General Colonization Law
Encyclopedia
The Colonization Law of August 18, 1824 was a Mexican statute allowing foreigners to immigrate to the country.
was populated almost solely with native peoples or Spanish settlers. Foreign immigration was forbidden for much of the country. Few settlers chose to journey to the economically stagnant northern frontier, leaving provinces like Spanish Texas
and Alta California
chronically underpopulated. Despite multiple efforts to increase the population along the frontier, by 1821 there were only 3,200 settlers in Alta California, and only 2,500 in Texas.
In 1819, after the United States abandoned its claims to Texas, Spain implemented a new immigration policy. In January 1821, Spanish authorities gave Moses Austin
, a former Spanish subject from Louisiana, a land grant and permission to bring families from Louisiana to Texas. Austin died before bringing any families. Several months later, at the urging of Mexican delegates, the Spanish Cortes granted permission for foreigners to live on public lands along the northern frontier of the colony. The lack of a formal policy had not stopped many immigrants - a number of people had left the United States to settle in the Mexican northern provinces. Local officials were not eager to expel potentially productive settlers who could help improve the colonies, and the squatters were generally left alone.
Shortly thereafter, Mexico
gained independence from Spain. The new country was very sparsely populated. Approximately 6.2 million people lived in an area that spanned from what is now the United States state of Oregon
to what is now Guatemala
. Almost 10% of the population - primarily young men - had been killed during the Mexican War of Independence
, leaving the young nation with a shortage of laborers.
Many Mexicans believed that a new method for increasing population along the frontiers was necessary. The sparse settlements were vulnerable to attacks from native tribes and for encroachment by foreign powers. The most vulnerable was Texas; early in 1821 the town of Goliad had been captured by American filibusters as part of the Long Expedition
. By 1823, approximately 3,000 Americans from the United States were living illegally in Texas. The roughly 200 Mexican troops garrisoned in the province were unable to effectively patrol the borders to keep out additional squatters, nor were they powerful enough to evict the squatters already there. Proponents of immigration reform argued that legalizing these settlers would help to turn there loyalty towards Mexico.
Many believed that Mexicans were not suitable colonists, and most agreed that the system of missions and presidios did not work well for settling the frontiers. Mexican liberals argued in favor of allowing foreigners to immigrate. This would satisfy multiple objectives, including promoting economic growth, increasing the number of males available to defend the country, and bringing new capital and skills into the country to replace those lost when many Spaniards were expelled or chose to leave the country. Proponents of immigration pointed to the United States' population growth, attributed largely to immigration. Opponents cautioned that there may be difficulties in attracting settlers and later assimilating them to Mexican mores.
Emperor Agustin de Iturbide
made colonization a priority for his administration. He appointed a government commission, headed by Juan Francisco Azcárate y Ledesma
, to recommend a plan. The commission recommended following the precedent of the earlier Spanish law and allowing foreign settlers to help colonize Coahuila
, Nuevo Santander
, Baja California
, Alta California, New Mexico
, and Texas. The proposal suggested that Europeans and American citizens be recruited for most of the states and provinces, although for California they instead recommended sending Mexican convicts and recruiting Chinese settlers.
Iturbide's primary concern was stabilizing the new government, and the Imperial Colonization Law was not signed until February 18, 1823. Iturbide was overthrown a month later, and the law was annulled shortly thereafter. During its brief existence, a few land grants were awarded to empresario
s who agreed to settle a number of families. One went to Stephen F. Austin
, son of Moses Austin, and another to Martin de Leon
.
Most individuals were restricted to a total of 11 square leagues of land (71.5 square mile). Of these, 6 square leagues could be of quality for grazing animals, 1 square league could be irrigable land, and 4 square leagues could be non-irrigable. New towns would be given an additional 4 leagues of land for public use. Empresarios were granted more personal land; for every 100 families settled, the empresario could receive 5 sitios of grazing land and 5 labores of farm land.
The law did not require settlers to be Mexican citizens, although citizens were given preference in land grants, and did not require that the settlers convert to Catholicism. However, federal laws prohibited all religions except Catholicism.
Land would be granted from available public land. Spanish custom had allowed residents continuing use of their land as long as there was no challenge to ownership. The new law allowed residents, including Christianized natives, to claim title to any land they inhabited, cultivated, or used for grazing.
Each state was to have administrators to survey land, confirm land titles, and settle disputes. Missionaries were tasked with helping the native tribes to understand the process. Governors were to organize and preside over land commissions to review and finalize the land titles.
passed a state law implementing the federal plan on March 24, 1825.
Many Americans immigrated to Mexico, where land was cheaper. By 1830, Texas had a population of 7,000 foreign-born residents, with only 3,000 Mexican residents. The new population was not fully assimilated. Many immigrants settled in the eastern part of Texas and were isolated from the established Mexican towns. The attitudes of the immigrants, culminating in the Fredonian Rebellion's failed secession attempt in 1827, alarmed Mexican officials.
The Law of April 6, 1830
rescinded all empresario contracts that had not been completed and prohibited Americans from settling in any Mexican territory adjacent to the United States. Secretary of State Lucas Alamán
, who wrote the 1830 law, said that "Texas will be lost for this Republic if adequate measures to save it are not taken. ... Where others send invading armies ... [the Americans] send their colonists".
In 1836, federal officials rescinded the provision allowing governors to preside over land commissions. Although most governors were honest, in Arizona and California some were land speculators who seized land illegally and gave it to their friends and relatives. The updated rules forbade anyone who was not a federal official from issuing the patent.
Background
Under Spanish rule, New SpainNew Spain
New Spain, formally called the Viceroyalty of New Spain , was a viceroyalty of the Spanish colonial empire, comprising primarily territories in what was known then as 'América Septentrional' or North America. Its capital was Mexico City, formerly Tenochtitlan, capital of the Aztec Empire...
was populated almost solely with native peoples or Spanish settlers. Foreign immigration was forbidden for much of the country. Few settlers chose to journey to the economically stagnant northern frontier, leaving provinces like Spanish Texas
Spanish Texas
Spanish Texas was one of the interior provinces of New Spain from 1690 until 1821. Although Spain claimed ownership of the territory, which comprised part of modern-day Texas, including the land north of the Medina and Nueces Rivers, the Spanish did not attempt to colonize the area until after...
and Alta California
Alta California
Alta California was a province and territory in the Viceroyalty of New Spain and later a territory and department in independent Mexico. The territory was created in 1769 out of the northern part of the former province of Las Californias, and consisted of the modern American states of California,...
chronically underpopulated. Despite multiple efforts to increase the population along the frontier, by 1821 there were only 3,200 settlers in Alta California, and only 2,500 in Texas.
In 1819, after the United States abandoned its claims to Texas, Spain implemented a new immigration policy. In January 1821, Spanish authorities gave Moses Austin
Moses Austin
Moses Austin played a large part in the development of the American lead industry and is the father of Stephen F. Austin, a leading American settler of Texas. He was the first to be allowed to gather Anglo Americans for settlement in Spanish Texas...
, a former Spanish subject from Louisiana, a land grant and permission to bring families from Louisiana to Texas. Austin died before bringing any families. Several months later, at the urging of Mexican delegates, the Spanish Cortes granted permission for foreigners to live on public lands along the northern frontier of the colony. The lack of a formal policy had not stopped many immigrants - a number of people had left the United States to settle in the Mexican northern provinces. Local officials were not eager to expel potentially productive settlers who could help improve the colonies, and the squatters were generally left alone.
Shortly thereafter, Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
gained independence from Spain. The new country was very sparsely populated. Approximately 6.2 million people lived in an area that spanned from what is now the United States state of Oregon
Oregon
Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...
to what is now Guatemala
Guatemala
Guatemala is a country in Central America bordered by Mexico to the north and west, the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, Belize to the northeast, the Caribbean to the east, and Honduras and El Salvador to the southeast...
. Almost 10% of the population - primarily young men - had been killed during the Mexican War of Independence
Mexican War of Independence
The Mexican War of Independence was an armed conflict between the people of Mexico and the Spanish colonial authorities which started on 16 September 1810. The movement, which became known as the Mexican War of Independence, was led by Mexican-born Spaniards, Mestizos and Amerindians who sought...
, leaving the young nation with a shortage of laborers.
Many Mexicans believed that a new method for increasing population along the frontiers was necessary. The sparse settlements were vulnerable to attacks from native tribes and for encroachment by foreign powers. The most vulnerable was Texas; early in 1821 the town of Goliad had been captured by American filibusters as part of the Long Expedition
Long expedition
The Long Expedition was an 1819 attempt to take control of Spanish Texas. It was led by James Long and successfully established a small independent government, known as the Republic of Texas . The expedition crumbled later in the year, as Spanish troops drove the invaders out...
. By 1823, approximately 3,000 Americans from the United States were living illegally in Texas. The roughly 200 Mexican troops garrisoned in the province were unable to effectively patrol the borders to keep out additional squatters, nor were they powerful enough to evict the squatters already there. Proponents of immigration reform argued that legalizing these settlers would help to turn there loyalty towards Mexico.
Many believed that Mexicans were not suitable colonists, and most agreed that the system of missions and presidios did not work well for settling the frontiers. Mexican liberals argued in favor of allowing foreigners to immigrate. This would satisfy multiple objectives, including promoting economic growth, increasing the number of males available to defend the country, and bringing new capital and skills into the country to replace those lost when many Spaniards were expelled or chose to leave the country. Proponents of immigration pointed to the United States' population growth, attributed largely to immigration. Opponents cautioned that there may be difficulties in attracting settlers and later assimilating them to Mexican mores.
Emperor Agustin de Iturbide
Agustín de Iturbide
Agustín Cosme Damián de Iturbide y Aramburu , also known as Augustine I of Mexico, was a Mexican army general who built a successful political and military coalition that was able to march into Mexico City on 27 September 1821, decisively ending the Mexican War of Independence...
made colonization a priority for his administration. He appointed a government commission, headed by Juan Francisco Azcárate y Ledesma
Juan Francisco Azcárate y Ledesma
Juan Francisco Azcárate y Lezama was a lawyer, a Mexico City councilman, and a leader of the movement for Mexican independence from Spain....
, to recommend a plan. The commission recommended following the precedent of the earlier Spanish law and allowing foreign settlers to help colonize Coahuila
Coahuila
Coahuila, formally Coahuila de Zaragoza , officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Coahuila de Zaragoza is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico...
, Nuevo Santander
Nuevo Santander
Nuevo Santander was a region of the Virreinato de Nueva España, corresponding generally to the modern Mexican state of Tamaulipas and southern Texas. Nuevo Santander was named after Santander, Spain, and settled by Spanish American colonists in a concerted settlement campaign peaking in 1748-1750...
, Baja California
Baja California
Baja California officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is both the northernmost and westernmost state of Mexico. Before becoming a state in 1953, the area was known as the North...
, Alta California, New Mexico
New Mexico
New Mexico is a state located in the southwest and western regions of the United States. New Mexico is also usually considered one of the Mountain States. With a population density of 16 per square mile, New Mexico is the sixth-most sparsely inhabited U.S...
, and Texas. The proposal suggested that Europeans and American citizens be recruited for most of the states and provinces, although for California they instead recommended sending Mexican convicts and recruiting Chinese settlers.
Iturbide's primary concern was stabilizing the new government, and the Imperial Colonization Law was not signed until February 18, 1823. Iturbide was overthrown a month later, and the law was annulled shortly thereafter. During its brief existence, a few land grants were awarded to empresario
Empresario
An empresario was a person who, in the early years of the settlement of Texas, had been granted the right to settle on Mexican land in exchange for recruiting and taking responsibility for new settlers. The word is Spanish for entrepreneur.- Background :...
s who agreed to settle a number of families. One went to Stephen F. Austin
Stephen F. Austin
Stephen Fuller Austin was born in Virginia and raised in southeastern Missouri. He was known as the Father of Texas, led the second, but first legal and ultimately successful colonization of the region by bringing 300 families from the United States. The capital of Texas, Austin in Travis County,...
, son of Moses Austin, and another to Martin de Leon
Martín De León
Martín De León was a rancher and wealthy Mexican empresario descended from Spanish aristocracy. He was the patriarch of one of the prominent founding families of early Texas. De León and his wife Patricia de la Garza established De León's Colony, the only predominantly Mexican colony in Texas...
.
Law
On August 18, 1824, the new Mexican government passed the General Colonization Law. This statute allowed foreigners to gain title to land that was not within 20 leagues of the border of another country or within 10 leagues of the coast. Settlers would be exempt from taxes for four years.Most individuals were restricted to a total of 11 square leagues of land (71.5 square mile). Of these, 6 square leagues could be of quality for grazing animals, 1 square league could be irrigable land, and 4 square leagues could be non-irrigable. New towns would be given an additional 4 leagues of land for public use. Empresarios were granted more personal land; for every 100 families settled, the empresario could receive 5 sitios of grazing land and 5 labores of farm land.
The law did not require settlers to be Mexican citizens, although citizens were given preference in land grants, and did not require that the settlers convert to Catholicism. However, federal laws prohibited all religions except Catholicism.
Land would be granted from available public land. Spanish custom had allowed residents continuing use of their land as long as there was no challenge to ownership. The new law allowed residents, including Christianized natives, to claim title to any land they inhabited, cultivated, or used for grazing.
Each state was to have administrators to survey land, confirm land titles, and settle disputes. Missionaries were tasked with helping the native tribes to understand the process. Governors were to organize and preside over land commissions to review and finalize the land titles.
Implementation
There were few specifics in the law. States were directed to design their own statues to implement the federal law. Northern states were the first to pass laws of their own. Coahuila y TejasCoahuila y Tejas
Coahuila y Tejas was one of the constituent states of the newly established United Mexican States under its 1824 Constitution.It had two capitals: first Saltillo, and then Monclova...
passed a state law implementing the federal plan on March 24, 1825.
Results and modifications
The process for gaining an official land title was expensive and time-consuming, and many residents chose not to have the land surveyed or complete the application process. Because residents had not sought the legal protection, however, some empresarios claimed land that had long been inhabited, forcing the existing residents from their homes. Many of the traditional hunting grounds of the native tribes were considered public land and given to empresarios to settle foreigners.Many Americans immigrated to Mexico, where land was cheaper. By 1830, Texas had a population of 7,000 foreign-born residents, with only 3,000 Mexican residents. The new population was not fully assimilated. Many immigrants settled in the eastern part of Texas and were isolated from the established Mexican towns. The attitudes of the immigrants, culminating in the Fredonian Rebellion's failed secession attempt in 1827, alarmed Mexican officials.
The Law of April 6, 1830
Law of April 6, 1830
The Law of April 6, 1830 was passed in Mexico to counter concerns that Mexican Texas, part of the border state of Coahuila y Texas was in danger of being annexed by the United States.-Background:...
rescinded all empresario contracts that had not been completed and prohibited Americans from settling in any Mexican territory adjacent to the United States. Secretary of State Lucas Alamán
Lucas Alamán
Lucas Ignacio Alamán y Escalada was a Mexican scientist, politician, historian and writer. He studied at the Real Colegio de Minas de la Nueva España. He frequently traveled on his credentials as a scientist and diplomat, becoming one of the most educated men in Mexico...
, who wrote the 1830 law, said that "Texas will be lost for this Republic if adequate measures to save it are not taken. ... Where others send invading armies ... [the Americans] send their colonists".
In 1836, federal officials rescinded the provision allowing governors to preside over land commissions. Although most governors were honest, in Arizona and California some were land speculators who seized land illegally and gave it to their friends and relatives. The updated rules forbade anyone who was not a federal official from issuing the patent.