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.