Stephen F. Austin and the Empresarios

Stephen F. Austin and the Empresarios

United States New Spain (until 1821) and then Mexico

United States Mexico

Towns already in Coahuila Y Texas when Moses Austin showed up: • San Antonio • Goliad • Nacogdoches • Saltillo (captial of CyT) Why didn’t Mexico have Mexicans move into Texas? Why did they bring in Americans? • Most Mexicans felt they would be too far from Mexico City and “civilization” • The Natives were hostile… it was safer to stay home in Mexico. Nacogdoches San Antonio Goliad Saltillo

Empresarios – The Beginning A person who was in charge of recruiting and transporting settlers to Mexican land and then organizing a colony there. Ok Dad… I’ll carry out your plans for settling Texas. Moses Austin (Stephen F. Austin’s Father) Stephen F. Austin • The first Anglo American to get permission from Spain to bring American settlers to Texas • Lived in Missouri until a depression hit the U.S. and he lost all his money. • Went to Texas to ask the Spanish government if he could have a contract to bring Americans to settle Texas. (You could make money helping to establish and manage a colony.) • The Spanish were suspicious that Austin was really there to grab land until Baron de Bastrop convinced the Spanish officials otherwise • Then… Moses Austin died

How It Worked… Stephen F. Austin was the first to get his contract approved by the Spanish (and then the Mexican) government… so he was the first Texas empresario (also the most successful). Each empresario would sign a contract with the government of Mexico whereby they promised to settle a certain number of families. In Austin’s first contract he was supposed to settle 300 families. REQUIREMENTS FOR SETTLING IN TEXAS: • You had to become a citizen of your new country (Spain, and later Mexico) • You had to become Catholic • You had to be of good moral character

Austin interviewed the settlers and chose the people he thought would be the best for a settlement. If you had an especially useful job (merchant, doctor, mill and ferry operators) you would get extra land. Each settler paid Austin $0.12 an acre

After securing his contract with Mexico, Austin traveled around Texas and found what he thought was the best land for settling What are some things that make land good for settling? Near a Port Fertile Soil Good climate for farming Good climate for ranching Near Water The deal that Stephen F. Austin worked out with Spanish (and then Mexican) officials included the following: • Every man who came to Austin for land would receive 640 acres for himself • 320 acres for his wife • 160 acres for each child • 80 acres for each slave

While you could come to Texas without the help of an empresario, most families didn’t. Why not? • Most settlers could not speak Spanish and needed the empresarios’ help getting the title to their land. • Most of the desirable land was held by the empresarios. After Austin opened the door… many more men came to Texas to make money as empresarios. These men brought hundreds of American families to Texas. Population of Texas in 1821 (When SFA started): 7,000 Population of Texas in 1833 (at the end of the empresario era): 20,000 HOW DO YOU THINK THIS CHANGE IN POPULATION AFFECTED THE HISTORY OF TEXAS?

Austin’s First Colony Austin’s choice for his first colony was between the Colorado and the Brazos Rivers. Austin’s colony included a port because he knew he would need it to get settlers and supplies to the colony. Austin got a ship, the Lively to take people and supplies to the new colony from New Orleans. Everything went well until 1822: • The Lively shipwrecked and Austin lost a lot of supplies and colonists. • Mexico won its independence from Spain in 1821… so now Austin had to get permission to colonize Texas from the new Mexican government.

Major Empresario Grants Empresario Location Capital Problems Successes Stephen F. Austin, Father of Texas (American Empresario) Between the Colorado and Brazos Rivers San Felipe de Austin Drought Tonkawa & Kawakawa Indians Lively shipwrecked Disputes over boundaries Mexican gov’t revoked right to settle Convinced Mexican gov’t to let him settle Father of TX – 1st colony of Americans Settled nearly 300 families Green DeWitt (American Empresario) West of Austin’s 1st Colony Gonzales Native American Raids Settled 166 families 2nd in number to Austin Martin De Leon (Mexican Empresario) South of De Witt along the Guadalupe-Near the coast Victoria Native American Raids Forced to leave TX because of anti-Mexican sentiments Did a lot to promote the cattle industry in Texas Victoria important center for trade between Mexico and Texas Power and Hewetson (Irish Empresarios) South of De Leon along the Gulf Coast Refugio Prejudice against Irish Native American Raids Mainly Irish settlers Refugio was built on the site of an old Spanish Mission McMullen and McGloin (Irish Empresarios) Along the Gulf Coast San Patricio Prejudice against Irish Mainly Irish Settlers

Gone to Texas • The Empresarios had opened the door for Texas colonists. • As people poured westward into the area, they wrote G.T.T. (Gone to Texas) on abandoned cabins across the southern United States. That way people would know they had packed up and headed to Texas for a new start. • Why did settlers move to Texas? For many reasons… • They were seeking adventure. • To escape debt or other problems back in the US. • Land was plentiful and cheap.

Population BEFORE Empresarios: 7,000 Population AFTER Empresarios: 22,000 Towns established after the Americans came • San Felipe • Gonzales • Victoria • Refugio • Galveston • Bastrop • San Patricio • And many more… Texas in 1836

Stephen F. Austin and the Empresarios