democrats for Eisenhower, (d.) major Republican electoral victories in Texas between 1961 and 1996, (e.) the southern strategy of the modern Republican party and Texas' role and importance in that strategy.