. One important reason was the need for alternatives to the expensive eastern trade routes that followed the Silk Road Those routes were dominated first by the republics of Venice and Genoa and then by the Ottoman Empire after the conquest of Constantinople in 1453 the Ottomans barred European access for decades the Spanish Netherlands ports produced more revenue than the colonies since all goods brought from Spain Mediterranean possessions and the colonies were sold directly there to neighbouring European countries: wheat olive oil wine silver spice wool and silk were big businesses.[citation needed]. In October 2001 Enron a Houston-based energy company got caught in accounting scandals ultimately leading to collapse of the company and its accounting firm Arthur Andersen and the arrest and imprisonment of several executives, 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, Houston has not had very much success when it comes to its sports teams at least not lately the Houston Rockets won 2 consecutive championships in 1994 and 1995 and the Houston Dynamo also won 2 consecutive championships in 2006 and 2007 the Houston Oilers won 2 back-to-back AFL championships in 1960 and 1961 but never competed in the Super Bowl since the NFL-AFL merger (After the move to Nashville as the Tennessee Titans they finally played in Super Bowl XXXIV and lost.) the Astros have two World Series appearances 2005 and 2017 - the 2017 World Series was the first time the Houston Astros won the World Series - a first for a Major League Baseball team based in Texas. While some East Texans associate with cowboy culture most identify more with plantation traditions of the South than with the expansive cattle ranching of the plains regions of Texas However East Texans commonly own and trade cattle Several "sale barns" exist across East Texas with weekly and monthly trades as is common in other parts of the lower South. .
. Smith County (209,714) Located near the Museum District are the Menil Collection Rothko Chapel and the Byzantine Fresco Chapel Museum November 13 2018 Broke Earliest Snowfall Record. 9.1 Higher education Bronze figure of a Portuguese soldier made by Benin culture in West Africa around 1600. . Main article: Climate of Houston At the 2000 Census the racial makeup of the city in was 49.3% White 25.3% Black or African American 5.3% Asian 0.7% American Indian 0.1% Pacific Islander 16.5% from some other race and 3.1% from two or more races in addition Hispanics made up 37.4% of Houston's population in 2000 while non-Hispanic whites made up 30.8% the proportion of non-Hispanic whites in Houston has decreased significantly since 1970 when it was 62.4%. .
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