Топик: Texas

Mining. The mineral resources of Texas yield an annual value of about 45 billion dollars--more than that of any other state. Most of the income is derived from petroleum, in which Texas leads the nation. The East Texas field is one of the most productive in the world. Top producing counties in Texas are Pecos, Yoakum, Gaines, Ector, and Gregg. Gregg was the first county to produce more than 2 billion barrels of petroleum ever since records have been kept. The second and third most valuable minerals are natural gas and coal. Pipelines carry natural gas, as well as petroleum, from Texas to all sections of the country. Texas is one of the nation ' s chief sources of helium, with much of the production centered at Amarillo, Exell, and Dumas. Cement is fourth in importance. Texas ranks among the leading cement-producing states. The Gulf Coastal Plain is one of the nation 's richest sources of sulfur. Magnesium is processed from seawater at Freeport's electrolytic plant. Among other minerals produced in the state are stone, sand and gravel, lime, salt, and gypsum. Transportation Because of its huge size, Texas has had to develop a vast network of transportation routes by road, rail, water, and air. The Texas Department of Highways and Public Transportation, established in 1917, maintains about 71,000 miles (114,260 kilometers) of state roads. In addition to the state roads and dozens of federal routes, a number of highways in the Interstate system cross Texas. Interstates 10, 20, and 40 are major east-west routes. Crossing parts of Texas from north to south are Interstates 35, 45, and 27. Interstate 30 runs northeastward from Dallas. The first railroad in Texas was a 20-mile (32-kilometer) line in the Houston area that was completed in 1853. Transcontinental service became a reality in 1881, when the Southern Pacific linked the state with California. Today Texas is served by a statewide network of railroads and by a number of major airlines. The Dallas-Fort Worth Regional Airport is the nation's largest in terms of land area and one of the busiest. Thirteen deepwater ports handle shipments of petroleum products, cotton, and wheat. Routes of travel are the Intracoastal Waterway (extending eastward from Brownsville) and the Gulf of Mexico. The Houston Ship Channel, which opened in 1915, has helped make that city one of the great United States ports. The other major ports are Port Arthur, Beaumont, Texas City, Corpus Christi, Port Aransas, and Galveston. Recreation In an average year Texas is visited by more than 40 million tourists. One of the chief attractions is the rugged land of mountains and canyons in the Trans-Pecos. This region includes Big Bend National Park and Guadalupe Mountains National Park. Palo Duro Canyon cuts a 1,000-foot- (300-meter-) deep slash through the high plains of the Texas Panhandle. The Gulf coast has many fine beaches and resorts. Near Kingsville in south Texas is King Ranch, one of the largest in the world. East Texas boasts more than 11 million acres (4.5 million hectares) of woodlands, including four national forests. San Antonio is famous for the Alamo and San Antonio Missions National Historical Park. Dallas hosts the state fair each October and the Cotton Bowl football game on New Year's Day. In Arlington are Six Flags Over Texas, an amusement park styled after the American West, and the home stadium of the Texas Rangers professional baseball team. In professional football, the Dallas Cowboys play in Texas Stadium, in Irving, and the Houston Oilers play in the famous Astrodome, also home of baseball's Houston Astros. There are three Texas basketball teams: the Dallas Mavericks, the Houston Rockets, and the San Antonio Spurs. Education The first schools in the Texas region were informal classes for Native Americans held at the missions of Spanish priests. There were only a few private schools in the area at the time of the Texas declaration of independence in 1836. One of the republic's charges against Mexico was that it had "failed to establish any public system of education." In 1839 the Republic of Texas began setting aside public land for education. An act establishing a state school system was passed in 1854. A permanent school fund was established with a grant of 2 million dollars, and provision was made for setting up school districts. In 1949 the Gilmer-Aikin laws reorganized the public school system to equalize educational opportunities. Common school districts were consolidated from more than 3,000 to fewer than 1,000. The largest of the state schools is the University of Texas, located in Austin, with branches at Arlington, Dallas, El Paso, Odessa, San Antonio, and Tyler; health science centers at Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio; cancer centers at Houston and Bastrop County; a health center at Tyler; and a medical branch at Galveston. The divisions of the Texas A&M University System are located at College Station, Prairie View, Stephenville, and Galveston. Some of the other state-supported institutions are Lamar University, at Beaumont; Midwestern State University, at Wichita Falls; Pan American University, at Edinburg; Texas Southern University, at Houston; the University of Houston, also at Houston, with branches at Houston (Clear Lake City, Downtown College branches) and Victoria; Texas Tech University, at Lubbock; and Texas Woman's University, at Denton. Other large institutions include Southern Methodist University, at Dallas; Texas Christian University, at Fort Worth; Baylor University, at Waco; St. Mary's University of San Antonio, at San Antonio; Abilene Christian University, at Abilene; Trinity University, at San Antonio; Rice University, at Houston; and Texas Wesleyan College, at Fort Worth. Government and Politics Under Mexican rule Texas was governed first from Saltillo and then from Monclova (both in Mexico). In 1835-36 one or more governmental functions were carried on at San Felipe de Austin, Washington on the Brazos, Harrisburg, Galveston, Velasco, and Columbia. Houston served as the capital in 1837-39; Austin, in 1839-42; and Washington on the Brazos, in 1842-45. Austin has remained the state capital since 1845. Texas is governed under its fifth constitution, which was adopted in 1876. The chief executive officer of the state is the governor, who is elected every four years. The legislative branch consists of the Senate and the House of Representatives. Heading the state judiciary is the Supreme Court and Court of Criminal Appeals. The Democratic party dominated Texas politics from the beginning of statehood--with only occasional exceptions--until the 1970s. Sam Houston was elected governor as an independent in 1859, and Republicans were elected in 1870 and 1979. Likewise, in presidential elections Texas voted Democratic in every election after the American Civil War until 1928 and again until the 1950s. In recent years the Republican party has been gaining strength. A Dallas oil-drilling contractor, William Clements, was elected governor in 1978 and reelected in 1986--the first Republican to head the state since Reconstruction. John N. Garner of Uvalde was the nation's first vice-president from Texas (1933-41). Dwight D. Eisenhower, who served from 1953 to 1961, was the first Texas-born president. Vice-President Lyndon B. Johnson of Johnson City became the second president from Texas on Nov. 22, 1963, after the assassination of John F. Kennedy while riding in a Dallas motorcade. The governor of Texas, John B. Connally, who was riding in the same car as President Kennedy, was wounded. Johnson took the oath of office as president immediately after Kennedy' s death; he was elected president in 1964. George Bush was a resident of Texas when he was elected vice-president in 1980 and 1984 and when he was elected president in 1988. Sam Rayburn of Bonham holds the record for length of service as speaker of the United States House of Representatives--17 years, beginning in 1940. One of the first African American women to serve in Congress, and the first from the Deep South, was Barbara Jordan of Houston, first elected in 1972. The wife of a former governor of Texas, who had been impeached, Miriam A. Ferguson was the second American woman (by two weeks) to serve as a governor (1925-27 and 1933-35). More than any other state, Texas has elected women to high political offices in several of its cities. In the 1980s women were elected to the top post in Houston, Dallas, San Antonio, Corpus Christi, and El Paso. In 1990 another woman, Ann Richards, was narrowly elected governor of the state. HISTORY OF TEXAS Six national flags have flown over Texas during its colorful history. The first was Spain's banner, from 1519 to 1685. In 1685 the French explorer La Salle raised the French flag over a short-lived coastal colony. In 1691 Texas again came under the Spanish flag, which was replaced by the banner of Mexico in 1821. From 1836 to 1845 the Lone Star banner flew over the Republic of Texas. The Stars and Stripes became the official flag in 1845, but during the American Civil War, from 1861 to 1865, it was replaced by the Confederate flag. The first European to visit what is now Texas was Alonso Alvarez de Pineda, who mapped the coast in 1519. Cabeza de Vaca, a Spanish noble, was the first to explore the area. Shipwrecked near what is now Galveston in 1528, he was captured by the Karankawa Indians and traveled with them for eight years before escaping. In 1541 Francisco Coronado crossed the Panhandle in search of gold. Later, parties of Spaniards camped in the wilderness, but they left no settlements. The French explorer La Salle missed the mouth of the Mississippi River in 1685 and sailed into Matagorda Bay. He pushed inland and built Fort St. Louis, which two years later was wiped out by Native Americans already living in the area. Fear of French influence hurried the Spanish into extending missions into eastern Texas. By 1800 some 25 missions and a number of presidios had been built in Texas. The missions had little success in converting the Native Americans to the alien Spanish culture and failed to attract settlers. A 1795 census found 69 families in San Antonio. The few additional families were mainly at what are now Goliad and Nacogdoches. After the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, the United States regarded eastern Texas as its territory. Spain refused to recognize the claim and won control of about 96,000 square miles (248,639 square kilometers) through the Adams-Onнs Treaty of 1819. After Mexico gained its independence from Spain, this boundary (the Sabine River and northward) was confirmed by a treaty with the United States. The way to American settlement was opened when Moses Austin of Connecticut won Spain's consent to settle 300 Anglo-American families in Texas. His son, Stephen F. Austin, is called the father of Texas because he brought the first group of colonists to the lower Brazos River in December 1821. The capital of the settlement was established at San Felipe de Austin, in present Austin County, in 1823. Mexico made additional land grants to other settlers. Drawn by an abundance of public lands where corn and cotton grew, whites from the South and Southwest and their black slaves swelled the population. As immigration into Texas from the United States increased, however, Mexico grew more hostile. Resentment flared in 1826 when American promoters set up the short-lived Fredonian republic at Nacogdoches. By 1830 the population of Texas had grown to nearly 25,000, and further American immigration, including the importation of African American slaves, was forbidden. Disputes with Mexico increased. After Santa Anna became the dictator of Mexico, the Texans revolted. The first open battle was fought at Gonzales on Oct. 2, 1835. Republic of Texas The Texans held a convention at Washington on the Brazos and adopted a declaration of independence on March 2, 1836. A constitution modeled after that of the United States was adopted by the new Republic of Texas. The most striking event in the Texas war for independence was the heroic defense of the Alamo in San Antonio. A rebuilt mission, the Alamo was used as a fort by about 180 Americans. After a siege of 12 days by several thousand Mexican soldiers under Santa Anna, the Alamo fell on March 6, 1836, and the garrison was wiped out. Later in the month the Mexicans massacred James Fannin and more than 300 Texas prisoners at Goliad. "Remember the Alamo" and "Remember Goliad" became Texas war cries. Independence was won after Gen. Sam Houston defeated Santa Anna on the banks of the San Jacinto River near Houston on April 21, 1836. In September Sam Houston was elected president of the republic. The new nation was hemmed in by the Indian frontier from the Red River to the hostile Mexican border along the Rio Grande. These threats led to the development of the famous Texas Rangers, expert horsemen and marksmen. The Rangers, the oldest state police force in the United States, are now a branch of the Department of Public Safety. From 1836 to 1845 the public debt grew from 1 million to 8 million dollars. Many believed that the future development of Texas would be greater under the United States. In 1844 a convention voted for annexation and a state constitution was adopted. Admission to the Union The proposed annexation brought a bitter fight in the United States over the question of slavery. Finally, on Dec. 29, 1845, Texas was admitted to the Union. The state kept its public lands and reserved the right to divide into no more than five states. Disputes with Mexico over boundary lines led to the Mexican War in 1846. The United States victory in the conflict two years later established the Rio Grande as the international border as far as El Paso. In 1850 Congress purchased from Texas for 10 million dollars the claim of that state to some 100,000 square miles (259,000 square kilometers) of land, now part of New Mexico, Oklahoma, Kansas, Colorado, and Wyoming. Just before the outbreak of the American Civil War, slaveholding Texas seceded from the Union and joined the Confederacy. Governor Sam Houston tried to keep the state in the Union but was deposed. Texas was readmitted in 1870 In the mid-1860s Texas cowboys began driving cattle northward to markets or ranges. Some of their famous cattle trails were the Chisholm, Western (Dodge City), Goodnight-Loving, and Sedalia trails. More than 11 million cattle were herded up these trails before the introduction of railroads into the area. These cowboys were the inspiration for many dozens of Western novels and films. Yet in spite of all the Western lore celebrating the cowboy in song, story, art, and film, the era of the great cattle drives was short. It was virtually over by 1890, only 20 years after it began. The Modern State Much of the history of modern Texas is connected with the development of the oil industry. In 1901 Anthony F. Lucas struck oil in the Spindletop field, near Beaumont. Other great strikes included those of East Texas, the richest of all, in 1930; Scurry County, in 1949; and Spraberry Field, near Midland, in 1950. The state especially benefited from the expansion of the industry, and its associated petrochemicals, after World War II. In 1960 Texas won a 15-year political and legal struggle for title to the offshore oil in its Gulf of Mexico tidelands. A Supreme Court decision gave the state mineral rights in an area extending three leagues--about 10 1/2 miles (17 kilometers)--offshore. In 1963 the United States ended a border dispute with Mexico by agreeing to exchange land in the Laredo area. The dispute began about 100 years earlier, when the channel of the Rio Grande shifted. HemisFair '68, the first international exposition in a Southwestern state, was held at San Antonio. Massive oil spills from tankers have periodically devastated the Texas shoreline. In October 1989 and, nine months later, in July 1990, there were major fatal accidents at two Texas petrochemical plants within 10 miles (16 kilometers) of each other, near Houston.

Список литературы

Для подготовки данной работы были использованы материалы с сайта http://englishtopic.narod.ru/