DBQ Essay: Texas Oil & Social Change

In 1920s and 1930s, oil became a big boom in Texas. Roustabouts came from all over Texas. Oil could be made out of gasoline, natural gas and kerosene. Let’s talk about Texas Oil and social change in Texas. I’ve chosen to talk about minotersin west Texas, coogle in parts of Texas, and the divorce rates.

Many do not realize the impact of discovery in Texas oil has led to. It has led to new ways of thinking and creative inventions. Without the oil that was discovered in Texas, we would not be able to do many things we are able to do today. Through the research I have done, I have found many important events that were impacted by oil and I have composed a layout for you of the radio broadcast about Texas and its oil.

In the 1900s drove 15,000 oil companies when they first discovered oil in the spindletop texas.There were a lot of benefits of this discovery like higher pay for a lot of the workers, Better football teams and better growth in a lot of their universities. There were a lot of disadvantages to this discovery like in ector texas was 23 times the amount of the national average. Oil was the only way for the future with entrepreneurs showing up all over the U.S region.This discovery changed texas future for ever.

Senator Everett Dirksen once noted “The oilcan is mightier than the sword”. In today’s world, it is easy to see why oil can be considered the most important resource to hold. Without oil, many of the common day occurrences we take for granted would be impossible. Oil is used for almost everything; from the fuel used to drive our vehicles, to the plastics used in every facet of life, and providing the heat needed to live through the winter. In fact, the United States depends so much on oil that as a nation it uses over 20 million barrels a day. Importing oil increases the total costs because of the need to transport it from around the world. It is estimated

"Soon the 4-inch drill pipe…shot skyward. After the mud, water, and pipe were blown out, gas followed, but only for a short time. Then the well was very quiet. We ventured back, after our wild scramble for safety, to find things in a terrible mess...We started shoveling the mud away-when, without warning, a lot of heavy mud shot out of the well with the report of a cannon…In a very short time oil was going up through the top of the derricks, and rocks were being shot hundreds of feet into the air. Within a very few minutes, the oil was holding a steady flow at more than twice the height of the derrick…”

Nothing was possible without the oil. John D. Rockefeller became filthy rich on how much oil was used during the Civil War. America ran and still does to this day, run on oil. They used oil in almost all of the refining capacity. “So here is where things are now: oil companies have majority position on very close to it in both coal and uranium. They are leaders in the technology that will open up the future alternatives, particularly the synthetics from coal.” (Greider, A17). People already knew that when the oil took over, they were going to run the show. The reason for this is because the oil they used was needed for everything like said before. They used it for their cars, wagons, machines,

Oil brought about many differences, some of these are giving jobs to minority workers, made better colleges, and also brought towns together.

The oil made normal people rich very fast. When people got rich they didn’t want to do the dirty and unskilled work, so they paid minorities to do the work. These jobs paid them 10 dollars an hour which made them get doubled the amount of money than they were making before. There jobs included of cooking, laundry, and cleaning. (Doc C)

Welcome to the Texas Untold Story.This is about how oil changed Texas. Oil had brought wealth to many families,and sometimes tore families apart. How did oil have a big impact on Texas?Three most important social changes in the 1900’s were Minorities in West Texas,Oil and the University of Texas, and High Divorce rates.

First of all, oil made major social changes in job opportunities. Before oil was discovered African and Mexican Americans were limited on the jobs that they could find that they were qualified for. Most of these people would do heavy duty labor or housework. When Texas started to make more money, off of oil there started to be more jobs available that they were qualified for. Most of the people started to get regular work and a regular paycheck. They were also making more money than if they would have continued to work in east Texas. Most of the men would work hard on the oil rigs and the women would work in the houses of the rich people in west Texas. Around this time in east Texas African and Mexican Americans were making about $10 a week, but in

Hundreds upon thousands of millionaires, new cities and towns, and a plethora of jobs are birthed out of one black goo. Oil. Ever since January of 1901, oil has been spewing out of hundreds of oil rigs all over Texas, bringing cities and people with them. Oil changed Texas from a place with very few cities to a place with cities all over. The oil would be found in a remote place and within the month 2000 people would live there, hoping to get rich from oil.

Ever since the day that Spindletop started to gush, oil has been very important to the region.  Oil has lead to new inventions and also expansions to places like schools.  It also gave people jobs because people can get paid for locating and drilling oil.

Oil benefited the U.S exceedingly in many financial ways. It all begun one day at Spindletop where petroleum spilled all over the Hamilton brothers. Not only did oil impact the nation financially, but where most oil rigs were, many social changes occurred. Three of the most important were, possible higher \rates, colleges making billions off of granted lands, and Mexican-Americans and african Americans gaining jobs.

The revolting liquid that originates from petroleum, popularly used as a fuel has become such a large part in how the modern world functions. Without it, evolution within the human race and technology would not have come as far as it is. Oil was not always used as frequently and at such a big mass as it is now. The 1800’s were when the boom of oil sands was discovered in the United States, and led to an even bigger industrial revolution throughout the country and worldwide. This led to more people working with oil and in the oil industry, and led to where we are today, with the amount of oil we use daily. It all occurred because of a man named Edwin Drake who revolutionized the way we use oil and how we access it. He also created a new power source for people to use oil for electricity and other innovations that drastically changed the economy.

To state that oil is just a commodity would almost be ignoring the role it plays in our society. War strategy as we know it today may not exist without the use of oil. Due to the difficulty of transport and manufacturing without oil, the economy of the US shows dependence on oil in a way that it has not typically shown on other goods. Oil is not just a commodity because it has more economic and militaristic implications than any one good.