Stephen F. Austin

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Stephen Fuller Austin (born November 3, 1793 in Wythe County , Virginia , † December 27, 1836 in Columbia, now West Columbia, Texas ) was the founder of the Republic of Texas .

Stephen Fuller Austin

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Stephen Austin grew up in Missouri . In 1820 his father Moses Austin asked the Spanish authorities for permission to establish a colony in Texas . He could no longer realize his idea because he died of pneumonia the following year. Now his son Stephen stood up for the plan. He had attended Transylvania University in Kentucky and after graduating worked as an administrator in his father's mine. Then he was a district court judge before going to Texas to pursue his father's idea and start a settlement.

Meanwhile, in 1821, the Mexican War of Independence had ended. Mexico was now independent from Spain , and Texas had become Mexican. In 1823 the Mexican authorities gave Austin the rights to the land, which now has around 300 families. In 1830 the American population had grown to about 20,000 people; the Mexicans feared that the immigrant Americans would come to power. President Andrew Jackson made an offer to the Mexican government to buy Texas for $ 5 million, but the Mexicans rejected the offer.

In 1832 General Antonio López de Santa Anna (1794–1876) took over the government as dictator of Mexico. In 1833 Austin went to Mexico City to negotiate with Santa Anna; on his return he was arrested by the Mexicans. He was not released until 1835. Relations with Mexico grew tense until the expected clash came. Santa Anna enacted a new constitution and the rights granted to immigrants were revoked, and an open American uprising began. On February 23, 1836, the siege of the Alamo began by around 7,000 Mexicans . This ended in an American defeat, with almost all fighting American defenders (including Jim Bowie , Davy Crockett and William B. Travis ) perishing.

Sam Houston had been named Commander in Chief of the "Texan Army" by Austin. On April 21, 1836, Houston won the decisive victory over General Santa Anna's forces in the Battle of San Jacinto , and Texas became an independent republic . Sam Houston became the first president of the republic shortly afterwards, and Austin had also tried for this office but was unsuccessful in the election. A little later, he was appointed by Houston as the first Secretary of State of the new republic, but Austin only held that office for two months. He died of pneumonia on December 27, 1836 that same year and was buried in Columbia . In his honor, the Texan city of Waterloo was renamed Austin in 1838 (it is now the capital of Texas). Austin County in Texas also bears his name. He is also the namesake of Mount Austin in Antarctica.

Stephen F. Austin was a Freemason and a member of Holland Lodge No. 1 and Louisiana Lodge No. 109 .

Web links

Commons : Stephen F. Austin  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Eugen Lennhoff, Oskar Posner, Dieter A. Binder: Internationales Freemaurerlexikon , revised and expanded new edition of the edition from 1932, Munich 2003, 951 pages, ISBN 3-7766-2161-3
personal data
SURNAME Austin, Stephen F.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Austin, Stephen Fuller
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Founder of the Republic of Texas
DATE OF BIRTH November 3, 1793
PLACE OF BIRTH Wythe County , Virginia
DATE OF DEATH December 27, 1836
Place of death Columbia, now West Columbia, Texas