MEET THE EMPRESARIOS
Provisions of the 1825 Colonization Law of the State of Coahuila y Texas
Article 1:All foreigners who wish to settle in the state are welcome. The state will protect their lives and their property.
Article 2:Government officials will do nothing to block settlers from making a living. Settlers must promise to obey the state’s laws.
Article 5:Settlers must prove that they are Christians, act morally, and have good habits.
Article 6:This offers ends in 1840.
Article 7:No settlement can be placed within 60 miles of the United States. No settlements can be placed within 30 miles of the coast of the Gulf of Mexico.
Article 8: The government will give empresario contracts to anyone who promises to settle 100 families within six years. If they fail to settle that number in the required time, they will lose their rights and privileges.
Article 9: The government will guarantee any legal contracts that the empresarios make with any families.
Article 10:Members of the military and Mexicans will have preference in the handling out of land.
Article 12:An empresario who settles 100 families will receive five sitios [4,428 acres each] of grazing land and five labors [177 acres each] of farm land.
Article 14: Married settlers shall be given one labor of land for farming. If they plan to ranch, they will receive one sitio.
Article 15:Unmarried settlers will receive one-fourth the land of married settlers. If they marry, they will receive the full share. Foreigners who marry native Mexicans will receive an extra one-fourth share.
Article 22:Settlers must pay the government $30 for each sitio and $2.50 to $3.50 for each labor. The payments do not begin until the fourth year after settlement. The payments do not begin until the fourth year after settlement. One-third of this fee is due in each of the fourth, fifth, and sixth years. Empresarios do not have to make this payment.
Article 25:This law cannot be changed by the state government for six years.
Article 26:Settlers who do not farm the land or live on it within six years of receiving it will no longer own the land.
Article 32:For the first ten years, settlers will not have to pay any taxes.