Question

Which is the best summary of "Moses Austin Gets ‘Settle Texas Fever' "? a Moses Austin traveled to San Antonio to request permission to establish a colony in Texas. He met a friend while he was there. Austin had a diff icult trip back to Missouri and died a shor t while later. b Moses Austin wanted to make money by establishing a colony in Texas. A friend in San Antonio persuaded the Spanish government to let Austin build his colony. Austin became ill after a rough trip back to Missouri and died after asking his son to continue his work c After traveling from Missouri to San Antonio, Moses Austin was told to leave Texas. As he was about to leave, he met an old friend who helped him get permission to build a colony in Texas. d When the economy of the United States went into a slump, Moses Austin decided to make money by establishing a co

Answer 1

Determined to rebuild his fortune, Austin decided to draw on his experience with the Spanish and try to establish an American colony in Texas. In 1820, he traveled to San Antonio to request a land grant from the Spanish governor, who initially turned him down. Austin persisted and was finally granted permission to settle 300 Anglo families on 200,000 acres of Texas land.

Overjoyed, Austin immediately set out for the United States to begin recruiting colonists, but he became ill and died on the long journey back. The task of completing the arrangements for Austin’s Texas colony fell to his son, Stephen Fuller Austin. The younger Austin selected the lower reaches of Colorado River and Brazos River as the site for the colony, and the first colonists began arriving in December 1821. Over the next decade, Stephen Austin and other colonizers brought nearly 25,000 people into Texas, most of them Anglo-Americans. Always more loyal to the United States than to Mexico, the settlers eventually broke from Mexico to form the independent Republic of Texas in 1836. Nine years later, they led the successful movement to make Texas an American state.