dramatically in the
1840s?
me cotton crop
coast was ruined
t and bad weather,
s there turned to sugarcane
Reading
Progress Check
4. How did family farms
and plantations differ
during the republic?
Marking the
Text
colonists also grew cotton.
Many Anglo Americans who came to Texas in the 1820s and
1830s were from the South. They were familiar with growing
cotton and did so in Texas. Enslaved labor was common across the
South, and these settlers greatly expanded slavery in Texas. Plantation
owners typically relied on enslaved African Americans to grow and
harvest the crops. Most cotton plantations in Texas were located
along the Colorado, Brazos, and Trinity rivers.
Sugarcane was the second largest cash crop in the republic.
Farmers in Austin's colony had raised sugarcane in the 1820s, and
its production increased throughout the 1830s. In the 1840s, when
the cotton crop on the coast was ruined by pests and bad weather,
farmers there turned to sugarcane. Sugarcane production increased
dramatically after that. Improved farming and production methods
led to large-scale sugarcane farming in the 1840s. The main sugar-
producing region was Brazoria County.
Ranching
Guiding Question Why did ranching develop in Texas?
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