Filibusters and Unrest
in Texas
Pages 92-96
Threats to Spanish Control
• In the early 1800s, most of the Spanish
missions had closed
• Nacogdoches, San Antonio, and La Bahia
were the only major towns in Texas
• Native American tribes had control over
the rest of Texas
U.S. Claims to Texas
• Spain controlled the Louisiana Territory
from 1763-1800 when it was given back to
France
• In 1803, France SOLD Louisiana to the
U.S. and Spain was upset
• Spain and the U.S. were unclear as to the
border of Louisiana and fought over it for
many years
Rebellion in Mexico
• Spain began to lose control of its colonies
in America.
• In 1810, Mexico revolted, wanting freedom
from Spain.
– This fight took more than TEN years!
• Since no one knew who really owned the
land, fortune-seekers made their way to
the Americas and Texas to claim a piece
for themselves.
Filibusters
• Filibuster: a person who starts an unofficial
war on a country
• These people act for themselves, not for
any government
Philip Nolan
• In the late 1700s, Nolan came to Texas to trade
horses to the U.S.
• The Spanish was worried that Nolan was plotting
against them by making maps of the areas and
gathering forces to attack them.
• The Spanish got ready…just in case
• In 1800, Nolan led a group to attack the Spanish
but they were waiting for him and defeated him.
General James Wilkinson
• Wilkinson was hired by Spain as a double
agent to take land from the U.S. and give it
to Spain
• Wilkinson plotted to take the states for
himself
• When all this failed, Wilkinson set up a
neutral zone between Texas and Louisiana
called “The Neutral Ground Agreement”-no
one could take the land until the borders
conflict was resolved
Unrest in Mexico
• Spain became unstable and talks of
revolting began
• People in the Spanish colonies did not like
the way they were being treated and the
high taxes they had to pay
• In “New Spain,” people were poor and
were placed in a class, or social rank,
based on how much money they had
Unrest in Mexico
• Spaniards in Europe were part of the
highest class in society
• Second highest: Spaniards born in
America
• Third and below: “mixed” people-Spanish
and Native American heritage
• Lowest: Indians
• When Spain’s King was dethroned, the
Spanish in America decided to take the
opportunity to make a change
The Cry of Dolores
• Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla, a priest from Dolores,
issued the “Grito de Dolores”- a document
saying that all people in New Spain should be
treated equally
• The members of the lower class came together
to revolt and capture parts of New Spain
• Middle class Spaniards defeated the lower class
and Hidalgo was killed
• Despite his failed efforts, word spread of
Hidalgo’s attempt to revolt and more revolts
occurred.
The United States Drops its Claim
to Texas
• When the U.S. bought Louisiana from
France, they claimed Texas as part of the
Louisiana Purchase
• In 1819, the Adams-Onis Treaty set the
border between the U.S. and Spanish
Texas along the Sabine River
– The treaty also made it known that Spain
owned Texas and the U.S. got Florida
Mexican Independence
Pages 97-99
Mexico Works for Independence
• In 1814, after the rebellion of many
filibusters, a plan for a new government
was made  a Mexican republic
• He was trying to form a republic.
– Republic: citizens elect representatives to
make laws
• This declaration of Mexican independence
did not work as well as they had hoped
Spanish Events Influence Mexico
• King Ferdinand VII regained control of the
throne in Spain.
• He was forced to accept the Constitution
of 1812: gave people rights in New Spain
and took away the king’s absolute power
• Common people were gaining more power
and a new government was formed
• Conservatives: wanted to limit changes
and keep the old ways (upper class
people)
Independent Mexico
• Mexico wanted its independence
• “The Plan of Iguala” stated that Mexico
would be an independent nation and all
the people would be equal
• August 24th, 1821: MEXICO GAINED
INDEPENDENCE!!!!
A New Wave of Settlement
Pages 108-112
New Settlers
• Many people wanted to come to Texas
• Ft. St. Louis: Built by La Salle, destroyed
by Karankawas
• Spanish Missions and Presidios started
popping up to claim the land in the name
of New Spain
• Settlers came in to Texas from all over the
U.S., Louisiana, Spain, and the north
Texas at the End of Spanish Rule
• While fighting for their independence,
many Mexicans died
• The relationship between the Native
Americans and the Mexicans was hostile
(not very good at all)
People wanted to move to Texas
because it had:
•
•
•
•
•
Rich land
Rainfall
Grassland
Thick forests
Rivers and streams
Effects of Independence on
Colonization
• After all the fighting (for independence) ranches
and farmland was destroyed
• Filibusters took what they wanted
• Mexicans feared the U.S. would try to claim
Texas
• Mexicans started moving to Texas to claim their
land
– Problem: Many people did not want to live in Texas
because of hostile Indians
– Solution: The Colonization Law of 1823 gave people
the ability to have large amounts of land at a low cost.
This, in turn, made Texas look more promising as a
place to live
Effects of Independence on
Colonization
• The State Colonization Law gave states
the right to make their own rules of
colonization-large families began coming
to Texas
• Empresario: Spanish word for “contractor,”
someone who puts together business
deals
• Title: legal right to own a piece of property
Empresario’s Job
• Find land for settlements
• Agree to settle land with a certain amount of
people within a certain amount of time
• Find the “right kind of people” to be in the
settlement
• “Right kind of person means:” a reliable person,
no criminal record, has good morals
• Helped settlers by: giving them supplies, loans,
titles, and they represented the colony to the
Mexican government
Moses Austin
Pages 113-115
Moses Austin
• A successful empresario who started a dry
goods store, opened a lead mine, and was
nicknamed “Lead King”
• Moved westward where he was given a sitio to
settle 30 families from the U.S.
• Sitio: 4,428 acres of land (one acre about the
size of a football field)
• Opened a bank but it failed during the Panic of
1819.
– Speculators (someone who buys land using a bank’s
money and tries to sell it to others for a profit) could
not pay back their loans.
Moses Austin in Texas
• Austin’s Plan: Create a new colony with
300 families
• Result: 1st it was declined. Later on,
Bastrop helped him get the plan approved.
Moses died after traveling took all his
strength from him so his son, Stephen F.
Austin, took over his dream of a colony in
Texas.
Stephen F. Austin and the Old
Three Hundred
Pages 117-122
Stephen F. Austin and the Old 300
• Texas empresario  led 300 families to
Texas
• agriculture: the work of preparing soil,
producing crops, and raising livestock
• Austin’s Colony was in the perfect spot for
great living  great soil for farming and far
away from Native Americans
• Land in Texas was practically free ($1.25
per acre)
In order to be a part of Austin’s
Colony:
• Pledge their loyalty to Mexico
• Could no longer be U.S. citizens
• Supposed to adopt the Roman Catholic
religion
• Could not be a: drunkard, gambler, a user
of profane language, or an idler (lazy
person)
Settlement Begins
• In Austin’s colony he didn’t want slaves,
but he allowed it because he thought
people would not come to the colony if he
said no
• He had few supplies because they were
destroyed in a shipwreck
• He got approval for his colony from the
Mexican government and he was given
even more land!!! 
Problems in the Colony
•
•
•
•
Drought killed crops
Fighting with the Karankawas
People died
Militia: group of armed citizens who served
as soldiers during an emergency  they
protected colonists from Native Americans
• New colonists were needed to populate
the colony
The Old Three Hundred
• People from all over were a part of the
colony
• Austin’s Colony: “The Old 300”
• 297 families got land grants and a few
partnerships came as well
– Partnership: association of two or more
people in a business venture
The “Mother of Texas” and Mary
Crownover Rabb
• Jane Long was one of only a handful of women
to receive a land grant in Austin’s Colony
• She built a hotel near Fort Bend and people
gave her the nickname of “Mother of Texas” for
her strength and resolve
• Mary Crownover Rabb recorded her memories
of the colony in a book called, Travels and
Adventures in Texas in the 1820s
Life in the Colony
• Women cooked, cleaned, built fires, made
soap, nursed the ill, sewed clothing, and
watched over children
• Log cabins were homes
• No schools at first in the colony
• Peaceful community of people
San Felipe de Austin
• San Felipe de Austin  The name of the
town that served as the heart of the colony
where the government offices were placed
• Stephen F. Austin worked in this city as the
colony’s representative in dealings with
Mexico
• Stephen F. Austin was very successful in
Texas
– He was able to secure 900 additional families
land in Texas
Empresarios and
Entrepreneurs
Pages 123-126
Martin De Leon
• The only Mexican empresario to found a
colony in Texas  all other empresarios
came from outside of Mexico
• Wanted to start a colony of Mexican
families along the Guadalupe River
• 162 families lived there and all but 16
came from Mexico
Green DeWitt
• Received a contract to bring 400 families
to Texas
• DeWitt’s land overlapped De Leon’s so he
was pushed westward and founded the
town of Gonzales
The Irish Come to Texas
• The Irish settlement faced many problems
– Between disease and border disputes, fewer
that 200 families ended up settling there
Haden Edwards and the Republic
of Fredonia
• Edwards won a contract to bring 800 families to
Nacogdoches
• This land was already occupied but Edwards did
not listen and forced settlers already living there
to prove their ownership of the land
• Many refused Edwards demand and his contract
was canceled
• Edwards revolted and tried to call Texas the
Republic of Fredonia, separating Native
Americans from other white settlers.
• Mexican soldiers and Austin’s militia ended the
revolt
The Empresario Era Winds Down
• Between 1820 and 1835 the population of Texas
grew from 3,000 to 25,000 settlers
• A census was taken to determine the
approximate number of people in Texas
– Census: official count of the population in a region
• Questions of loyalty rose. Settlers did not follow
the Mexican government and wanted to govern
themselves as they did in the U.S.
• The empresario era came to a close in the mid
1830s.