2. Mexico wins Independence
1821 Mexico wins independence from Spain
They are in the process of creating a new government.

4. Mexico needs settlers
Spain had control over Texas for over 300 years with very little growth
Spanish settlers did not want to live in Texas
No gold or silver
To get good paying jobs you needed to be in Mexico City
Farmers and cattle ranchers did not like the land
Native Americans were still a threat on the prairies of Texas

5. Moses Austin 1820 (just before Mexico is independent from Spain)
First American get permission from the Spanish government to settle Americans in Texas.
Died before he could complete his agreement
Moses Austin

6. Wanted to be a lawyer, but quit school after his father died.
1821
Wanted to be a lawyer, but quit school after his father died.
Had to go to Mexico city to regain his fathers original land grant from new Mexican government.
Settled 300 American families in Texas.
Called the “Old 300”
Our state capital is named after him
Stephen Fuller Austin
Known as the Father of Texas

7. Helped Moses Austin get approval from Spanish officials to settle American Colonist in Texas.
Represented Texas in the Constitutional Convention after the revolution.
Erasmo Seguin

8. He and his wife were Tejanos
Don martin de leon
He and his wife were Tejanos
Brought 200 people to settle what is now Victoria
He was the only successful Mexican Empresario

9. Green dewitt
1831
An important Empresario who settled 166 families in the area present day Gonzalez.

10. Old Three Hundred
The first 300 that Stephen F. Austin settled in Texas.
The actual number was 297
They took all they had in covered wagons.
Paid 12.5 cents per acre
Mr. Thomas Borden

11. American Colonist in Texas
In 1824 they settled between the Brazos and Colorado Rivers
Rivers were a primary water source
Fertile soil, natural resources, mild climate
There were no other settlements in the area.
“one of our group went hunting and killed the fattest deer I ever saw in my life. We started about nine 0’clock, continued a north course along the large body of timber which lay to our right. Prairies of the richest kind of black sandy land, intersected by branches and creeks of excellent water-heavily timbered, beautifully rolling”

12. Moving to Texas
Received land grants from Mexico - Good farm land for a cheap price
12.5 cents per acre
There was more opportunity for people in Mexican owned Texas than in the United States.
Had time to pay off land.
Original Spanish agreement
Men- 640 acres
Wives- 320 acres
Children- 160 acres
Slaves-80 acres
1200 acres for $150
New Mexican Agreement
4,605 acres per family no matter the size.

13. Requirements to live in Texas
Must convert to Catholicism
Must become Mexican citizens
Must be of good moral character
“no drunkard, no gambler, no profane swearer, no idler”

14. Mexican Federal Constitution of 1824
Written after Mexico became independent of Spain.
Named themselves: United Mexican States
It was a representative Federal Republic
Declared the official religion Catholic

15. State Colonization law of 1825
Guidelines to colonization of Coahuila Y Texas
Allowed Stephen F. Austin and other Empresario land grants.
Page 197 in your textbook

16. Issue of Slavery
1821- Colonist could bring slaves and buy land depending on the number of slaves brought
Mexico- offered full citizenship to freed slaves. They were allowed to own land.