Question

B

In 3-5 sentences, explain how developments both outside of Texas and inside the state encouraged Texas farmers
to rapidly increase the amount of cotton that they grew from 1860 to 1900. (4 points)

IUEE

Answer 1

After the Civil War demand for raw cotton from Northern and European textile mills remained strong and world prices made cotton highly profitable, while improvements in national and international transportation (railroads and steamships) lowered shipping costs and opened new markets. Inside Texas, a rapid expansion of internal rail lines and ports linked rural areas to those markets, so planters could get cotton to buyers quickly and cheaply. Cheap, available land and the spread of sharecropping and tenant farming expanded the acreage under cultivation, and improved farm tools and seed varieties raised yields. Together these external market pressures and internal changes in infrastructure, labor systems, and farm practice drove the sharp rise in Texas cotton production between 1860 and 1900.