[5] As a young man he founded several newspapers and wrote extensively, espousing democratic reforms — writings which led to his imprisonment by the Spanish crown.

[1] Over his career, he served in many different capacities including the Spanish Cortes (legislature) in Madrid representing Yucatán, and in Mexico's Senate.

[1] In 1829, a conservative coup brought Anastasio Bustamante to power, and Zavala was forced into exile, moving to the United States for two years.

While serving in Paris, Zavala witnessed overthrow of Gomez Farias and the subsequent fall of the First Mexican Republic.

Santa Anna was in the process of setting up the Centralist Republic of Mexico, replacing the Mexican Constitution that Zavala himself had helped write.

[11] While incarcerated, Zavala learned the English language and studied medical textbooks to an extent that qualified him to practice medicine upon his release.

After México won independence from Spain in 1821, Zavala resigned his position in Madrid and returned to Mexico, where he was elected to the newly formed national congress, again representing Yucatán.

[3] He was appointed Minister of Finance in 1829, but served only 6 months before the government was overthrown and Zavala was placed under house arrest.

During his exile Zavala, ever the scholar, wrote a book called Journey to the United States of North America, a travel narrative similar to Alexis de Tocqueville's Democracy in America, although Zavala's book preceded de Tocqueville's work by a year.

Zavala traveled in the northeast U.S. and wrote about U.S. political system and culture from a Mexican point of view.

Zavala's keen mind and his command of Spanish, English, French made him popular abroad.

[8] These grants were designed by the Mexican Government to encourage new settlers to come to Texas from around the world, the hope being to create a buffer zone between Mexico and the U.S. and also to help deal with the hostile Indians in the region.

[16] The owner of a grant was given immense tracts of Texas land in exchange for recruiting and being responsible for a certain quota of new settlers—in Zavala's case, 500 families.

This border area contained many immigrants from the United States who were accustomed to a democratic government and individual rights.

López de Santa Anna was angered by what he perceived to be U.S. interference in Mexican affairs, and set about to stop the rebellion by dispatching troops.

[19] Zavala personally designed the flag of the new republic, helped write the new constitution, and served as vice president under the provisional government.

[21] Nearby, in Harris County, López de Santa Anna's army faced Texas General Sam Houston's forces on April 21, 1836 at the Battle of San Jacinto.

The son Augustine, the eldest, was the father of Adina Emilia de Zavala, who played a role in the fight to preserve the Alamo as a historic structure for future generations.

It was Zavala's relationship with his fellow masonic brothers and to other lodges that allowed him to gather many political connections prior to Mexico's Independence.

[24] Biographer Francisco Sosa wrote that Zavala ceased to be Mexican when he became a representative for Harrisburg, and that "what he did after [voting for Texan independence] was but a consequence of that step taken in a moment of blindness caused by a political hatred which had hurled him into an abyss.

Zavala County is in southern Texas, and sits roughly in a triangle formed by Del Rio, Laredo, and San Antonio.

[28] Currently, his name appears on many public buildings and schools, including the Texas State Library and Archives Commission in Austin.

The National Hispanic Institute named its Lorenzo de Zavala Youth Legislative Session program (colloquially known as the "LDZ," now hosted at five universities across the U.S. and one in Panama) for him.