Now, about my title
After our Spring Break, we hit a very challenging time of the year.
We have the dreaded STAAR tests, along with EOC testing for our brightest students. As I write this, we are in between rounds of testing. We now have 6 weeks of school remaining, and this is where we find it best to schedule our most engaging activities.
So, here is why you shouldn't dislike Texas History.
Cotton, Cattle, and Conflict.
Post Civil War Texas provided yet another era of opportunity for those brave enough to take on the challenges. Land was plentiful and cheap, Native Texas attacks were also plentiful, and very costly. The open range was filled with longhorn cattle, practically free for the taking. So, claim your land, hire some ornery cowboys, and start finding cattle to take to market. Selling cattle at market is like tapping into America's demand for beef.
And then, there's cotton. Dry land farming provides yet more opportunity to make a living tapping into America's new found love for cotton clothing. Just survive the various cycles in the weather and don't produce too much or the price goes down when supply outstrips demand. Basic economics 101.
Galveston 1900
The deadliest natural disaster in American history wiped out the Wall Street of the West. Galveston was the up and coming financial capital on the new frontier. Problem was they placed it on a low-lying barrier island with only limited access to the mainland. Combine that with the emerging science now known as Meteorology, and it all spells disaster. 6,000 people killed as the entire island was completely inundated by a Category 5 hurricane. This was an entirely preventable loss of life for many reasons. Try not to be affected by the destruction of the island orphanage.
The new fangled contraption called the movie camera brings a whole new angle to History. Just as people saw war in new ways thanks to Matthew Brady, so will they experience the Galveston Hurricane thanks to one Thomas Edison.
Wings
Did you know the first film to win the Best Picture Oscar was filmed right here in San Antonio? It is a fascinating movie about the first battles fought in the sky. Fair warning: this film actually has some risque moments.
The Grapes of Wrath
Combine bad luck with even more bad luck, and probably throw in some bad luck for good measure and what do you get? The hardest of hard times. It was a perfect storm for Texans on the High Plains: drought and over farming; a stock market collapse amid post war trauma. Surely, the great American Dream was alive and well. You just had to survive the Dust Bowl. What we have here is a bit of science coupled with sheer bad luck and economic turmoil. It was not the best time to be alive, but I have relatives who not only survived it, but simply wouldn't be the amazingly awesome aunts and uncles they are today. They know they can survive anything. And, by the way, don't ever let anyone from the Great Depression ever see you throw anything away.
So, there you have it. Time permitting, we have to teach about World War II and Civil Rights and Economics and Government.
Choose wisely.
Peace
"The nation which destroys its soil, destroys itself"
-Franklin Delano Roosevelt
