The Mexican National Unit Vocabulary

Overview

Lack of understanding of basic vocabulary is one of the most common obstacles to understanding new content that we see in the classroom. This applies for all students but is especially important for students with various learning needs. This activity is meant to be an introduction activity to the vocabulary words students will see throughout the Mexican National Unit. When students have an opportunity to make their own connections there is a higher chance that they will remember the meaning of the word.

Accommodated Vocabulary Terms

Anglo-American

a white, English-speaking American

cash crop

a crop produced for a profit rather than for a growers use

Centralism

the control of states in which the power is held under a centralized authority rather than in the power of the states

Constitution

a document explaining the fundamental principles or established precedents by which a government is to be governed

empresario

person who arranged for the settlement of land in Texas

Federalism

a type of government in which the power is divided between the national government and other governmental units

filibuster

an adventurer who engages in unauthorized military expeditions into foreign countries

immigrate

to move into a foreign country as a permanent resident

nationalism

loyalty to one’s nation with the belief that the nation should have sovereignty over their homeland and have a national identity with a shared culture, language, religion, and politics

Tejano/Tejana

a person of Mexican heritage who lives in Texas as his or her home

The Old 300

The original 300 families granted permission to settle in Stephen F Austin’s colony

Key People

Moses Austin

(October 4, 1761 – June 10, 1821): proposed settlement of 300 Anglo families in Texas to the Spanish government. His dying request was for his son, Stephen F. Austin, to move forward with his plans for the Austin Colony in Texas

Stephen F. Austin

(November 3, 1793 – December 27, 1836): settled the Old Three Hundred families in the Austin Colony. Imprisoned in Mexico 1834-35. Supported organized opposition to Mexico. First Secretary of State of the Republic of Texas

Erasmo Seguín

(1782-1857): a Tejano who helped Moses Austin obtain approval from Spanish officials to settle American colonists in Texas. Texas representative to the congress that wrote the Constitution of 1824, where he worked on the National Colonization Law of 1825

Juan Seguín

(October 27, 1806 – August 27, 1890): son of Erasmo Seguin, he supported Texas’ right to influence Mexican law, and commanded a unit at the Battle of San Jacinto

Martin De Leon

(1765–1833): a Mexican empresario who settled 200 families in South Texas, he founded the town of Victoria in 1824 and was a very successful rancher

Green DeWitt

(1787-1835): a major empresario who was granted permission to settle 400 Anglo-Americans next to Austin’s colony

José Antonio Navarro

(February 27, 1795 - January 13, 1871): a leading Tejano participant in the Texas Revolution, one of the three Mexican signers of the Texas Declaration of Independence and one of just two native-born Tejano signers

Manuel de Mier y Terán

(February 18, 1789 – July 3, 1832): toured Texas with a military escort to make recommendations about the future of Texas. Recommended measures be taken to stop the United States from acquiring Texas. His suggestions were used to help create the Law of April 6, 1830

Major Events

Mexican Federal Constitution of 1824

stated the official religion was Catholicism banning all other religions and giving states the right to elect their own representatives. Slavery wasn’t included in the constitution

State Colonization Laws of 1825

laws that allowed colonization of Mexico by Anglo-Americans and defined privileges and limitations of those settlers. The law defined the amount of land and uses, no tax due for 10 years, citizenship after 3 years, and children of slaves freed at the age of 14 years

Fredonian Rebellion

near Nacogdoches in 1826, the Fredonian Republic claimed that Texas was no longer under Mexican control, Benjamin Edwards led a small group into Nacogdoches, claiming this city as the capital of Fredonia; Fredonians gave up when they heard of Mexican troops coming in 1827

Mier y Terán Report

report written by a Mexican official named Manuel de Mier y Terán; convinced Mexico they needed better control of Texas

Law of April 6th, 1830

after Mier y Terán wrote his report that Anglo Texans could not be trusted, this law closed the frontier of Texas to any further Anglo-American settlement