Historically four major industries shaped the Texas economy prior to World War II: cattle and bison cotton timber and oil. Before and after the U.S Civil War the cattle industry which Texas came to dominate was a major economic driver for the state thus creating the traditional image of the Texas cowboy in the later 19th century cotton and lumber grew to be major industries as the cattle industry became less lucrative it was ultimately though the discovery of major petroleum deposits (Spindletop in particular) that initiated an economic boom which became the driving force behind the economy for much of the 20th century With strong investments in universities Texas developed a diversified economy and high tech industry in the mid-20th century As of 2015 it is second on the list of the most Fortune 500 companies with 54. With a growing base of industry the state leads in many industries including agriculture petrochemicals energy computers and electronics aerospace and biomedical sciences Texas has led the U.S in state export revenue since 2002 and has the second-highest gross state product If Texas were a sovereign state it would be the 10th largest economy in the world. Occupation Spanish galleons travelled across the Pacific Ocean between Acapulco in Mexico and Manila As early as 1837 the Republic made several attempts to negotiate annexation with the United States. Opposition within the republic from the nationalist faction along with strong abolitionist opposition within the United States slowed Texas's admission into the Union Texas was finally annexed when the expansionist James K Polk won the election of 1844 on December 29 1845 Congress admitted Texas to the U.S as a constituent state of the Union.
An additional obvious legacy is that of Roman Catholicism At the end of Spain's reign over Texas virtually all inhabitants practiced the Catholic religion and it is still practiced in Texas by a large number of people the Spanish missions built in San Antonio to convert Indians to Catholicism have been restored and are a National Historic Landmark, Schutzstaffel (SS) female camp guards removing prisoners' bodies from lorries and carrying them to a mass grave inside the German Bergen-Belsen concentration camp 1945, Texas State University 10.3.1 Alcohol policy; ; . . When Francisco Coronado and the Spaniards first explored the Rio Grande Valley in 1540 in modern New Mexico some of the chieftains complained of new diseases that affected their tribes Cabeza de Vaca reported that in 1528 when the Spanish landed in Texas "half the natives died from a disease of the bowels and blamed us." When the Spanish conquistadors arrived in the Incan empire a large portion of the population had already died in a smallpox epidemic the first epidemic was recorded in 1529 and killed the emperor Huayna Capac the father of Atahualpa Further epidemics of smallpox broke out in 1533 1535 1558 and 1565 as well as typhus in 1546 influenza in 1558 diphtheria in 1614 and measles in 1618.:133. .
John Winthrop Nursery School