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The Alamo didn’t become a symbol of Texan Independence because it was a good idea on the Texan’s part. It became a symbol of Texan independence because a lot of brave men made a very, very rash decision. They decided to defend a point they knew they couldn’t defend to the last men. The brave Texan’s willingly laid down their lives to “fight the good fight.” There were three main heroes of the Battle of the Alamo.
William Barret Travis was born in Edgefield Co. S.C. He trained to become a lawyer and practice in Claiborne, Alabama. He came to Texas both to make his fortune and he supported the revolt against Texas (William Barret Travis). Santa Anna, the Mexican general, and dictator, who led the Mexican army against the Alamo, had already sent another general to do the job. This first general, Santa Anna’s brother-in-law, General Cos, had “ordered the arrest of several troublemakers, including William Barret Travis (Sorrels 31).” William Barret became the main reason the Alamo has so gripped people’s imaginations, both during the Texan independence and in the years that followed. As the battle continued he sent a string of captivating letters.
Jim Bowie was originally the commander of the garrison of the Alamo but he was bedridden following a fall he sustained while fortifying the Alamo. He was then laid in bed (Sorrels 59). Bowie was sent to the Alamo by Sam Houston to inspect the Alamo and decide weather or not to blow it up (Sorrels 34). Jim Bowie was a skilled outdoorsman who made his fortune trading slaves and smuggling goods. He and Travis shared the command of the Alamo until he became bed ridden (Landauro). Jim Bowie inspired both the men fighting their desperate last stand, and the Texans who would remember him...
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...t monuments constructed to the fallen there are these words, “Thermopylae had her messenger of defeat; the Alamo had none.”
After the Alamo, the Texan army grew in numbers and conviction. On April 19th, 1836, the Texans triumphed over the Mexican Army at the Battle of San Jacinto and forced General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna, the “Napoleon of the West,” to surrender his troops and return to Mexico (Hutton). Sam Houston, the commander in chief of the newly formed Republic of Texas rallied his troops with a stirring speech before the battle. He said, “Victory is certain! Trust in God and fear not! The victims of the Alamo and the names of those who were murdered at Goliad cry out for vengeance. Remember the Alamo! Remember Goliad! (Sam Houston “Remember the Alamo”). With their victory, urged on by the memory of the Alamo, Texas gained its independence.
Travis was born in 1809, and died in battle defending the fort known as the Alamo against overwhelming Mexican forces in 1836. He was the oldest out of his 11 brothers and sisters. His parents were Mark Stallworth and Jemima Stallworth. Travis officially became a lieutenant colonel in January 1836. On that same year the governor Henry Smith ordered for Travis and 100 reinforcements to arrive at San Antonio. James Bowie also arrived at the fort. The Texas army knew that they were outnumbered; therefore, Travis was sent a very deep profound letter to all Patriot Americans for aid. On March 1, 1836 Travis received 32 men led by Albert Martin and George C. Kimball. The reinforcements arrived, due to the meaningful letter Travis sent out to any that would listen. The town of Gonzales was the few to comply to Travis’s letter to provide reinforcements even though the people from Gonzales knew it was a lost cause due to the impact of lieutenant colonel’s words stating that Travis was determined to sustain as long as possible and die like a soldier whoever forgets what is due to his own honor and that of his country –Victory or Death. The Gonzales reinforcements were the few that came to Travis’s aid.
We just recently lost the Alamo and all the great men who fought for it. 189 men lost there lives fighting for the Alamo and they will be greatly remembered. The men held the fort for 13 days before Santa Anna and his army engulfed it. Santa Anna other wise know as napoleon of the west or the president of Mexico ordered his men to kill every one thou he let some women and children go to tell the tale. Soon after the lose of the Alamo general urrea executed 400 Texans under command of colonel Fannin which is known as Goliad massacre.
When studying Texas History there are names such as Sam Houston, Jim Bowie, and William Barrett Travis that are often brought up into discussion. These men had rolls of vital importance to the cause of revolution; however, other names such as Juan Nepomuceno Seguin may be much more obscure to those unaware of the rolls that such men played. Juan Seguin is mostly remembered as the currier to whom William Barrett Travis commissioned with the delivery of a letter to General Sam Houston requesting reinforcements and whose words were so inspiring that it may have given the Texans the push they needed to claim victory over the Mexican President Santa Anna. After independence was achieved from Mexico, Texas formed its own government in which Seguin served as a member of the Texas Senate. Seguin eventually lost all credibility and was forced to flee to Mexico because of accusations of betrayal. Was Juan Seguin’s participation in the Texas revolution limited to his delivery of the Travis letter to Sam Houston? Other than his participation at the Alamo and at San Jacinto, how significant of a part did Juan Seguin play in the Texas revolution? What lead to Seguin’s fall from favor in the eyes of the Texas government and earned him the label of traitor?
Sam Houston was a great man in our history. He stood up for what he believed was good for the Union not the North or the South. When Sam was rebuked for providing the winning margin for his opponents he said “I know neither North nor South; I know only the Union.” He also said everyone “…must stand firm to the Union, regardless of all personal consequences.” He was fiercely ambitious, yet at the end he sacrificed for principle all he had ever won or wanted. He was a Southerner, and yet he steadfastly maintained his loyalty to the Union. He could be all things to all men—and yet, when faced with his greatest challenge, he was faithful to himself and to Texas.
Anglo- historian’s main concentration was in the area of the colonies established by the Stephen F. Austin. The Austin Colonies are the ones most frequently referenced in the history commonly known by modern Texans. However, Hispanics participated in the revolution and sacrificed their lives and property along with Anglo c...
With the battle of Gonzales, the Texas Revolution was started officially. More and more volunteers kept coming to Gonzales. Besides, they also set up a temporary state government and a Texan army, who under Sam Houston won several minor battles in the fall of 1835. In mid-February 1836, to avenge for the reputation of Mexico, Santa Anna decided to retake Texas. Mexican General Urrea led his troops and defeated all the Texans on the Goliad campaign up the Texas coast. On April 21st, the battle of San Jacinto started, which was also the sign of the end of the Texas Revolution. Houston’s army defeated Santa Anna’s troops with a shocked engagement that lasted just eighteen minutes. Santa Anna was also captured and was a loser and prisoner of the war. Therefore, he had to sign the peace treaty that led his army to go back to Mexico, indicated the Republic of Texas had become an independent country. On December 9th, 1845, Texas was admitted into the Union as the 28
Bauer, K. Jack. “Mexican War,” Handbook of Texas Online, last modified June 15, 2010, accessed May 2, 2014, https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/qdm02
Mendoza, Alexander, and Charles David Grear. Texans and War New Interpretations of the State's Military History.. College Station: Texas A&M University Press, 2012.
Written by Randolph B. Campbell and edited by Mark C. Carnes, Sam Houston and the American Southwest tells the story of the life of Sam Houston. Sam Houston, born in 1793 in Tennessee, was a soldier, lawyer, and also one of the founding fathers of the state of Texas. This biography of Sam Houston goes on to describe the life of Sam Houston in topics such as presidential elections he ran in, wars he has fought, friends and rivals of Houston, his personal life, marriages, wins, defeats, and changes he brought upon the United States of America. Sam Houston was liked by the majority of people, he looked up to Andrew Jackson who was his general when Sam Houston joined the army in his 20’s. This book goes into depth to portray to the reader of the type of person Sam Houston was including his strengths, weaknesses, and the fact that he was an alcoholic and despite all that, he was a very intelligent and noble man of U.S. history as we now know.
The huge dispute about immigration and slavery in 1820’s at Texas foreshadowed an upcoming war between U.S and Mexico. In the beginning the Mexican government allowed American immigration to Texas. They also turned the other way when Americans brought slaves in order to help grow cotton. But when tension grew the Mexican government prohibited slavery, raised taxes, and stopped American immigration. Because Americans thought it was the United States’ manifest destiny to expand west they decided to venture across Texas anyway, resulting in a fight at the Alamo which led to a lot of Texans dying. When Sam Huston and his newly trained army defeated Santa Anna’s army in 18 minutes and captured Santa Anna, they forced him to sign over Texas in exchange for his life. Only to have the compromise disregarded by the Mexican government.
His courage in combat caught the attention of General Andrew Jackson, who promoted him to Second Lieutenant. In 1816 Houston was named an Indian sub-agent in Tennessee and soon after was promoted to First Lieutenant. Houston led a delegation of Cherokees to Washington, D.C. to meet with Secretary of War John C. Calhoun and President James Monroe. While there, he was reprimanded by Secretary Calhoun for wearing Indian dress. Houston was a strong advocate for Native American rights.... ...
With Santa Anna moving to control Mexico, and taxes increasing, Texans grew restless and rowdy. A Texan, William B. Travis, and a small group of Texans attacked a squad of Mexican troops in Anahuac with the motive that “taxes should not thus be collected from them to support a standing army in their own country” (SOS 1) and soon drove them back. Travis retreated to San Felipe and was assisted by Bexar. Skirmishes and the threat of war with Mexico soon followed. Come 1835, the idea of independence was extremely popular within the territory of Texas.
Beginning in 1845 and ending in 1850 a series of events took place that would come to be known as the Mexican war and the Texas Revolution. This paper will give an overview on not only the events that occurred (battles, treaties, negotiations, ect.) But also the politics and reasoning behind it all. This was a war that involved America and Mexico fighting over Texas. That was the base for the entire ordeal. This series of events contained some of the most dramatic war strategy that has ever been implemented.
Texas prides itself on a strong heritage and history. Events that happened when Texas fought to gain independence will forever remain preserved and idolized in the heart of every true Texan. One of the most famous events that occurred during the fight for independence happened at a place that was not well-known and did not hold much importance at the time, but because of the events that occurred there, it will forever be a place of remembrance and pride. This place is known as The Alamo. This paper focuses on the articles written by Brian C. Baur, Richard R. Flores, and Paul Andrew Hutton over The Alamo.
The two years following Teran’s suicide confirmed the general’s darkest forebodings. Mexico’s own political troubles continued unabated, while the Texas colonists grew steadily more resistive. A series of battles took place between 1835-1836, resulting in the creation of the Republic of Texas. The republic of Texas was never recognized by the government of Mexico, and during its brief existence, it teetered between collapse and invasion from Mexico. The United States of America annexed Texas in 1845, and it wasn’t until the end of the Mexican American War that Texas was saw as independent of Mexico.