The Fall of the Alamo (1836) (law, kids, Mexicans)

[majormadmax]

Thanks, TrapperL, I was going to respond to that post as well but I hadn't gotten around to it.

Great job clearing that up for the poster, I too was taken back by the claim the Texas Revolution had anything to do with slaves. That was an issue under contention, but there was a lot more to it than that. Mexico was broke winning its independence from Spain fifteen years prior, and was treating the inhabitants of Coahuila y Tejas like crap, so naturally the latter revolted. Wikipedia does a pretty good job detailing the chain of events...

Texas Revolution

But there are always two sides to every story, and I guess if you asked the Brits about the American Revolution their opinion would be different than ours.
Regardless, to the victor go the spoils! http://www.texasguntalk.com/forums/images/smilies/texas.gif (broken link)

Cheers! M2

[Proffer]

Thanks. That is great additional info. I also think it's important to realize that the Alamo was built by slaves. I remember standing around the plaza as one of those tours was going on, and the guide, telling the story of the construction of the Alamo, literally said, "And the Indian slaves were excited to lay the stones you see here today," and I remember wondering what kind of crack that tourguide had been smoking. Or what kind of regional brainwashing he'd endured to convince him that the slaves were "excited" to build it.

[majormadmax]

Well, I wasn't there; but the following describes how I've always Mission San Antonio de Valero was constructed...

The Alamo was already a hundred years old at the time of the siege and battle. It was founded in 1718 as a Spanish mission for the purpose of Christianizing the Indians indigenous to the area. The Indians themselves built the mission under the supervision of the Spanish priests and it was named Mission "San Antonio de Valero." The church was designed without the benefit of a master engineer, the roof collapsed almost immediately, and this portion of the mission was never actually completed. (Source)

Now, maybe some believe that the indigenous people were "coerced" in doing the work, which constituted "slavery;" but they weren't slaves in the traditional sense of the word!

Cheers! M2

[BstYet2Be]

.
Thanks all, for these very interesting Texas/San Antonio history facts! I've always found the history of Texas to be the most fascinating of all the state histories I've ever studied.

Great stories and larger-than-life people that accomplished so much against all odds. Almost makes one want to go back and live in those times... almost that is, if one could take a number of conveniences we have today!

If you haven't, do take the time to study up on the history of this great state and its cities... always a great read! Here's a great place to start, enjoy!
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[TrapperL]

One of the things that many Texans don’t know about the Alamo is that, nearly a year after the battle, Juan Seguin brought his company of cavalry to San Antonio and examined what survived of the piles of charred remains from the three pyres of burned Texian bodies that Santa Anna had set alight right after the battle.

Seguin gave orders that the bells in San Fernando should start to peal, and keep ringing throughout the day, then engaged a Bexar carpenter to build a coffin. They covered the interior with black cloth, then placed the ashes, small bits of bone etc… from the two smaller piles in the box. Though the contents reflected the remains of many different men, Seguin caused to be inscribed on the inside of the lid just three names: Bowie, Crockett and Travis. Laying a Texian rifle and sword atop the casket, his men carried it to San Fernando, and there it remained as a procession gathered in the street outside, the bells ringing all the while.

At 4:00 p.m. Seguin led the mourners back through the main street of town, across the San Antonio river, and back toward the Alamo and the remaining pile of ashes. Seguin gave a speech (in Spanish), volleys of rifle shots were fired etc… Then the box was buried. But the spot went unmarked. They did not think to mark it. Who could forget the final resting place of the immortal Alamo garrison? And yet, within a generation, it was lost.

Today, the coffin is probably covered over by a highway or a shopping mall.

Courtesy:
1000's of photos of Texas; mountains, beaches, people, towns etc..

[TrapperL]

Yet another virtual unknown in the preservation of the Alamo is Adina de Zavala. If not for her, what we have today would not be there. Here's the history of this wonderful lady.
Adina de Zavala

The disagreement triggered an event that catapulted Adina De Zavala and her cause into national celebrity. In 1908, on February 10, Adina barricaded herself in the long barracks building to protest its being rented. Adina feared that a Daughters of the Republic of Texas faction influenced by Clara Driscoll planned to rent part of the site to a group of investors from St. Louis, Missouri, who were affiliated with several local businessmen. She refused to leave for three days, ignoring a visit from the sheriff and suffering a boycott (not strictly enforced) that forbade anyone to bring her food and water.

[IntentionallyBlank]

Originally Posted by TrapperL

Yet another virtual unknown in the preservation of the Alamo is Adina de Zavala. If not for her, what we have today would not be there. Here's the history of this wonderful lady.
Adina de Zavala

The disagreement triggered an event that catapulted Adina De Zavala and her cause into national celebrity. In 1908, on February 10, Adina barricaded herself in the long barracks building to protest its being rented. Adina feared that a Daughters of the Republic of Texas faction influenced by Clara Driscoll planned to rent part of the site to a group of investors from St. Louis, Missouri, who were affiliated with several local businessmen. She refused to leave for three days, ignoring a visit from the sheriff and suffering a boycott (not strictly enforced) that forbade anyone to bring her food and water.

Yes sir, I love her story. In the last week or so, a portrait of her was dedicated to recognize her efforts.

[arctichomesteader]

Originally Posted by Proffer

I don't understand what patriotism had to do with the fight for the Alamo. I thought that this was Mexican land, and that the Mexicans were defending what was rightfully theirs. The Texan squatters were not obeying the Mexican law prohibiting slavery, and this was not acceptable to the Mexicans. In the rest of the country, school kids learn basically that the fight for the Alamo was the fight for the right to have slaves, but Texans don't see it that way, of course. Isn't this right? What could the Texans have been defending, if what they were "defending" was not theirs?!

Santa Anna made himself dictator in violation of the Constitution. It wasn't just White Texans fighting him. It's a pretty complex story.

[Proffer]

Yeah, it was my impression that the indigenous people were not thrilled to build the missions under the Spanish influence. The wonderful film at the Mission San Jose visitors' center gives the impression that the locals were "recruited" to help, but by the Spanish going out and rounding up people and bringing them back to the missions to work hard and live with them. That rings of slavery to me, even though nobody was probably bought and sold.

[Lee W.]

I do think that there should be more emphasis on remembering that war for Texas's independence and less on partying for partying's sake. My great-great grandmother's brother died at Goliad...that was shortly after the Alamo happened. I think we should remember the sacrifices Texans made during that time...it could easily have gone the other way and Santa Anna could have won...if people (both the relatively 'new' anglo Texans as well as the others who had lived in Texas for generations) had not fought and died for freedom.