Mexican Nationalism
Unit Vocabulary
Constitution – a written statement outlining the basic laws or principles by which a country or organization is governed.
Empresario – an agent who makes all arrangements to bring settlers to a colony.
Filibusters – an adventurer who engages in a private rebellious activity in a foreign country.
Immigration – people who come to a country to settle.
Representative government – a representative government is one that allows its citizens to elect other citizens to make
decisions for a large group of citizens. This allows the business of government to get
done.
Tejano – a person of Mexican descent living in Texas.
Big Concepts
Nationalism - a belief, creed or political ideology that involves an individual identifying with, or becoming attached to,
one's nation.
Representation - the action of speaking or acting on behalf of someone or the state of being so represented.
Immigration - the action of coming to live permanently in a foreign country.
Leadership - a process of social influence in which one person can enlist the aid and support of others in the
accomplishment of a common task
Father Hidalgo
1810 - Father Hidalgo gives his famous speech in which he calls on the people of Mexico to rise up and break free of
Spanish rule.
1810 - 1812 - Hidalgo will march across Mexico with followers as they fight for Mexican Independence. Hidalgo will be
caught and killed, but his goal of Mexican Independence would be realized after his death.
Jose Bernardo Gutierrezo
Native of Revilla which is today called the Ciudad Guerrero, Mexico
Strong supporter of the revolutionary movement to separate Mexico from Spain
1811 - Acting as a diplomat to the United States Gutierrezo asks the United States to support the cause of Mexican
Independence. The United States declines siting that it does not want to risk its relationship with Spain.
1812 - With 450 troops many of whom were from the United states Gutierrezo invades Texas.
1813 - Texas is declared independent from Spain. Gutierrezo declares himself as the first president of Texas. Later that
same year Spain sends soldiers to remove the insurgents.
1817 - Gutierrezo supports general Francisco Javier Mina in support of the Spanish Constitution of 1812. Gutierrezo
would later accompany James Long on his expeditions in 1818 & 1819.
1824 - In recognition for his role in support of Mexican Independence Gutierrezo is named constitutional governor of
Tamaulipas.
Moses Austin
23 Years old starts a dry goods business with his brother Stephen
Opens a second dry goods store
1785 - Marries into an affluent mining family
1793 - Son Stephen F Austin is born
Opened a lead mine that failed after
1798 - After swearing allegiance to Spain Austin was given 4,428 acres to settle families in Missouri
1803 - Missouri becomes part of the United States and Austin becomes the the founder and principle stock holder in the
Bank of St. Louis
1819 - Bank of St. Louis fails in the Panic of 1819
1820 - Austin travels to Presidio San Antonio de Bexar and presents a plan to colonize Texas with Anglo Americans
1821 - Austin is awarded a contract to settle 300 families in Texas
- Austin becomes sick on the return trip to Missouri. He dies shortly after returning home.
Stephen F. Austin
1819 - Bank of St. Louis fails in the Panic of 1819 and Stephen is left penniless
- Austin moves to Little Rock, Arkansas and runs for Congress, he loses
- Little Rock becomes the territorial capital and Austin loses his claim to the land
1820 - Austin Moves to New Orleans, Louisiana, and makes arrangements to study law
1821 - Austin is given his father’s impresario grant and is persuaded by his mother to finish his fathers work
- Austin is informed of Mexican Independence from Spain and is reauthorized to found a colony in Texas
- In December the very 1st U.S. colonists cross into Texas
1823 - The law allowing Austin to bring families to Texas is annulled and his contract is canceled.
1824 - Congress passes a new law allowing Austin to reconstitute his claim and finish his colony
1825 - Austin brings the 1st 300 families to his settlement
1832 - After attempting to limit U.S. immigration Austin has settled 11,000 families
The Old 300
The First 300 families to immigrate from The United States to Texas
Three requirements for settlement:
 must convert to Catholicism,
 must become a Spanish/Mexican citizen,
 must be of good, moral character.
What About Slavery?
1821 – Colonists could bring enslaved people to Texas and buy land depending on the number of enslaved people brought
 Mexico offered full citizenship to free African Americans, including land ownership and other privileges
1823 – The sale or purchase of enslaved people was forbidden in Texas, and required that children of enslaved people be
freed when they reach the age of fourteen
1827 – The legislature of Coahuila y Texas outlawed the introduction of additional enslaved people and granted freedom
at birth to all children born to enslaved people.
1829 – Mexico abolished slavery, but it granted an exception to Texas
1830 – Importation of enslaved people was illegal in Texas
Erasmo Seguin
1807 - 1835 - Seguin served as post master in San Antonio, Texas
1811 - Seguin is granted a seat on the governing council after rebellion in San Antonio against the Spanish
1813 - On a return trip from the United States Seguin carries a letter calling for the removal of Bernardo Gutierrez. At the
Battle of Medina the letter was found and Seguin was labeled a traitor.
1818 - Seguin is pardoned of all crimes.
1820 - Seguin is elected Mayor of San Antonio
1821 - Seguin acts as an ambassador to Moses Austin and informs Austin that his contract for colonization is approved.
1823 - After being elected as the only representative from Texas, Seguin helps draft a constitution for Mexico. He is
successful in adding language to the document to continue colonization in Texas.
Battle of Medina
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
The Republican army lost miserably, but it encouraged others to participate in the revolution.
Mexican Constitution of 1824
The constitution written after Mexico’s independence from Spain
The republic took the name of United Mexican States, and was defined as a representative federal republic with Catholicism as the
official religion.
Created the state of Coahuila y Tejas, merging the two provinces
Texas was not organized as a separate state because of its small population.
Green Dewitt
1787 - Green Dewitt is born and shortly after moves to Missouri with his family
1805 - Dewitt returns to Kentucky and studies at the college level for two years before returning to Missouri
1808 - Dewitt marries Sara Seely and enlists in the Missouri militia. He will fight in the War of 1812 an later be elected
Sheriff of Ralls County, Missouri
1822 - Dewitt petitions the Mexican Government to settle colonists in Texas but is denied.
1825 - With the help of Stephen F. Austin a second petition is granted and permission to settle 400 families is given
1825 - 1827 - Suffering setbacks Dewitts colony is moved closer to the coast until more settlers can help with protection
of the original colony at Gonzales from Indian raids
1827 - With the help of Martin De Leon, Dewitt is able to sign a peace treaty with the Karankawa and Tonkawa Indian
tribes. They are unable to reach terms with the Commanche.
1835 - At the beginning of hostilities between Mexico and Texas Dewitt will travel to Moncolva, Mexico in an attempt to
obtain more land for colonization. During the trip he contracts cholera and dies.
- After the death of Dewitt his family creates the "Come and Take It" flag during the battle of Gonzales.
Jean Lafitte
1805 - Lafitte is operating a smuggling warehouse in New Orleans, Louisiana with his brother.
1810 - Having become very successful in the smuggling business, Lafitte and his brother become pirates in the Gulf of
Mexico
1815 - In exchange for pardons for their crimes as pirates, Lafitte and his men help Andrew Jackson defend New Orleans
during the Battle of New Orleans
1816 - Agreeing to take part in the Mexican War for Independence, Lafitte agrees to be a spy for Spain
1817 - Lafitte lands at Galveston Island and begins building a smuggling empire.
1818 - Lafitte names his new colony Campeche and has settled 100 - 200 men on the island.
1818 - 1821 - Lafitte and his men will participate in smuggling, pirating, and the slave trade before the United States Navy
decides to put a stop to Lafitte and his activities
1821 - Lafitte leaves the island deciding not to confront the U.S. Navy. He is believed to have left with a wife and child.
He is also rumored to have taken a large portion of gold and wealth.
Martin De Leon
1765 - De Leon is born to a wealthy and well-connected family in Mexico
1790 - After working as a mine supplier, De Leon joins the military and is promoted to the rank of captain.
1799 - De Leon moves farther north and creates the Rancho Chiltipiquin. He registers the first cattle brand in the state of
Texas.
1807 - 1809 - De Leon twice petitions the Spanish Government to create a colony. He is rejected both times.
1824 - Martin is approved for a colony in Texas. He founds the city of Victoria.
1795 - De Leon marries and moves north to Cruillas to begin ranching. His wifes wealth will be a turning point for the De Leon family.
PURPOSES FOR AND METHODS OF SETTLEMENT IN TEXAS
Spanish Settlement
Purpose
Mexican Settlement
Purpose
Anglo Settlement
Purpose
to lay claim to Texas
Secure Spanish Control in the New World
Gold, Silver & resources
Economic opportunities – large ranches
and small businesses
Civil settlements and empresarios grants
Increase population in Northern Mexico
Economic opportunities – large farms to
grow cash crops and small businesses
New start
Escape debt
Empresarios grants
Increase population in Texas
Method
Method
Missions, Presidios & Civil Settlements
A colony of Spain
Resettled other Spanish Colonists
Empresario Grants
Supporting towns that were already in the
area
Large Ranches
Method
Farming & Agriculture
Empresarios grants
Settled in Northern Texas
Allowed because of the National
Colonization Law
Augustus Magee
1789 - Magee is born in Boston, Massachusetts
1809 - Magee graduates from West Point Military Acadamy
1810-1811 - While serving as an artillery officer Magee becomes frustrated with his prospects in the United States. After
being passed over for promotion Magee decides to resign his commission in the United States Army and
participate in the Mexican War for Independence.
1812 - Magee and a force of about 300 men leave Natchitoches, Louisiana to invade Texas
- After 10 days Magee and his men cross into Texas. Two months into his expedition into Texas Magee falls ill and
dies. Rumors persist that he was poisoned by his men.
James Long
1812 - Serves in the Battle of New Orleans during the War of 1812
1815 - Long is Married to Jane Herbert Dent Wilkinson and owns a plantation in Natchez, Mississippi
1819 - Unhappy with the Adams - Onis treaty Long recruits men to filibuster into Texas. They are successful in capturing
Nacogdoches
1820 - On an unsuccessful trip to the Bolivar Peninsula Long and 300 men were captured while trying to seize Presidio La
Bahia. Long was shot 6 months later.
Philip Nolan
1791 - Nolan uses his connections to obtain a trading passport and begins working as a filibuster in Texas
1800 - Nolan crosses into Texas on a filibustering expedition to capture wild mustangs
1801 - Nolan is captured by Spanish authorities and killed for his illegal activities
1791 - Using his passport Nolan sets out to trade with the Indians of Texas. Everything that he trades is confiscated by
Spanish Authorities
1797 - Nolan makes his third trip to Texas with a wagon train of trade goods
1799 - Nolan would leave Texas with 1200 horses and head to Natchez, Mississippi
1794 - 1795 - Nolan makes a second trip to Texas where he is able to get 250 horses.