Mexican Colonization and the Empresario System
Mexican National (7.1A)
Characterized by the Anglo colonization of Texas with the empresario system following the establishment of Mexico as independent from Spain and the creation of the Mexican Constitution of 1824
Long Expedition (7.2D)
Dr. James Long led a group from Mississippi to Nacogdoches where he declared Texas independent from Spain.
Purposes for settlement in Texas: Anglo (7.2F)
Economic opportunities - large farms to grow cash crops and small businesses, New start, Escape debt and Empresarios grants
Purposes for settlement in Texas: Mexican (7.2F)
Economic opportunities - large ranches and small businesses Civil settlements and empresarios grants
Battle of Medina (7.2D)
Fought August 18, 1813, along the Medina River south of San Antonio between the republican forces of the Gutiérrez-Magee expedition and the Spanish royalist army
Galveston Pirates (7.2D)
Jean Lafitte and other pirates attacked Spanish ships
State Colonization Law of 1825 (7.2D)
Law that set up guidelines for the colonization of Coahuila y Texas and allowed Stephen F. Austin and other empresarios to receive land grants in Texas
José Gutiérrez de Lara (7.2D)
Leader of the Mexican Republican Army of the North and opposed Spanish Rule, Supported several filibuster expeditions and first Governor of Mexican Texas
1821 (7.1B)
Mexico's independence from Spain
Erasmo Seguin (7.2E)
Tejano rancher who represented Texas at the Mexican Constitutional convention; located land for the Austin Colony and supported Texas independence
Purposes for settlement in Texas: Spanish (7.2F)
To lay claim to Texas and Missions, presidios, and civil settlements
Martin De Leon (7.2E)
a Mexican empresario who settled 200 Mexican families in South Texas (between the Lavaca and Guadalupe River). He and his wife founded the town of Victoria in 1824
Philip Nolan (7.2D)
a filibuster from the United States that was sent to Texas with Spanish approval
Revolution
a forcible overthrow of a government or social order in favor of a new system
land grant
a grant of public land, especially to an institution, organization, or to particular groups of people
filibuster
an adventurer who engages in private rebellious activity in a foreign country
empresario
an agent who makes all the arrangements to bring settlers to a colony
Green DeWitt (1831) (7.2E)
an important American empresario who settled 166 families in the area near present-day Gonzales
Father Miguel Hidalgo (7.2D)
credited with sparking the Mexican War for Independence. Student of the Enlightenment was a champion of the poor and indigenous populations in Mexico
Stephen F. Austin (1821) (7.2E)
first American to recruit and settle Americans in Texas/Mexico. He settled 300 families and was known as an empresario. This led to the colonization by other American settlers in Texas/Mexico.
Moses Austin (1820) (7.2E)
first American to work with the Spanish government to settle Americans in Texas
Annexation
incorporation by joining or uniting
Gutierrez-Magee Expedition (7.2D)
organized the Republic of the north and proclaimed Texas independent of Spain, but were defeated. It encouraged others to free Texas and Mexico from Spanish rule
Merger of Texas and Coahuila as a state (7.2D)
stated in the Mexican Federal Constitution of 1824
Colonization
the action or process of settling among and establishing control over the indigenous people of an area
Constitution
the basic written set of principles and precedents of government
immigration
the movement of people from one place to settle in another place
Tejano
the unique cultural blending of Spanish and American traditions in Texas
Mexican Federal Constitution of 1824 (7.2D)
written after Mexico's independence from Spain and Created the state of Coahuila y Tejas, merging the two provinces
