Chapter 8 Section 3 Notes
Essential Question: What problems
did the Austin colony face?
Problem’s in Austin’s colony
• drought and Indian attack
• Austin set up system of government
with a mixture of Mexican and US laws
• set up a militia to lead attacks against
Indians and tried to establish peace
with some Indian groups
Old Three Hundred
•
•
•
•
297 families and single men settled by 1824
known as the Old Three Hundred
most came from southern US (Louisiana)
in 1825 440 enslaved Africans Americans lived
among 1,790 colonists
Capital of Austin’s Colony
• Austin founded San Felipe de Austin in 1824
• located in center of colony halfway between
coast and the El Camino Real
• became largest business center in Texas after
San Antonio
• Austin acquired contracts for 4 more colonies
between 1825-1831
Chapter 8 Section 4
Essential Question: What are Empresario’s?
Colonization Laws• Mexico passed the National Colonization of 1824
• Law allowed each state in Mexico to set its own
colonization policies
• 1824 The Mexican government formed the state
of Coahuila y Texas
• Baron de Bastrop was first Texas citizen to serve
in its government
• Coahuila y Texas passed the State Colonization
Law of 1825 which opened Texas up to further
immigration
• other people followed footsteps of SF Austin
and became empresarios (business people
who promoted settlement)
• Empresarios received:
– 67,000 acres of land for every 200 families
– Settlers did not pay taxes for 10 years
– Settlers agreed to become Catholic and Mexican
citizens
Other Empresarios• (1) Green DeWitt settled 400 families
-Gonzales was the colony’s main town
-Jose Antonio Navarro was colony’s land
commissioner
• (2) Martin de Leon settled primarily Mexican
settlers
-developed into important ranching center
-Victoria was colony’s main town
-US settlers outnumbered Tejano’s three to
one
Father of Texas
• Stephen F. Austin brought 1500 families to
Texas in 1820s
• won trust of Mexican officials, Indian leaders,
and settlers
• became known as the Father of Texas