Hurricane Of The 1900s: Significant Social Effects On Galveston

Natural disasters, especially hurricanes, can have huge effects on cities and their citizens. On September 8, 1900, a horrible disaster struck Galveston, Texas. This was very unexpected for them and caused great damage. The Great Hurricane of the 1900s affected the area it hit socially, politically, and economically.

The hurricane had significant social effects on Galveston. In a letter from John D. Blagden to his family he states “I lost everything I brought with me from Memphis”. This statement signifies one of the biggest social effects on Galveston as many people had lost so much, from relatives to friends and from their homes to their jobs, many people who couldn't handle this loss left the city. In a 1990’s article titled “Raising Galveston” by John H. Lienharad, the author says “Homeowners had to lift their house up on stilts so the slurry could fill under them”. The citizens had to raise

One of the biggest political effects was the Wall that they built. In the article “Raising Galveston”, the author, John H. Lienharad says “The people who could vote decided to undertake a wild engineering scheme. They would build a great dam, a Sea Wall along the South Gulf Coast.” The wall was built to help prevent flooding if another hurricane hit Galveston. This was a political effect as many people did not have a say in this action and only the people who could vote had made the decision of building the wall. Not only did they build a wall but they also replaced their old government with a new commission form of government. In the text Texas History Textbook Galveston's new type of government is explained, “The city’s residents five commissioners, each of whom focused on a specific form of government” (541). The cause of this new type of city government was as rebuilding Galveston proved to be a very difficult task. This commission succeeded and really helped Galveston