Empresarios of Texas

According to the graphic organizer, how were merchants, doctors, and other colonists with special skills treated in Stephen Austin's plan for his first settlement?

• They received additional land

• Because they were not farmers, they received less land.

• They received land in the colony's capital city.

• They were entitled to prime land near the coast.

How did most African Americans come to live in the early Texas settlements?

• Free African Americans bought most of the available land.

• Free African Americans fled to Texas from Mexico.

• Governors in Mexico encouraged African Americans to settle in Texas.

• Southern farmers brought enslaved African Americans into Texas.

Based on the timeline, which of the following statements about Moses Austin is accurate?

• He traveled to Mexico City to win support for a new colony.

• He approved the Mexican law that gave more land to settlers.

• He died the year following that in which he sought permission to start a settlement.

• He commanded militia against Karankawa.

ART. 1.--All those foreigners who in virtue of the general law of the 18th August, 1824, by which security for their property and persons is offered in all the territory of the Mexican Nation, may be desirous of establishing themselves in any of the towns of Coahuila and Texas. ART. 7.--The government shall take care that no settlement be made within 20 leagues of the boundaries of the United States of North America, and 10 leagues along the coast of the Gulf of Mexico. ART. 15.--Bachelors shall on marrying obtain a similar land quantity, and those foreigners who marry Mexican women shall have one-fourth more land.

What restriction did the 1824 Mexican colonization law place on colonization within Texas?

• Only men with wives and children could settle in Texas.

• Colonies could only be established on the coast.

• Settlers had to be willing to become permanent residents of Texas to receive land.

• Land grants in Texas had to exceed 5,000 acres.

Using the image below, answer question number nine.

Why did Stephen Austin choose the coastal plain between the Colorado River and the Brazos River as the site for his colony?

• The region had rich soil, access to water, and a warm climate.

• The United States already owned the region.

• The land in the region was much less expensive than in neighboring areas.

• The area already had many thriving settlements.

Into what three departments was Texas organized?

• Bexar, Brazos, and Nacogdoches

• Austin, DeWitt, and De Leon

• Mexico, Texas, and the United States

• San Antonio, Independence, and Goliad

Although a number of settlers had wealth and property, some people came to Texas to escape debt. Mexico and the United States did not share an agreement that allowed businesses to collect money owed to them, nor to return immigrants who owed money. The prospect of leaving financial troubles behind was very attractive to some people. Many early settlers were curious about what Texas had to offer. Coming to a new land appealed to their sense of adventure.

​ ---Texas History

Based on the excerpt, which statement regarding the early settlers of Texas is accurate?

• They came to Texas to pay debts they owed in the United States.

• They came to Texas for a number of reasons.

• They moved to Texas to pay off debts owed to the Mexican government.

• They were wealthy, but did not have any property.

Twenty-five or perhaps thirty log cabins strung along the west bank of the Brazos River was all there was of it…The buildings all being of unhewn [rough] logs with clapboard [planked] roofs, presented few distinguishing [different] features…Every fellow built to suit himself…so that the town was strung along either side of the road something like half a mile…’Pretty good as to length, but rather thin.’

—Noah Smithwick, The Evolution of a State, or Recollections of Old Texas Days

This excerpt serves as a demonstration of--

• how settlers adapted to the environment

• the lack of skills required to build strong structures

• technological advances in agriculture

• the industrialization of Texas

What event marked the beginning of the Mexican National era?

• When Mexico gained Independence from Spain.

• the unification of Coahuila and Texas into one state in 1824

• the passage of the 1824 into one state in 1824

• the founding of San Felipe de Austin in 1824

Why were the Old Three Hundred able to claim the prime farmland along the Brazos, Colorado, and San Jacinto rivers?

• They were the first to reach and then settle in the colony.

• They were all members of the Colonial Militia.

• They were close personal friends of Stephen Austin.

• They were wealthier than the settlers who followed them.