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In 1860 most Houstonians supported John C Breckinridge an independent Democratic candidate for president However he lost the election to Abraham Lincoln As the Civil War began there was tension between supporters of the Confederacy and the few Union sympathizers the Chamber of Commerce kept the city together during the conflict Galveston was blockaded on October 4 1862 which in turn soured Houston's economy on January 1 1863 John B Magruder's Confederate forces recaptured the city However the war was won by the Union forces in 1865 Texas was governed under a military command during Reconstruction but Federal forces could not control the anarchy and lawlessness that broke out after the war Civilians settled old grudges and several counties were essentially without civilian government, The 2003 Texas redistricting of Congressional districts led by Republican Tom DeLay was called by the New York Times "an extreme case of partisan gerrymandering" a group of Democratic legislators the "Texas Eleven" fled the state in a quorum-busting effort to prevent the legislature from acting but was unsuccessful the state had already redistricted following the 2000 census Despite these efforts the legislature passed a map heavily in favor of Republicans based on 2000 data and ignoring the estimated nearly one million new residents in the state since that date Career attorneys and analysts at the Department of Justice objected to the plan as diluting the votes of African American and Hispanic voters but political appointees overrode them and approved it. Legal challenges to the redistricting reached the national Supreme Court in the case League of United Latin American Citizens v Perry (2006) but the court ruled in favor of the state (and Republicans). On December 13 2007 Mexico submitted information to the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (CLCS) regarding the extension of Mexico's continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles. Mexico sought an extension of its continental shelf in the Western Polygon based on international law UNCLOS and bilateral treaties with the United States in accordance with Mexico's domestic legislation on March 13 2009 the CLCS accepted Mexico's arguments for extending its continental shelf up to 350 NM into the Western Polygon Since this would extend Mexico's continental shelf well into territory claimed by the United States however Mexico and the U.S would need to enter a bilateral agreement based on international law that delimits their respective claims! Cotton ranching and farming dominated the economy with railroad construction after 1870 a major factor in the development of new cities away from rivers and waterways Toward the end of the 19th century timber became an important industry in Texas as well in 1901 a petroleum discovery at Spindletop Hill near Beaumont was developed as the most productive oil well the world had ever seen the wave of oil speculation and discovery that followed came to be known as the "Oil Boom" permanently transforming and enriching the economy of Texas Agriculture and ranching gave way to a service-oriented society after the boom years of World War II Segregation ended in the 1960s due to federal legislation Politically Texas changed from the virtually one-party Democratic state achieved following disenfranchisement to a highly contested political scene until 2000 when it was solidly Republican the economy of Texas has continued to grow rapidly becoming the second-largest state in population in 1994 and became economically highly diversified with a growing base in new technology, On May 30 1922 George Hermann a millionaire donated land to the city that later became the Hermann Park September of the same year saw the start of the Houston Zoo the zoo was started when Houston schoolchildren bought two ostriches the zoo was later moved from Sam Houston Park to Hermann Park September 26 saw the first international-bound ship in the port During the Roaring Twenties more specifically 1927 the state highway to Houston was built Bus and truck operations also fell into swing Houston Junior College opened its doors that same year which later became the University of Houston August 1929 saw the entry of the first Sears into Houston Then Black Tuesday threw a devastating blow to the economy of the entire United States Houston's growth was much smaller but the city still grew Mexican Americans no longer found it as easy to obtain jobs yet several were successful by catering to the Anglo market in the city. Galveston Bay In 1940 Houston was a city of 400,000 population dependent on shipping and oil the war dramatically expanded the city's economic base thanks to massive federal spending Energetic entrepreneurs most notably George Brown James Elkins and James Abercrombie landed hundreds of millions of dollars in federal wartime investment in technologically complex facilities Houston oil companies moved from being mere refiners and became sophisticated producers of petrochemicals Especially important were synthetic rubber and high octane fuel which retained their importance after the war the war moved the natural gas industry from a minor factor to a major energy source; Houston became a major hub when a local firm purchased the federally-financed Inch pipelines Other major growth industries included steel munitions and shipbuilding Tens of thousands of new migrants streamed in from rural areas straining the city's housing supply and the city's ability to provide local transit and schools For the first time high paying jobs went to large numbers of women blacks and Mexican Americans the city's African American community emboldened by their newfound prosperity became a hotbed of civil rights agitation; the Smith v Allwright Supreme Court decision on voting rights was backed and funded by local blacks in this period.[page needed], Beginning around the mid-20th century Texas began to transform from a rural and agricultural state to one that was urban and industrialized the state's population grew quickly during this period with large levels of migration from outside the state. As a part of the Sun Belt Texas experienced strong economic growth particularly during the 1970s and early 1980s. Texas's economy diversified lessening its reliance on the petroleum industry by 1990 Hispanics overtook blacks to become the largest minority group in the state, Although Santa Anna's troops had been thoroughly vanquished they did not represent the bulk of the Mexican army in Texas an additional 4,000 troops remained under the commands of Urrea and General Vicente Filisola. Texians had won the battle due to mistakes made by Santa Anna and Houston was well aware that his troops would have little hope of repeating their victory against Urrea or Filisola as darkness fell a large group of prisoners were led into camp Houston initially mistook the group for Mexican reinforcements and shouted out that all was lost. .

1630 map of the Portuguese fort and the city of Malacca. .