Empresario land grants in Texas
Empresario land grants in Texas were tracts of land allocated by the Mexican government to settlers, known as empresarios, as a means to encourage settlement in the region during the early 19th century. Following Mexico's independence from Spain in 1821, the government sought to attract settlers, particularly from the United States, to help populate and develop the sparsely inhabited territory. Moses Austin was among the first to obtain such grants, allowing him to bring in American families, a practice continued by his son, Stephen F. Austin, who led the initial group of settlers.
Settlers received substantial land grants, typically ranging from 170 acres for farming to over 4,000 acres for grazing. While some European immigrants settled in Texas, the majority were American, many of whom maintained their identity and resisted full assimilation into Mexican society. The influx of American settlers led to tensions, culminating in the Texas Revolution between 1835 and 1836. By this time, the population comprised approximately 30,000 Anglo-Americans and a smaller number of enslaved African Americans.
The historical context of empresario grants highlights ongoing themes of settlement, immigration, and cultural dynamics, which continue to resonate in contemporary Texas, particularly regarding demographic shifts and labor needs. The legacy of these land grants remains a significant part of Texas's complex history and cultural identity.
On this Page
Subject Terms
Empresario land grants in Texas
DEFINITION: Tracts of land granted to settlersknown as empresariosby Mexico to encourage settlement in Texas while it was part of Mexico
SIGNIFICANCE: By issuing empresario grants, Mexico hoped to attract settlers from around the world. Some Europeans did immigrate to Texas, but most settlers were from the United States. Rather than assimilate as loyal Mexican citizens, the American settlers remained a foreign element, and many of them were instrumental in leading the Texas Revolution in 1835-1836.
During the Spanish colonial era in Mexico, Texas was on the far northern fringe of the Spanish empirethere was little effort to settle the region. In 1820, Moses Austina miner and businessman from Missouritraveled to San Antonio de Béxar, the provincial capital of the Texas region, to meet with governor Antonio Mária Martínez about bringing American settlers into the region. Austin eventually received permission to bring in three hundred American families but died shortly after returning to Missouri.
In 1821, Mexico became independent of Spanish control. Stephen F. Austinthe son of Moses Austinmade an arrangement with the new Mexican administration that was similar to the one his father had worked out with the Spanish. Settlers entering Mexico were required to become Mexican citizens and had, at least nominally, to profess Roman Catholicismthe established religion of Mexico. Each American settler was given a generous land grant—either 170 acres suitable for cultivation or more than 4,000 acres of grazing land.
Austin led the first settlers into Texas in December 1821. In 1824, the Mexican government passed a law formalizing these colonization effortsoffering land and tax exemptions to foreign settlers. Mexico hoped that these settlers would create a kind of buffer between Mexico and the United States and also deal with the hostile Indians in the region. Most of the American settlers, however, saw their Mexican citizenship as a mere formality and still considered themselves to be Americans.
The vast majority of the settlers who came into Texas were from the United States, but European immigrants established a few colonies, including two of the most successful—San Patricio and Refugionear the Gulf coast. In August of 1828, James McGloin and John McMullen were allowed to bring in two hundred Irish Catholic families, who created the San Patricio colony. The Irish settlers were actually recruited in New York Cityhowever, many of them had only recently arrived from Ireland. In 1831, James Power and James Hewetson were given permission to bring in another two hundred Irish families, and these people founded the Refugio colony.
In 1830, about seven thousand Americans were living in Texas. By then, the Mexicans realized allowing Americans to colonize the province had been a mistakethe settlers largely resisted assimilation. New laws were passed forbidding further American migration into Texas, but illegal immigration continued. By the time of the Texas Revolution in 1835-1836, about thirty thousand Anglo-American settlers and about three thousand African American slaves were living in the region.
In the 2020s, the immigrant situation faced by the government of Texas echoed that of Mexico in the nineteenth century. The fundamental similarity was the need for labor. In the early 1800s, Mexico required laborin the form of settlersto inhabit the large wilderness area of Texas and to buffer against nomadic raids of Native American tribes such as the Commanche and Apache. In the twenty-first century, Texas required labor as it had built the eighth largest economy in the worldahead of many of the most developed nations on the globe. Native-born populations in the United Statesto include Texashad longer life expectancies but were experiencing lower birth rates. This meant older generations were getting larger relative to the shrinking younger demographics. The employment opportunities that emerged attracted millions of newcomers to the state, both from within the United States, and externally from foreign immigrants.
Beginning in 2023, Hispanics overtook the White population as Texas’ largest demographic. This evoked many anti-immigrant sentiments from nativist-minded Texans, regardless of the fact their predecessors culturally remade the state when control was wrested from Mexico.
Bibliography
Anderson, Gary Clayton. The Conquest of Texas: Ethnic Cleansing in the Promised Land, 1820-1875. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2005.
Cantrell, Gregg. Stephen F. Austin: Empresario of Texas. New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1999.
Davis, William C. Lone Star Rising: The Revolutionary Birth of the Texas Republic. New York: Free Press, 2004.
Frey, William. “New 2020 Census Data Shows an Aging America and Wide Racial Gaps Between Generations.” Brookings, 1 Aug. 2023, www.brookings.edu/articles/new-2020-census-data-shows-an-aging-america-and-wide-racial-gaps-between-generations. Accessed 23 Sept. 2024.
Ura, Alexa. "Hispanics Officially Make Up the Biggest Share of Texas’ Population, New Census Numbers Show." The Texas Tribune, 21 June 2023, www.texastribune.org/2023/06/21/census-texas-hispanic-population-demographics. Accessed 23 Sept. 2024.