Key Terms Chapter 8 Section 4
Directions: On notebook paper, define each term. Skip a few lines
between each term.
Ch. 8 Sec. 4, Empresarios and Tejanos, P. 172
1. Federal Constitution of 1824-new Mexican constitution adopted on
October 24, 1824, after the fall of Emperor Iturbide
2. Republic-a government in which people elect their leaders; under the
Constitution of 1824, Mexico became a republic
3. Federalism-system of government that balances powers by distributing
them between one central and many regional governments
4. Coahuila y Texas-name of the new state created by the Constitution of
1824; Mexico was divided into 19 states and 5 territories and Texas was
united with the province of Coahuila; Texans were unhappy because
Coahuila had a much larger population and they felt Coahuila would
dominate state politics (which it did)
5. National Colonization Law of 1824-allowed each Mexican state to set its
own immigration policies; U.S. immigrants could no longer establish
colonies along the coast or near Mexico’s borders
6. State Colonization Law of 1825-passed by the Mexican Congress to open
Texas to more settlement and immigration; Tejanos hoped this would
provide protection against Native Americans, raise land values, and provide
new markets for Texas merchants; immigrants to Texas had to become
Catholic and Mexican citizens, could get up to 4,428 acres of land, and did
not have to pay taxes for 10 years
7. Empresarios-businesspeople who promoted migration to the Texas
colonies; under the new laws, each empresario received 67,000 acres of
land for every 200 families they brought to Texas; between 1825 and 1832,
the Mexican government gave out about 24 empresario contracts
8. Green DeWitt-one of the most successful empresarios; in 1825 he received
a contract to settle 400 families in his colony along the Guadalupe River,
but the colony suffered many Indian attacks; by 1831, his colony had about
525 residents
9. Gonzales-main town in DeWitt’s colony
10.Martin de Leon-Tejano empresario who tried to lure Mexican families to
Texas; in 1824 along the lower Guadalupe River, he established a colony of
mostly Mexican settlers; town of Victoria was its main settlement; about
300 people lived in the colony by 1834; later the colony became a major
ranching and trading center
11.Linnville-founded in 1831, it became a port and major trading center in de
Leon’s colony
12.Patricia de Leon-wife of Martin de Leon, she worked to improve the social
and cultural life of her husband’s colony; established a school and brought
traditional Mexican and Spanish culture to Victoria
13.Lorenzo de Zavala-a wealthy citizen of Mexico City who gained permission
from the Mexican government to establish a settlement on the Sabine River
south of Nacogdoches; he ended up selling his contract and abandoning the
idea