Chapter 8
Anglo American Colonization of
Texas
1800-1830
Essential Question
Were the motives of Anglo settlement
consistent with the goals Spain and later
Mexico had for their colonies?
Vocabulary
• Anglo American: people whose ancestors
moved to US from European countries
• Immigrant: person who settles in a new country
• Empresario: a person who makes arrangement
to bring settlers to a colony; like a travel agent
• Recruit: to persuade someone to join a group
• Filibuster: person who engages in a private
rebellious activity in a foreign country; a rebel
Table Group Discussion
Compare the type of filibuster
that Wendy Davis led in the
Texas Senate to the filibusters
in Early Texas.
Vocab, con’t
• Compromise: mutual agreement in which each
side gives up something in order to reach a
settlement
• Neutral: not belonging to one side or another
• Republic: nation or state in which people elect
representatives to govern them
• Tejano: person from Mexican descent who lives
in Texas
• Cede: to surrender by treaty or agreement
Americans Move West
• After American Revolution, many Anglo Americans (most
were from England) wanted a new life…many wanted to
move west even though Spain controlled much of the west
• Spain didn’t want US to claim any land west of Mississippi
River
• Many settlers from US had already moved to Spanish
owned lands
• Spain got scared because so many Americans were
moving into Spanish land
– Didn’t want Americans to outnumber the Spanish
Spain Controls Immigration
• Spain wanted to control number of immigrants
by allowing Anglo Americans settle in Missouri if:
– They pledged their loyalty to Spain
– They became Catholic
• Reasons for doing this:
– Populate area to extend Spanish rule
– Hoped new settlers (who agreed to conditions above)
would keep other Anglo Americans from coming into
territory illegally
Spain Controls Immigration, con’t
• 1st Empresario to recruit settlers from US
to Texas: George Morgan
– He got people to come and promised Spain he would be
responsible for them
– Founded the town of New Madrid on Mississippi River (what is
now Missouri)
– His example as an Empresario set example for Empresarios who
would come later
Table Group Discussion
• Why was Spain trying to control
immigration?
• What were they afraid of?
• Were the immigrants to Texas sincere in
doing what Spain required?
Philip Nolan in Texas
• Some Texas settlers did not like the Spanish
requirements (allegiance to Spain; become
Catholics)
• Group of Texas settlers were filibusters…Spain
was threatened by them
• First filibuster to come to Texas: Philip Nolan
– Led men into Texas to capture wild horses…sold them for profit in US
– At first, he had permission from Spain to do this but later was accused of
trying to take Texas from Spain
– Was warned not to come back into Texas or would be arrested
Philip Nolan, con’t
• Nolan came back to Texas anyway with group of
men
• Had battle with Spanish soldiers near Waco
• Nolan was killed…men were taken as to
Mexican prison
• Peter Ellis Bean…(one of Nolan’s men) later
became Mexican army officer
Neutral Ground Agreement
• Background
– Spain lost control of northern territory (Louisiana area)
in 1800 when France reclaimed land
– US bought the land from France as part of the
Louisiana Purchase (1803)
– Now US and Spain shared border between Louisiana
and Spanish Texas
– Both countries tried to decide where border should be
(normally the Sabine River)
Neutral Ground Agreement,
con’t
• So, US commander (Wilkinson) and
Spanish commander Herrera reached a
compromise
• Decided on a neutral zone (see map on
next slide)
• Both countries agreed not to control the
neutral area or patrol it with troops
The Neutral
Ground Map
Neutral Ground Agreement,
con’t
• Neutral Ground Agreement stopped
border conflict but served as a shelter for
criminals….Spain agreed to let US go into
neutral area and arrest lawbreakers
• Lieutenant Augustus Magee led US patrol
and kept control of area
Table Group Discussion
What would have been a better
way to handle the border problem?
Gutierrez-Magee Expedition
• Augustus Magee resigned from US Army
• He met Bernardo Gutierrez de Lara…helped to
free Texas from Spain
• Magee and Gutierrez became filibusters and
started the Republic of the North (Republican
Army of the North)…wanted to free Texas
• Their army was made up of Tejanos, Native
Texans, Anglo Americans, and volunteers
http://www.texasvis.com/Images/Video%20Images/filabusters1/fewb&wguysonhorse.jpg
Gutierrez-Magee Expedition, con’t
• They arrived in Nacogdoches in 1812…proclaimed Texas
free from Spain
• Moved on to Goliad (La Bahia) to free it but Magee was
killed
• Other men joined in and went to other places to free Texas
• They were defeated by Spanish General Joaquin de
Arredondo in 1813
• Battle was near Medina River (15 miles from San Antonio)
Battle of Medina
Gutierrez-Magee Expedition,
con’t
Result
Even though they were finally defeated at
Battle of Medina, it encouraged others to try
to free Texas and Mexico from Spain
http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/qyg01
http://www.tshaonline.org/day-by-day/30779
Revolutionaries and Pirates in
Texas
• After Gutierrez-Magee expedition, many people
moved to Texas who also wanted to free Texas
from Spain…even revolutionaries and pirates!
• Francisco Xavier Mina and Henry Perry
organized group on Galveston Island
• French Pirate Louis Michel Aury helped them
• Wanted to attack Spanish ships—had
unsuccessful attempt in 1817
Revolutionaries and Pirates, con’t
• Then pirate Jean Lafitte came to
Galveston
•
http://www.ghosttoursofgalvestonisland.com/JeanLafitte.htm
• He founded Campeche, TX
• He said he was trying to free Texas
and Mexico but he was really
interested in taking Spanish treasure
Jean Lafitte
• The US Navy forced Jean Lafitte out of
Galveston when he started raiding US
ships
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Lafitte
The Adams-Onis Treaty
• Background: 1817, US General Andrew Jackson
chased some Indians into Spanish Florida…this
made Spain mad
• So, they made a treaty called the Adams-Onis
Treaty (1819)
• http://www.tamu.edu/faculty/ccbn/dewitt/adamonis.htm
• http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/nba01
• http://www.pbs.org/kpbs/theborder/history/timeline/2.html
The Adams-Onis Treaty, con’t
– Terms of Treaty
• Spain ceded Florida to US and agreed that Sabine
River would be boundary between Spanish Texas
and Louisiana and Red River as northern boundary
• US agreed to not let people stake land claims west
of Sabine River…this made Americans mad
because they wanted to go west
• Many people ignored treaty and took land in Texas
away from Spain
The Adams-Onis Treaty
http://mrcapwebpage.com/VCSUSHISTORY/adamsonistreaty.gif
The Long Expedition
• June, 1819: Doctor James Long led a group of people
from Natches, Mississippi to Nacogdoches…he then
declared Texas independent from Spain
• Long wanted Jean Lafitte to help the Texans fight help to
free Galveston but Lafitte refused
• So Long went back to Natches, MS and get more men
for a mission to La Bahia (Goliad)
The Long Expedition, con’t
• But, Spanish troops forced
Long and his 2nd group of
men to surrender
• Long was sent to Mexico
City and was shot by a
prison guard
• He was the last major
filibuster in Texas
Dr. James Long
http://www.wtblock.com/wtblockjr/History%20of%20Jefferson%20County/Images/James%20M%20Long.jpg
The Long Expedition Links
• https://www.tsl.state.tx.us/treasures/republ
ic/long-01.html
• http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online
/articles/qyl01
• http://www.tamu.edu/faculty/ccbn/dewitt/ad
p/history/republic/flags/long.html
The Long Expedition, con’t
• When Long’s wife, Jane (who was living along the coast
at Bolivar…on coast), heard that her husband was
captured and killed, she went back to MS
• She later returned to Texas, though, and settled in
Richmond (by present day Houston)
• She managed a hotel and a plantation
• Jane Long (Dr. Long’s wife) is known as the “Mother of
Texas” because of her pioneer spirit and willingness to
move back to Texas even though her husband had been
killed
http://www.tamu.edu/faculty/ccbn/dewitt/images/longjane.jpg
http://www.dallashistory.org/images/Jane_Long.jpg
Jane Long
the “Mother of Texas”
http://www.lsjunction.com/people/long.htm
http://www.utexas.edu/gtw/long.php
http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/flo11
To Wrap It Up…
• Filibusters failed to make Texas free from
Spain
• But, their activities encouraged people to
move to Texas
• Because so many people started moving
into Texas, Spain really started losing
control of Texas
Stephen F. Austin and the
Empresarios
Anglo American colonization of Texas began
when Stephen F. Austin was given
permission to establish a colony of 300
American families on Texas soil. Soon other
colonists followed Austin’s lead and the
population of Texas grew rapidly
Vocabulary
• Petition: a formal written request
• Land Title: proof of ownership
Moses Austin Begins
Colonization in Texas
• Background:
– Moses Austin born in 1761 in Connecticut
– Went to Missouri to operate a lead min
– Eventually lost all his money
– Decided to become an empresario to pay of
debts…to take people to Texas
– Went to Texas in 1820 with idea of taking 300
families to start a colony
Moses Austin, con’t
• Because no empresario had brought that many
people to Texas before, Spain became
suspicious of him
• But, his plans were not to overthrow Spanish
government
• So, he went to San Antonio to get approval for
his plan
Moses Austin, con’t
• He presented his petition to Governor Antonio
Martinez
• Martinez rejected Austin’s plan…disappointed, he
decided to just leave Texas
• But, before he left San Antonio, he met Baron de
Bastrop, Felipe Enrique Neri who agreed to help
convince Martinez to approve Austin’s plan
Moses Austin, con’t
• Austin was expecting to get approval so he went
back to Connecticut to recruit colonists to go to
Texas
• But, he got sick and died in 1821 before he
could get back to Texas
• Right before he died, he asked his son, Stephen
F. Austin to take the colonists to Texas
http://www.dallashistory.org/history/texas/colonization.htm
http://www.cah.utexas.edu/texashistory/annex/anglo/index.php
Moses Austin
http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fau12
Stephen F. Austin Takes Over
• Background
– Born in Virginia
– Was an attorney and had served in politics
– Was 27 years old when he took over for his father
– Read page 179
• Approval for Texas
– Went to San Antonio and met with Governor Martinez and Erasmo
Seguin
• Seguin—respected citizen of San Antonio; was appointed to help Stephen F.
Austin; was a rancher and politician
– August, 1821: Stephen F. Austin’s petition to bring people to
Texas was approved
Stephen F. Austin, con’t
• What to do next…
– Choose site for colony…between Brazos and
Colorado Rivers
– Austin chose land along the lower Colorado
River
– Good weather, easy to grow crops, plenty of water, etc
Settlers Arrive in Texas
• Once he decided on location, Austin went
to New Orleans to recruit colonists
• He was looking for people of good
character, people who were Catholic or
who would agree to become Catholic,
people who would be willing to work hard,
and people who would pledge loyalty to
Spain
Settlers Arrive, con’t
• Old 300
– Name for the 300 families who came to Texas with Stephen F.
Austin
• Farmers would receive one labor (177 acres) of land
• Ranchers (raise cattle) would receive a sitio (square of land of 4428
acres)
• Many settlers got both
• Every family was given a land title (proof of land ownership)
Settlers Arrive, con’t
• 1821: Settlers began to arrive
• Some traveled along El Camino Real;
some came by boat named Lively
• Some mix-up, though, with boat and some
settlers went back to New Orleans
Austin’s Leadership
• Even though the colonists faced difficulties (drought, Indian attacks,
etc) and returned home, overall the colony prospered
• Why did they prosper? Austin’s great leadership
• Problem Austin faced: August, 1821…Texas was now part of
Mexico when Mexico became free from Spain
– Had to get permission now from Mexico to make sure colony
was legal…took a year
Austin’s Leadership, con’t
• When he was in Mexico, Austin learned to speak Spanish…gained
respect from Mexican officials
• Austin was awarded more land grants
• Austin helped pass law that allowed colonists to be free from taxes
• Helped pass homestead law…settler’s land and tools could not be
taken away to pay a debt
Austin’s Leadership, con’t
• Austin established capital colony on west
bank of Brazos River
– Called the capital settlement San Felipe de
Austin…named for Stephen F. Austin and a
saint
– Settlement was center of colonial activity until
it was burned down in Mexican Revolution
Austin’s Leadership, con’t
• Stephen F. Austin
– Empresario in Texas
– Became known as “The Father of Texas”
– Served as colonist’s representative to Mexican
government
– Translated Spanish for colonists
– Communicated Mexican government policies to
colonists
http://www.buildingshsu.com/a/austin_stephen_f.php
Stephen F. Austin
freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com
http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fau14
http://www.lsjunction.com/people/austin.htm
http://www.sonofthesouth.net/texas/stephen-f-austin-colony.htm
Expanding the Empresarial
System
• After Stephen F. Austin paved the way and
after the state colonization law of 1825
allowed other empresarios to obtain land
grants, many other empresaries started
colonies in Texas
– By 1830, about 30 people had obtained land
grants
• See Empresario Contracts in Texas, 18231831
More Empresarios
• Green DeWitt
– 2nd most important empresario
– Founded colony southwest of Austin’s original location
– His colony’s headquarters was Gonzales
– Had permission to move 400 families to Texas but only moved
166
• Martin de Leon
– Settled about 200 families near coast of Texas between Lavaca
and Guadalupe Rivers
– Very successful rancher
– Founded town of Victoria with wife Patricia
– Victoria became center for trade between Texas and Mexico
– Victoria is still successful farming and cattle community
Expanding Empresarial
System, con’t
• Arthur Wavell and Ben Milam
– Land grants along Red River
• Haden Edwards
– land grant in East Texas
– Agreed to finance Austin’s dealings with govt
– Later lost land grant after dispute with Mexico
• Joseph Vehlein and David Burnet
– Took over land grant that Edwards lost
Expanding Empresarial
System, con’t
• James Power and James Hewetson
– From Ireland
– Brought colonists from Ireland
– Settled Irish colony along Gulf Coast
• John McMullen and James McGloin
– From Ireland
– Settled Irish colony along Nueces River
Empresario Land Grants
Texas in 1830
• By 1830s, population of Texas was about 20,000 people
– La Bahia and Nacogdoches got much bigger
– New towns of San Felipe, Gonzales, and Victoria
• Cotton and cattle industries grew
• Local governments were formed and working
• Texas continued to grow because Mexican government,
the empresarios, and the settlers all worked together
Life in Colonial Texas
Colonists from many different places arrived
in Texas. Although they faced many
challenges on the Texas frontier, the settlers
succeeded in establishing a new life in
Texas.
Vocabulary
• Militia: military force that is not
professional; volunteers
Gone to Texas
• GTT=Gone to Texas!!
– Sign seen on doors of abandoned homes as
people left to move to Texas
• Why did they come to Texas?
– Seeking adventure
– Escape from problems in US
– Attracted by inexpensive land
• 12.5 cents/acre in Texas…could pay it out
• $1.25/acre in US
GTT, con’t
• How did they get to Texas?
– Traveled along rivers
• Sometimes easier than traveling on land
– Horseback or on foot
• Limited how many supplies could bring if walking
Gone to Texas
gainesvilletx1862.blogspot.com
staticofthegods.delverano.com
tompsfiddle.blogspot.com
http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/pfg01
Settlers of Various Nationalities
• Most settlers immigrated from US
• Many came from German, Irish, Polish, Mexican, and
African descent
• Large Tejano population settled in San Antonio
– Martin de Leon
– Erasmo and Juan Seguin
– Lorenzo de Zavala
– Jose Antonio Navarro
Settlers of Various Nationalities,
con’t
• African American population grew
– Many slaves were brought with settlers from South US
– Slavery was illegal in Mexico after 1829 but law rarely enforced
– Mexico did offer legal protection and legal rights to free African
Americans who lived in Texas
• Greenbury Logan
• Hendrick Arnold
• William Goyens
– All of these men fought for Texas independence
Colonial Life
• Diet
– Hunted
– Wild berries and nuts
– Some brought salt, sugar, flour with them
– Planted crops
– Built mills to grind sugar cane and grains into
syrup and flour
– Diet mainly consisted of meat, dried
vegetables
– Corn was main staple for food
Colonial Life, con’t
• Homes (picture on page 183)
– Log cabins
– Rock houses
– Started with one room cabins built extra cabin as needed…left a
breezeway/dog-run/dog-trot between cabins (dogs would gather
in shade of covered area)
– Usually a single room with fireplace for cooking
– Floor was bare; wood planks added later
– Mattresses were made out of tree moss or corn husks…had to
be placed out in sun periodically to kill mildew, fleas, and lice
– Furniture was hand-made made out of trees
Colonial Life, con’t
• Religion and Education
– At first had to be Catholic…some just said
they were Catholic to get a land grant
– Baptized by Father Muldoon…settlers became
known as Muldoon Catholics
– Also had Methodists, Baptists, and
Presbyterians
– No real system of education…no formal
education; most instruction was done by
parents
Challenges Colonists Faced
•
Disease
– Not many doctors or too far away from a town that had a doctor. Doctors
had very little medical training and most people relied on home remedies
•
Conflict with Indians
– Tried some treaties; mostly unsuccessful
– Stephen F. Austin formed a militia to ride through colonies to prevent
Indian attacks
• This militia eventually became the Texas Rangers
•
Tensions with the Mexican government
– Most colonists tried to be good citizens and obey the Mexican laws
– By 1830, tensions were building between the colonists and the Mexican
government
– These conflicts would later lead to the Texas Revolution
Table Group Discussion
Would you have wanted to be a
colonist in Early Texas? Why or
why not?