The Old Three Hundred refers to

• A. The first 300 Native Americans to adopt mission life
• B. The first 300 Anglo settlers brought to Texas by Stephen F. Austin under empresario contracts
• C. The 300 soldiers stationed at San Antonio
• D. The 300 families who signed the Texas Constitution

Answer: (B)

The basic idea here is the early method of colonizing Texas under Mexican rule, using empresarios. The Old Three Hundred were the first group of settlers Stephen F. Austin brought into his colony along the Brazos River in the 1820s. These were 300 Anglo families who received land grants in return for agreeing to follow Mexican laws, become Roman Catholic, and help build the settlement under Austin’s contract with the Mexican government. This group formed the core of Anglo settlement in Texas and set the pattern for how new communities would grow.

They are not Native Americans, not soldiers at San Antonio, and not the people who signed the Texas Constitution, so those options refer to different groups and events.