The South Central States

The four south central states are Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Texas. When you think of these states, you probably think of oil drilling. Louisiana and Texas are the leading oil producing states in the nation. Natural gas is also a big deal in the south central states. Oil is used to make plastic, gasoline, fuel oil for furnaces, solvents, and lubricants. Drilling for oil and natural gas can be very dangerous. Sometimes there are big explosions called blowouts. When a bit of an oil drill bites into a very high pressure gas zone, a blowout happens.

Not only do the south central states produce a lot of petrochemicals, they have interesting histories. Texas was once a Mexican territory. Then, Americans starting moving into this part of Mexico. At first, the Mexican government allowed them to come in, but soon, too many Americans came in, and decided their colony should be a free country. They also wanted to have slaves, but that was illegal in Mexico. In 1835, the settlers signed the Texas Declaration of Independence, and fought a famous battle at The Alamo.


Although we lost that battle, Texas eventually became it's own country, with its own flag. The flag was red, white and blue, with one single star. That is why Texas is called the Lone Star State. In 1945, Texas became a state of the United States.

The south central states are big in oil, history and culture.