and slaves. But Texans are deeply divided over how, exactly, to remember the Alamo. Many of the defenders of the Alamo believed in independence for Texas, but their leaders had not declared independence from Mexico yet. It probably didnt happen. So, he set out to tell the story of the Alamo, a story that, he believes, belongs to all of us through the diversity of its defenders. When Mexican troops stormed the former mission known as the Alamo on the morning of March 6, 1836, Mexican General Antonio Lpez de Santa Anna ordered that no prisoners be taken. But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! Until now. These defenders, who despite later reinforcements never numbered more than 200, included Davy Crockett, the famous frontiersman and former congressman from Tennessee, who had arrived in early February. When the din of the fighting died down and the Mexicans firmly controlled the fort, Joe was shot and bayoneted, only to be saved by a Mexican field officer. ThoughtCo. Spanish settlers built the Mission San Antonio de Valero, named for St. Anthony of Padua, on the banks of the San Antonio River around 1718. Plaster is flaking off the walls of the nearly 300-year-old former Spanish mission, the most revered battle site in Texas history. This commentary derives from research conducted for The Other Side of the Alamo: Art Against the Myth, an exhibition at the Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center for San Antonio's Tricentennial in 2018, which was funded by the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts. Many myths and legends have grown about the Battle of the Alamo, but the facts often give a different account. The site is much bigger than just the 1836 battle, he said. But conservative groups rallied in armed protest and turned up at public meetings chanting Not one inch!, State leaders took up the cause, including Lt. Gov. The reality is a lot more complicated, says James Crisp, a historian at North Carolina State University whos written a book about the myths and the reality of the Alamo. battle cry while fighting against Mexican forces in the Mexican-American War of 1846-1848. Protests have become less common in the past few decades, as the city made an effort to include more of the contested histories in its educational material. Once the rebels succeeded in breaking Texas away from Mexico and establishing an independent republic, slavery took off as an institution. A color guard carries flags from each state that lost people in the battle of the Alamo March 6, 2001 during the Annual Memorial Service at the Alamo in San Antonio, Texas. The new colonists brought enslavement with them. It represented a rare alliance between the states Republican leadership and one of its more liberal cities, with San Antonio committing $38 million to the budget and the state of Texas pitching in $106 million. Subscribe: Cook discovered the Alamo was more than a bunch of white, male landowners fighting for Texas. This entry belongs to the following Handbook Special Projects: We are a community-supported, non-profit organization and we humbly ask for your support because the careful and accurate recording of our history has never been more important. Matamoros in the 1840s had a large and flourishing colony of ex-slaves from Texas and the United States. Although nearly everyone at the Alamo was killed or captured, Texas achieved independence when Sam read more, Coahuila, one of Mexicos major steel producers, straddles the Sierra Madre Oriental Mountains. Afterward, they fortified the Alamo, a fortress-like former mission in the center of town. By 1835, there were 30,000 Anglo-Americans (called Texians) in Texas, and only 7,800 Texas-Mexicans (Tejanos). In addition to Joe, slaves Bettie, Sam, and Charlie left the Alamo alive. "One of the reasons that it matters most is that Latinos are poised to become a majority in Texas, according to census data," he says. The siege of the Alamo was memorably depicted in a Walt Disney series and in a 1960 movie starring John Wayne. Joe escaped to Mexico on two stolen horses. Portrait of Jim Bowie, circa 1820. Some historians believe slavery was the driving issue in the showdown at the Alamo, arguing that Mexicos attempts to end slavery contrasted with the hopes of many white settlers in Texas at the time who moved to the region to farm cotton. Minster, Christopher. It was on March 2, 1836, that delegates meeting in Washington-on-the-Brazos formally declared independence from Mexico. Two and a half million people visit the Alamo each year where, according to its website, men made the ultimate sacrifice for freedom, making it hallowed ground and the Shrine of Texas Liberty.. The Battle of the Alamo during Texas war for independence from Mexico lasted thirteen days, from February 23, 1836-March 6, 1836. The church was still not completed when it was transferred to civil authorities in 1792. These days, Trevio wonders whether the city would have been better off redoing Alamo Plaza on its own. Legendary frontiersman Jim Bowie, suffering from a debilitating illness, asked to be carried over the line. Between 1795 and 1801, 385 payments were made to the owners of African American enslaved people. Joe traveled with one of the widows, Susanna Dickinson, and her young daughter, to the other Texian forces. Santa Annas Mexican army killed virtually all of the roughly 200 Texans (or Texians) defending the Alamo, including their leaders, Colonels William B. Travis and James Bowie, and the legendary frontiersman Davy Crockett. The struggle over the Cenotaph ended in September when the Texas Historical Commission, a state board whose members are appointed by Gov. And the surrounding plaza is a tourist circus, packed with novelty shops and a Ripley's Believe It or Not museum. In the early 20th century, the Alamo was seen as a symbol of Texas pride and Americans fighting for freedom. Accounts of his departure from the Alamo differ, but he later joined Susanna W. Dickinson and her escort, Ben, Santa Anna's Black cook, on their way to Gen. Sam Houston's camp at Gonzales. Another survivor was a former Mexican soldier named Brigido Guerrero, who fought with the defenders but apparently escaped death by convincing the Mexicans he had been taken captive. The Alamo was originally a Spanish mission but was turned into a fort for Spanish soldiers. [Mexican Gen. Antonio Lpez de] Santa Anna is coming north with 6,000 troops. There have been references to Joe over the years, particularly his eyewitness account of the battle, but only recently have researchers uncovered a significant amount of his history for the 2015 book Joe: The Slave Who Became an Alamo Legend, by Ron J. Jackson and Lee Spencer White. But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! There's also some evidence that at one point in his later years he returned to Texas and perhaps even visited the old fortress where he nearly died. They told us how glorious that battle was. On April 21, 1837, one year after the battle, Joe escaped from John Rice Jones - the man who obtained ownership of Joe from Travis' estate. Did you know? Santa Anna. Lieutenant Travis sent repeated requests to Col. James Fannin in Goliad (about 90 miles to the east) for reinforcements, and he had no reason to suspect that Fannin would not come. Joe, They had been kidnapped from their homes and were forced to work on tobacco, rice, and indigo plantations from Maryland . We need your support because we are a non-profit organization that relies upon contributions from our community in order to record and preserve the history of our state. From March to May, Mexican forces once again occupied the Alamo. The Mexican government was opposed to slavery, but even so, there were 5000 slaves in Texas by the time of the Texas Revolution in 1836. A bill introduced by 10 Republican state lawmakers would bar the overhaul from citing any reasons for the Texas Revolution beyond those mentioned in the Texas Declaration of Independence which does not include slavery. Ten years after Texas won its independence and shortly after it was annexed by the United States, U.S. soldiers revived the "Remember the Alamo!" But then you have to understand: The Texas revolt, for 150 years, was largely ignored by academics, in part because it was considered dclass, it was considered provincial, and because the state government of Texas, much as they're doing now, has for 120, 130 years, made very clear to the University of Texas faculty and to the faculty of other state-funded universities that it only wants one type of Texas history taught and that if you get outside those boundaries, you're going to hear about it from the Legislature. That left at least $200 million to be raised through donations. Slaves could not be imported. "It means people can live free. https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/joe. The fort was on 3 acres of land and contained several buildings with cannons along the walls and on roofs. On the myth that the Alamo defenders fought to the death. 3" on the balcony of Ashton Villa: . I can truly say that I hate that place and everything it stands for.. "It was the thing that the two sides had been arguing about and shooting about for going on 15 years. The fort was full of women, minorities of many color, and followers of many religions. When I grew up I learned that the heroes of the Alamo were a bunch of drunks and crooks and slaveholding imperialists who conquered land that didnt belong to them. The mayor of San Antonio, however, claimed to have seen Crockett dead among the other defenders, and he had met Crockett before the battle. But the truly perplexing thing is that in the two weeks leading up to the arrival of Santa Anna's forces in San Antonio, Travis and Bowie are getting almost daily warnings of the progress. And thats whats missing right now in our society, is the nuance.. When events become legendary, facts tend to get forgotten. Santa Anna ordered his men to take no prisoners, and only a small handful of the Texans were spared. Rice had placed a $50 reward for Joe's capture. They used to take us there when we were schoolchildren, she told the New York Times Magazine in 2010. Subscribe for fascinating stories connecting the past to the present. On March 20 Joe was brought before the Texas Cabinet at Groce's Retreat and questioned about events at the Alamo. Between 1836 and 1840, the slave population doubled; it doubled again by 1845; and it doubled still again by 1850 after annexation by the United States. At the time of the Battle of the Alamo, however, the structure had become dilapidated. "Republic. Though vastly outnumbered, the Alamos 200 defenderscommanded by James Bowie and William Travis and including the famed frontiersman Davy Crockettheld out for 13 days before the Mexican forces finally overpowered them. One of the more obnoxious perspectives, in the eyes of many Texans, is Col. Jose Enrique de la Pea's purported eye-witness account of the way Davey Crockett and other heroes of the Alamo met their deaths. On how the 1960 John Wayne movie The Alamo perpetuated these myths. In 1832, General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna took control of the Mexican government. And while the entire defending force was annihilated in the final assault and its aftermath, Joe survived, and his accounts of the siege and final battle form the basis of much of what we know about the Alamo from inside the fort. Don't get me wrong - the defenders of the mission-turned-fortress were killed en masse as Mexican troops stormed the structure. [The Alamo defenders have] maybe 200 guys at essentially an indefensible open-air Spanish mission. There were many native TexansMexican nationals referred to as Tejanoswho joined the movement and fought every bit as bravely as their Anglo companions. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune's journalism. This is their journey. Directly or indirectly, James Bowie's (aka Jim) enigmatic illness during the siege of the Alamo resulted from his actions. Known simply as Joe, he was sold four times in his life, most notably to his third master, Colonel William Barret Travis. 22, 2021, thoughtco.com/facts-about-the-battle-of-the-alamo-2136256. hide caption. William Fairfax Gray, From Virginia to Texas, 1835 (Houston: Fletcher Young, 1909, 1965). The issue for the project has been that theres a lot of moving parts, and a lot of people who have tried to insert their version of history, he said. 2023 A&E Television Networks, LLC. For many years afterward, the U.S. Army quartered troops and stored supplies at the Alamo. What we now know is because Mexican accounts accounts from Mexican officers and soldiers a number of them, a dozen of them have come to light over the last 50 years, show that between a third and a half [of] the Texas defenders actually broke and ran. He is a former head writer at VIVA Travel Guides. Per The New Yorker, we know Davy Crockett owned slaves back home in Tennessee, though there's no record of his slaves accompanying him to Texas. About half of the men there were not enlisted soldiers, but volunteers who technically could come, go, and do as they pleased. Summary "Among the fifty or so Texan survivors of the siege of the Alamo was Joe, the personal slave of Lt. Col. William Barret Travis. Mexico abolished slavery in 1829, as History tells us, but made some exceptions in Texas for instance, slaves whose master had died with no heirs would be freed (providing they hadn't actually killed their masters, though who could blame them?). Minster, Christopher. In Section 9 of the General Provisions of the Constitution of the Republic of Texas, it is stated how the new republic would resolve their greatest problem under Mexican rule: All persons of color who were slaves for life previous to their emigration to Texas, and who are now held in bondage, shall remain in the like state of servitude Congress shall pass no laws to prohibit emigrants from bringing their slaves into the republic with them, and holding them by the same tenure by which such slaves were held in the United States; nor shall congress have power to emancipate slaves..