Final answer:
Empresarios were individuals who received land grants from the Spanish and Mexican governments to bring settlers to areas like Texas and California, significantly shaping the region's demographics and land ownership patterns.
Step-by-step explanation:
The term empresario refers to individuals who were granted large tracts of land at low costs by the Spanish and later the Mexican government as an incentive to encourage the settlement of Texas and California during the 18th and 19th centuries. These land grants were a part of a broader strategy to increase the non-Native population, provide a buffer zone against Native American tribes, counter potential American expansion, and encourage agricultural development in these territories.
One notable empresario was Moses Austin who, marred by financial ruin from the Panic of 1819, secured permission to settle 300 American families in Texas provided they converted to Roman Catholicism. After his death, his son Stephen F. Austin took over the task, facilitating the influx of American settlers into Texas under the auspices of the newly independent Mexican government. This settlement, which favored the expansion of slavery due to the suitable soil and climate for cotton cultivation, drastically altered the demographic and socio-political landscape of Texas, as the American settlers came to outnumber the native Mexican settlers known as Tejanos.
Both Spain and Mexico utilized land grants not only in Texas but also throughout their North American territories such as California. In California during the Mexican era, a feudal-style land tenure developed, resulting in a concentration of land and power within a few families who established large cattle ranches. These practices shaped the legacy and geography of the American Southwest and led to profound changes once the United States acquired these lands, signifying a complex history of colonization, migration, and land ownership.