Enrique Esparza, son of Alamo defender Gregorio Esparza, told of how Mexican troops fired a hale of bullets into the room where he was hiding alongside his mother and three siblings. It perpetuates every hoary Alamo myth. Someof the men defendingthe Alamo were slaveholders, and manyof them werent even Texans: they were Americans paid by New Orleans merchants who saw the potential for big profits if the state seceded. The Barista Express grinds, foams milk, and produces the silkiest espresso at the perfect temperature. "International travelers seem to use world heritage as a bucket list item," Richard Oliver, a spokesperson for the San Antonio Convention & Visitors Bureau, told Fusion. Every day during the siege, the defenders of the Alamo looked for Fannin and his men but they never arrived. Dan Patrick (R), who has closely aligned himself with former president Donald Trump. 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. Furthermore, the brave defense of the Alamo caused many more rebels to join the Texan army. They in turn sent Stephen Austin to Mexico City to complain. When you visit the site, Dotdash Meredith and its partners may store or retrieve information on your browser, mostly in the form of cookies. After the U.S. Department of the Interior nominated the Alamo for UN recognition last year, State Senator Donna Campbell introduced a bill preventing any foreign entity from gaining any ownership, control, or management" over the fort. The history of slavery spans many cultures, nationalities, and religions from ancient times to the present day. No matter how he ended up there, he was one of many slaves and free blacks who fought or died at the Alamo. Share your thoughts about this episode on Twitter at: @MandoFun and on our Facebook group. Presumably Joe's escape was successful, for the notice ran three months before it was discontinued on August 26, 1837. But they remained, trusting their defenses and their skill with their lethal long rifles. Texas State Historical Association (TSHA). Trevio, who represents much of central San Antonio, said his push to move the Cenotaph had been aimed at telling a more inclusive story. He also supported carving into the monument the names of enslaved people and Tejanos native Texans of Mexican descent who were present at the 1836 battle. By 1835, there were 30,000 Anglo-Americans (called Texians) in Texas, and only 7,800 Texas-Mexicans (Tejanos). A little more than a year later, 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. Both of those stories are way overly simplistic.. On April 21, 1836, Sam Houston and some 800 Texans defeated Santa Annas Mexican force of 1,500 men at San Jacinto (near the site of present-day Houston), shouting Remember the Alamo! as they attacked. Every penny counts! Texas became an independent republic, and nine years later, it was annexed as an American state. 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. On February 23, a Mexican force. More information is available at http://escapefromtexas.com. But as the smoke cleared after the bloody battle, around 15 survivors of the battle on the Texan side remained. As the defenders of the Alamo were about to sacrifice their lives, other Texans were making clear the goals of the sacrifice at a constitutional convention for the new republic they hoped to create. 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?). Find a complete list of them here. The Battle of the Alamo: Unfolding Events, 8 Important People of the Texas Revolution, Biography of William Travis, Texas Revolution Hero. Among the 187 men in Travis's forces who died were 13 native-born Texans, 11 of Mexican descent. The city has read more, In March 1836, Mexican forces overran the Alamo in San Antonio, Texas, achieving victory over those who had declared Texas independence from Mexico just a few weeks earlier. Not until the late 1890s did two women, Adina De Zavala and Clara Driscoll, collaborate to preserve the Alamo. Joe was the slave of William B. Travis, the commander of the Alamo during Mexican dictator Antonio Lopez de Santa Annas siege of the Texian fort. The 1836 battle for the Alamo is remembered as a David vs. Goliath story. As the Texans were facing the whole Mexican army, desertions are not surprising. In February 1778, while Boone was traveling with a group of Boonesborough men along Kentucky's Licking River, he was captured by a group of Shawnees. Though Sam Houston, the newly appointed commander-in-chief of the Texan forces, argued that San Antonio should be abandoned due to insufficient troop numbers, the Alamos defendersled by Bowie and Travisdug in nonetheless, prepared to defend the fort to the last. Enslaved people who attempted to resist going to their new masters were whipped and thrown in jail until they relented and promised not to run away during the new arrangement. The exemption was, in their minds, a temporary measure and Texas slaveholders knew that. Its a common misconception that the Texans who rose up against Mexico were all settlers from the U.S. who decided on independence. "Most academics now believe, based on Mexican accounts and contemporary accounts, that, in fact, [Crockett] did surrender and was executed," Burrough says. hide caption. Santa Anna ordered his men to take no prisoners, and only a small handful of the Texans were spared. On March 20 Joe was brought before the Texas Cabinet at Groce's Retreat and questioned about events at the Alamo. On June 19, 1865, Union General Gordon Granger and over 2,000 federal troops arrived at Galveston Island to take possession of the state and enforce the two-year-old Emancipation Proclamation.There, he proclaimed his "General Order No. 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. Among them was Susanna W. Dickinson, widow of Capt. In December 1835, in the early stages of Texas war for independence from Mexico, a group of Texan (or Texian) volunteers led by George Collinsworth and Benjamin Milam overwhelmed the Mexican garrison at the Alamo and captured the fort, seizing control of San Antonio. The struggle over the Cenotaph ended in September when the Texas Historical Commission, a state board whose members are appointed by Gov. It's just that not everyone inside the Alamo died that day. Come or go, buy or sell, drunk or sober, or however they choose." They ran out into the open where they were unceremoniously run down and killed by Mexican cavalry. Meanwhile, issues of race and slavery at the Alamo remain unresolved. The Alamo remained a symbol of courage, and in the Mexican-American War of 1846-1848, U.S. soldiers revived the "Remember the Alamo!" Elected leaders have talked for decades about redeveloping the Alamo complex, which lies in the heart of San Antonio, not far from the famous River Walk. Sign up for The Brief, our daily newsletter that keeps readers up to speed on the most essential Texas news. After the Alamo battle, the soldiers under Sam Houston's command were the only obstacle between Santa Anna's attempt to reincorporate Texas into Mexico. Families were often split up by the sale of one or more members, usually never to see or hear of each other again. The movie, most reviewers would tell you, is a mess. 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. ", On how Texas history often fails to address slavery. All that is known about Joe after the Alamo is that he was questioned by Santa Anna and then later questioned by the Texas Cabinet. Indigenous leaders, for example, want the site to show respect for its ancient role as a burial ground. The report said enslaved people would have done the hard work, like sawing logs and moving stones,. I mean, the idea that Mexican soldiers would show up and kill them all just seems like a notion that he never really accepted, that somehow something would happen to spirit them all the way to safety. As a nonprofit newsroom, we rely on members to help keep our stories free and our events open to the public. he Alamo Cenotaph, also known as the Spirit of Sacrifice, is a monument in San Antonio, Texas, United States, commemorating the Battle of the Alamo, which was fought at the adjacent Alamo Mission. By the time of annexation a decade later, there were 30,000; by 1860, the census found 182,566 slaves -- over 30% of the total population of the state. Many myths and legends have grown about the Battle of the Alamo, but the facts often give a different account. In early 1836, a small group of Texas volunteers at the Alamo held off the Mexican army for 13 days before being defeated (and executed). Its one-room exhibit space can hold only a fraction of key artifacts. They might be considered as servants, or not considered at all. "It was the thing that the two sides had been arguing about and shooting about for going on 15 years. Bonham and the men from Gonzales all died during the battle. What Happened To The Slaves At The Alamo. Jill Torrance/Getty Images But those plans have always presented logistical challenges the Alamo is owned by the state, while the adjoining plaza is owned by the city as well as ideological ones. Some men reportedly deserted the Alamo and ran off in the days before the battle. But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! Amelia W. Williams, A Critical Study of the Siege of the Alamo and of the Personnel of Its Defenders (Ph.D. dissertation, University of Texas, 1931; rpt., Southwestern Historical Quarterly 3637 [April 1933-April 1934]). Miles places the number of enslaved people held by Cherokees at around 600 at the start of the 19 th century and around 1,500 at the time of westward removal in 1838-9. In their fascinating new book, "Joe: The Slave Who Became an Alamo Legend," Ron L. Jackson Jr. and Lee Spencer White fill in the biographical details of a man who deserves credit for . ThoughtCo. ThoughtCo, May. It has been used just anecdotally for generations to put down Mexican Americans, a big beefy white guy going up to the little Mexican guy and punching him in the arm and saying, "Remember the Alamo," that type of thing. The following, adapted from the Chicago Manual of Style, 15th edition, is the preferred citation for this entry. Afterward, they fortified the Alamo, a fortress-like former mission in the center of town. Not everyone in the fort was killed. Houston sent Jim Bowie to San Antonio: his orders were to destroy the Alamo and return with all of the men and artillery stationed there. Some controversy and debate has surrounded the exact number and their identity, but most were wives, children, servants and slaves whom the Alamos defenders had brought with them into the mission for safety after Santa Annas troops occupied San Antonio. Recognition willget more people to read the actual history of the Alamo instead of the awful Hollywood myths.. Mexican dictator and general Antonio Lpez de Santa Anna won the Battle of the Alamo, taking back the city of San Antonio and putting the Texans on notice that the war would be one without quarter. and the Mexican army defended it in the battle of December 1835, when it was further damaged. Because of the wine production in the area, the city of Parras de la read more, San Luis Potos, which has some of the richest silver mines in Mexico, is also where Gonzales Bocanegra wrote the Mexican national anthem in 1854. 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. A hearty man of six feet, Bowie was a walking contradiction; a slave trader who fought for freedom, a generous and congenial man who had his thunderous temper, and a commanding leader . Although Texas declared itself an independent republic in 1836, the Mexican state did not recognize Texas until the signing of the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848. Sending Out Veterans' Benefits, The Executive Branchs Response to the Flood of 1927, The Case For Calling the Language "American", America Fought Its Own Battle Over Books Before it Fought the Nazis. Until now. Crockett's fate is unclear. Pennybacker describes the line-drawing episode and puts in another footnote: "The student may wonder if none escaped from the Alamo, how we know the above to be true. Both sides included prominent Mexican citizens. Joe did so and was struck by a pistol shot and bayonet thrust before a Mexican captain intervened. A $450 million plan to renovate the site has devolved into a five-year brawl over whether to focus narrowly on the 1836 . Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/facts-about-the-battle-of-the-alamo-2136256. Part of the problem with the historical record is that slaves weren't necessarily accounted for by name. This tense situation was resolved by three events: the advance of a common enemy (the Mexican army), the arrival of the charismatic and famous Davy Crockett (who proved very skilled at defusing the tension between Travis and Bowie), and Bowie's illness just before the battle. San Antonio was captured by rebellious Texans in December1835. In early March, Nirenberg took the unusual step of replacing a city council member, Roberto Trevio, who had been leading two committees coordinating the project and had been staunchly in favor of moving the Cenotaph. There was no line in the sand drawn. Audible: For you, the listeners of the Mandatory Fun podcast, Audible is offering a free audiobook download with a free 30-day trial to give you the opportunity to check out some of the books and authors featured on Mandatory Fun. James "Jim" Bowie (c. 1796March 6, 1836) was an American frontiersman, trader of enslaved people, smuggler, settler, and soldier in the Texas Revolution. This is their journey. The fort was on 3 acres of land and contained several buildings with cannons along the walls and on roofs. [Wayne] made the movie basically because he wholeheartedly believed that America was falling apart, that it was going to the dogs and that somebody needs to stand up for what are today called "patriotic values," "family values," "American values." Then, there was a counter-story switching good guys and bad guysthe Americans were all racist, taking the Mexicans land. And of course, this leads to one of the great myths, which is the bravery of the Alamo defenders, how they fought to their death and everything. Phil Rosenthal and Bill Groneman, Roll Call at the Alamo (Fort Collins, Colorado: Old Army, 1985). 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. Joe escaped to Mexico on two stolen horses. We know that there were slaves within the Alamo fortress for the 13-day siege that resulted in the death of the entire garrison. Subscribe: On April 21, 1836, at the Battle of San . and slaves. They know they're coming and yet still they stay there. After the battle, Santa Anna sent Susanna and Angelina to Sam Houstons camp in Gonzales, accompanied by one of his servants and carrying a letter of warning intended for Houston. Did Davy Crockett Die in Battle at the Alamo? Plaster is flaking off the walls of the nearly 300-year-old former Spanish mission, the most revered battle site in Texas history. The Battle of the Alamo during Texas war for independence from Mexico lasted thirteen days, from February 23, 1836-March 6, 1836. A woman named Andrea Castan Villanueva, better known as Madam Candelaria, later made a career of claiming to be a survivor of the Alamo, but many historians doubt her story. The story runs, that this one man, Rose by name, who refused to step over the line, did make his escape that night. The Texans held out for 13 days, but on the morning of March 6 Mexican forces broke through a breach in the outer wall of the courtyard and overpowered them. Santa Anna's forces included a mix of former Spanish citizens, Spanish-Mexican criollos and mestizos, and several indigenous young men sent from the interior of Mexico. Paul D. Lack, "Slavery and the Texas Revolution," Southwestern Historical Quarterly 89 (July 1985). Known simply as Joe, he was sold four times in his life, most notably to his third master, Colonel William Barret Travis. The whole Remember the Alamo cry was the reason Texas was bornits a true and great symbol of how Texas came to be., When asked about the Alamo's history of slavery, Oliver said thatits not something we dwell on.". Visitors walk around the outside of the Alamo in San Antonio. The areas main farm read more. Some heroes of the Texas Revolution were enslavers, a neglected piece of history that has helped stall a badly needed overhaul of the revered battle site. Did you know? "Republic. If they want to bring up that it was about slavery, or say that the Alamo defenders were racist, or anything like that, they need to take their rear ends over the state border and get the hell out of Texas, said Brandon Burkhart, president of the This is Freedom Texas Force, a conservative group that held an armed protest last year in Alamo Plaza. . Yes. Joe took cover and continued fighting until the battle was over, when he presented himself and, as a slave, his life was spared. Such is the case with the fabled Battle of the Alamo. While scant information exists on the states pre-Hispanic era, the Huastecos, Chichimecas and read more, Guanajuato, the birthplace of famed muralist Diego Rivera, is also the site of Alhondiga de Ganaditas, a former town granary that became a revolutionary symbol after the heads of insurrectionists Hidalgo, Allende, Aldama and Jimenez were posted at the four corners of the read more, From the renowned beaches of Acapulco and Ixtapa to the silversmiths of Taxco, Guerrero is known as a mecca for ocean-loving tourists and sports fisherman. Thats how we came to know of Joe just Joe, any other names he had are lost to history now. The Cenotaph at Alamo Plaza in San Antonio. Many of the defenders of the Alamo believed in independence for Texas, but their leaders had not declared independence from Mexico yet. explicitly said they were fighting for slavery. "The stunning discovery that Joethe slave of Alamo commander William Barret Traviswas the brother of the abolitionist William Wells Brown has opened an entirely new chapter in the history of Texas. meticulously detail what happened at the Alamo and within the broader Texas Revolution. As more slaves came into the Republic of Texas, more escaped to Mexico. The migration of U.S. citizens to Texas increased over the next decades, sparking a revolutionary movement that would erupt into armed conflict by the mid-1830s. "Slavery was the undeniable linchpin of all of this," author Bryan Burrough says. Fannin had decided that the logistics of reaching the Alamo in time were impossible and, in any event, his 300 or so men would not make a difference against the Mexican army and its 2,000 soldiers. Slaves could not be imported. This famous story shows the dedication of the Texans to fight for their freedom. After his report to the Texas Cabinet, Joe was returned to Travis's estate near Columbia, where he remained until April 21, the first anniversary of the battle of San Jacinto. On April 15, the city council voted to go forward with a new plan that leases much of the plaza to the state for at least 50 years and leaves the Cenotaph in place. The Alamo was originally a Spanish mission but was turned into a fort for Spanish soldiers. Pennybacker included a later often-quoted speech by Travis, with a footnote reporting that "Some unknown author has written the following imaginary speech of Travis." I can truly say that I hate that place and everything it stands for.. To download your free audiobook today go to audibletrial.com/MandatoryFun. Though exact numbers do not exist, as many slaves may have escaped to Mexico as escaped through the more famous underground railway to Canada. All Rights Reserved. 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. Indeed, an enslaved man named Joe, who was owned by Travis, survived the battle of the Alamo and became one of the primary sources of information about the 13-day siege, inspiring dozens of books and movies, including the John Wayne classic.
