Transcript Chapter 7 Lecture Notes

Tuesday, October 20
• I can…
• Explain how empresario
contracts worked
• Today:
• Chapter 8
• Test Review
• Announcements:
• The Chapter 7-8 test is
tomorrow
• Tutoring: Today 4-5
• Report card grades due
Friday
• Do Now
• Get out the chapter 7-8
study guide
• You will take notes on the
study guide during
today’s discussion
• Get out the packet from
yesterday
• Trade them with an
elbow partner
• Write “graded by” and
your name at the
bottom of the front
page
Mexican Texas
• Mexican Texas is the name given by Texas history scholars to Texas
during the period between 1821 and 1836, when Texas was an integral
part of Mexico.
• The period began with Mexico's victory over Spain in its war of
independence in 1821. For the first several years of its existence,
Mexican Texas operated very similarly to Spanish Texas.
• The 1824 Constitution of Mexico joined Texas with Coahuila to form the
state of Coahuila y Tejas. The same year, Mexico enacted the General
Colonization Law, which enabled all heads of household, regardless of
race or immigrant status, to claim land in Mexico.
• The first empresarial grant had been made under Spanish control to
Stephen F. Austin, whose settlers, known as the Old Three Hundred,
settled along the Brazos River in 1822. The grant was later ratified by
the Mexican government.
• Twenty-three other empresarios brought settlers to the state, the
majority from the United States of America.
From wikipedia.org
Depression
A period of low economic activity, often marked by
high unemployment
Survey
Measure for size and for boundaries (p.167)
Empresario
The Spanish word for a land agent whose job it was to bring in
new settlers to an area (p. 168)
“An empresario was a person who, in the early years of the settlement of Texas,
had been granted the right to settle on Mexican land in exchange for recruiting
and taking responsibility for new settlers. The word is Spanish for entrepreneur.”
– from Wikipedia.org
• Stephen F. Austin, Green DeWitt, Martín De León
• How it worked
1. The empresario gets a contract with the Mexican government
•
•
They are then granted land for their colony
The empresario must then find 100 families to settle on that land
2. Empresario contracts ran for 6 years
•
•
If the empresario was not able to get at least 100 families settled on the land
within those 6 years, the empresario’s contract would be canceled by the
Mexican government.
If the empresario was successful, they would get land of their own
•
Stephen F. Austin earned about 100,000 acres
How big is an acre?
Militia
A group of citizens acting as a military force, usually
all able-bodied men (p. 169)
Second Amendment: “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free
State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.”
Federalist
A person who believes in sharing power between the
states and the national government
Centralist
A person who believes the power should be
concentrated in the national government (p.173)
1876
Mexico in 1821
Moses Austin Paves the Way
A. Moses Austin was the first
Anglo American to secure
permission from the Spanish
authorities to bring American
settlers to Texas.
B. After Austin’s business failed,
he traveled from his home in
Connecticut to San Antonio
to regain his fortune.
C. His request of Spanish
authorities to bring 300
Anglo American families to
Texas was turned down at
first.
D. In 1821, Austin’s friend Baron
de Bastrop influenced the
Spanish governor to give
Austin the permission he
sought.
Why did Moses Austin seek to
bring families to settle in Texas?
• He sought a way to recover his wealth after his
business failed, and settling families in the new
land was a way to do that.
Stephen F. Austin Continues His
Father’s Work
A. The journey home
from San Antonio was
hard, and Moses
Austin fell ill
B. He asked his wife to
write to his son
Stephen asking him
“to carry out the
‘Texas Venture.’”
Moses Austin died on
June 10, 1821.
C. Stephen Austin
journeyed to San
Antonio in August
1821 to carry out is
father’s plan.
Why did Stephen Austin travel to
San Antonio?
• He wanted to carry out his father’s plan to settle
colonists in the area.
Austin Sets Colony Boundaries
A. Austin decided that
the region between
the Colorado and
Brazos Rivers would
make a good colony
because it had rich
soil, access to
water, and a warm
climate. (15)
B. Austin requested
land along the coast
to land the settlers
and supplies.
How did Austin expect his settlers
to travel to Texas?
• He expected them to come by ship.
Advertising for Colonists
A. Austin promised 640 acres for each man, 320
acres for each woman, 160 acres for each child,
and 80 acres for each slave.
B. The land would cost 12.5 cents per acre.
C. Settlers were required to become Texas citizens,
take an oath of allegiance to Mexico, and become
Catholic. (20)
D. Austin hoped to attract settlers of greater
education and wealth because he thought they
might prove to be more dependable. (14)
Good Land and Low Prices
Attract Settlers
A. Austin’s advertisement attracted many people.
B. Most of the settlers in Austin’s first colony were
Anglo Americans (18)
C. Most early colonists owned small farms and a few
cows and horses.
D. In March 1822, Austin learned that Mexico had
won independence from Spain the previous year.
E. The new government did not recognize Austin’s
right to colonize Texas.
Why was Mexican independence
from Spain unfavorable for Austin?
• Previously, permission to colonize was given by the
Spanish government; after Mexican independence,
the new government did not recognize that
permission as legal.
Austin Impresses Mexican Leaders
A. Austin traveled to Mexico City seeking approval for
his settlement.
B. While in Mexico City Austin learned Spanish and
gained an understanding of Mexican culture. (17)
C. In 1823, the Mexican government was impressed
by Austin’s honesty and sincerity and passed a
colonization law, giving him the contract.
D. Austin went on to become the most successful of
the empresarios. (19)
The Constitution of 1824
A. In 1823, the Mexican
Federalists overthrew
the Mexican Centralist
government, and
Mexico became a
republic giving the
states a voice in
government.
B. Coahuila, one of
Mexico’s new states,
and Texas were joined
into one state.
Mexico Passes Colonization Law
A. In 1824, the Mexican government passed laws to
regulate colonization.
B. The law limited the amount of land anyone could
receive and permitted only permanent residents
to acquire land.
How State Colonization Laws
Worked
A. A family received up to 4,428 acres (one league)
for $30.
B. For every 100 colonists brought to Texas, an
empresario received about 23,000 acres.
C. The empresario had six years to bring in 100
families before a colonization contract was
canceled.
How did empresarios profit from
bringing colonists to Texas?
• They received 23,000 acres of land for every 100
colonists they brought.
The Most Successful Empresario
A. Stephen F. Austin received four additional
contracts under the new laws.
B. In 1828, Austin received special permission to
settle 300 families in a 10-league zone along the
coast.
V. Why Austin’s Colonies
Succeeded
(pages 175-176)
A. Austin skillfully dealt with Mexican authorities,
and his colonists easily received their titles.
Native Americans became less of a threat.
B. Austin’s grants contained some of the most fertile
and best-watered land.
Why did Austin’s colonists
succeed?
• Austin chose the most fertile land, he succeeded in
obtaining title to the land for colonists, and Native
American attacks became less frequent.
Other Empresarios
• By 1833, Texas had about 20,000 people. Land in
Texas was cheap, and many Americans believed
that the United States would buy eastern Texas.
• The idea of Texas becoming part of the United
States made the land even more attractive.
• Many people decided to become empresarios.
VI. Green DeWitt’s
Success (page 176)
A. Green DeWitt was authorized to bring in 400 families,
who settled west of Austin’s first colony with Gonzales
as their headquarters. By 1831, DeWitt had issued
166 land titles.
B. By the 1830s, the Mexican government became
concerned that too many outsiders from the United
States were entering Texas.
C. The government passed the Law of April 6, 1830, to
limit immigrants to Texas. The law kept DeWitt’s
colony from growing. (13)
D. As a result, DeWitt did not fulfill his contract and
made no money
Martin De Leon
A. Martin de Leon settled
200 families along the
Guadalupe River.
B. Martin De León’s
colony was given
preference over
neighboring colonies
in border disputes
because he was a
native Mexican. (16)
Various Nationalities Settle in Texas
A. Most Texas immigrants were from the United
States. (21)
B. Others were from Mexico.
C. The Mexican government opposed slavery. Anglo
Americans argued that slave labor was essential.