Last week we studied the Alamo!
We caught several errors in various books recommended by a certain curriculum.
Fortunately our own books proved trustworthy sources.
Today we visited the Alamo and this information came in “mighty handy” as Davy Crockett would say.
My Kids and I Talk about the Alamo to a Crowd
Interestingly, while in the gardens of the Alamo looking at huge placards of the history of Texas under each of its six flags, I overheard my daughter explaining some of the Spanish history of Texas to some men.
Then my son jumped in and answered a few of their questions.
Amazed, the group said they really should read the placards themselves, since they were English teachers from New York.
They complimented the kids on their terrific education.
When my kids replied that they were homeschooled, the men looked at me in amazement.
Chuckling they said that they now have a more favorable impression of homeschoolers.
Then they started asking me several questions about the Alamo.
I’m not sure if they were part of a large group, or if others overheard and started gathering around, but there I was giving a tour of the Alamo history in the gardens! It was a lot of fun!
Historic Alamo Defender Names
Once inside the Alamo, I told the kids to look for the list of names of the defenders of the Alamo and find out where they came from.
They might be surprised!
Did you know that the defenders came not only from Texas, but also several states in America and several different countries in Europe?
We were surprised by some of the names of the defenders as well, which probably revealed a lot about the loyalties of their parents.
George Washington Cottle of Missouri
Andrew Jackson Harrison of Tennessee
Patrick Henry Herndon of Virginia
William J. Lightfoot of Virginia
George Washington Main of Virginia
Napoleon B. (Bonaparte?) Mitchell
Benjamin Rush Milam
Washington Lafayette Denman
Davy Crockett Movie with Fess Parker
Tonight we watched the Davy Crockett movie with Fess Parker.
Since my son and I had read Davy Crockett’s journal a few weeks ago, we were able to more accurately separate myth from reality in the movie.
Throughout the movie, my son kept saying, “He really did that. No, that’s a bit different.”
Davy Crockett Facts
Davy Crockett did fight in the Creek Wars with Andy Jackson.
When Davy insisted on leaving the Creek Wars for a while to provide for his family, he did face cannons.
However it was the general and not the major who threatened to fire at him if he left.
Andrew Jackson did make his classic comment, although in more colorful language, when Davy Crockett called his bluff.
Davy did live by the motto, “Be always sure you are right, then go ahead.”
Davy did represent Congress in his state legislature in Nashville.
Davy did represent Tennessee in the US House of Representatives in Washington DC under the Jackson administration.
Davy did open his first session of Congress with his famous descriptive yarn.
Davy did get in a heated argument with President Jackson over the Indian Removal Act causing Davy to leave Congress.
Davy did travel to Texas to see about becoming a land agent.
Davy did accurately shoot the Mexicans from the Alamo.
Whenever they saw him over the walls of the Alamo with his gun, they fled!
Partly due to him, Santa Anna lost ten men for every man killed in the Alamo.
Santa Anna suffered huge losses during that siege.
Although he considered it a victory, his officers knew another victory like that would do them in.
Davy Crockett Fiction
Davy did not enter Texas in the desert fighting Indians!
Despite the movie set for the Alamo being in West Texas, the real Alamo is near a river in a city that had buildings (even in 1836) in South Central Texas where the hill country meets the blackland prairie.
Within this region is an aquifer from which bubbles numerous rivers such as the San Antonio River.
After a long, hot, dry journey through the desert from Mexico City, the Spaniards found this area to be an oasis.
As a result, the Spanish established San Antonio de Bexar as the seat of government and built the Spanish Governor’s Palace, presidio and five missions, such as the Alamo, there.
Davy entered Texas from the Northeast and into the Piney Woods.
Yes, there are Piney Woods in Texas.
In fact, East Texas is home to Davy Crockett National Forest as well as Sam Houston National Forest.
Texas is far more diverse than movies typically show.
Moses Austin
Moses Austin, an entrepreneur from America, negotiated an arrangement with Spain to bring settlers from America to Texas.
Spain had tried unsuccessfully for years to bring their own colonists.
Some Canary Islanders had settled in San Antonio but that was about all that came.
Then the French claimed Texas for a while which angered the Spanish.
Additionally the Comanches kept invading from the north and west.
Therefore Spain realized that American settlers on the untamed Texan frontier could make this a win-win situation for all.
Unfortunately Moses Austin died about the time that Mexico gained its independence from Spain.
Stephen Austin
His son, Stephen Austin, renegotiated with Mexico and successfully brought the first settlers into East Texas, called The Old Three Hundred.
Men who brought settlers into Texas under these terms were land agents who were called empresarios.
Baron de Bastrop
Another empresario was the Baron de Bastrop who was a delightful gentleman with a secret past from Holland who helped the early settlements of Texas in numerous ways.
Although he left Holland in disgrace, Texas loved and honored him.
Today an East Texas town is named after him.
Seeking land on which to settle and begin new lives, many Americans chose Texas due to better land prices than they could get in America.
As the settlers immigrated into the Mexican territory of Texas, they willingly made agreements with the Mexican government to become Mexican citizens and convert to the Roman Catholic religion.
Santa Anna, Napoleon of the West
In time, Santa Anna declared himself not only dictator of Mexico, but also the Napoleon of the West.
My kids thought we were done with Napoleon! I keep telling them that Napoleon is classic. He will not quietly go away. In fact, he’s like the Energizer bunny. His influence will continue to pop up in history again and again and again…
Santa Anna destroyed the Constitution and took away the rights of the Texas settlers.
As a result, they had taxation without representation.
Hmmmmm, is this sounding a little familiar????
When Stephen Austin went to Mexico City to negotiate, he was thrown into prison for over a year.
Hmmmm, isn’t this called tyranny?
As a result the Texians (American settlers) and Tejanos (Mexican citizens living in Texas) banded together to seek a return to the original constitution.
Hmmmm, doesn’t this sound like the Colonists’ first efforts with England in the 1770s?
Unable to come to terms, the Texans finally declared Independence.
Alamo Defenders Likened to King Leonidas and Roland
In my reading last week, I found it fascinating to read how the massacre of every gallant defender of the besieged Alamo, under the valiant leadership of William Barret Travis, Jim Bowie, and Davy Crockett, has been added to the pages of history with heroic figures of yore like King Leonidas and Roland whom we had learned about in our studies of Ancient Greece.
King Leonidas led the Spartans who were annihilated by the Persians in the Battle of Thermopylae.
Only one man escaped to warn Athens of the loss, which inspired the victorious Greek success over the Persians at the Battle of Salamis.
Roland, part of Charlemagne’s army, led his men against Spain.
When the Basques killed Roland and every one of his men, their heroism spread through the land.
The Song of Roland is a classic piece of literature that commemorates his heroism.
Likewise, the massacres at the Alamo and Goliad led to the infamous battle cries during the final battle at San Jacinto.
“Remember Goliad!” “Remember the Alamo!”
Fiesta
On April 21, 1836, Sam Houston captured Santa Anna and Texas became a Republic.
Texas is one of two states in the nation to have been a Republic.
Every April 21, San Antonio celebrates Texas Independence with Fiesta with parades by the Alamo and on the San Antonio River.
Comparing American Independence to Texas Independence
Because of the uniqueness of Texas history, I am having the kids write a research paper on the similarities of American Independence and Texas Independence.
It has been a fascinating study for me to outline the direction this paper will take.
Using the IEW methods of doing a research paper, the kids will do one paragraph a week over the next several weeks.
They add to their “Works Cited” page weekly. Then at the end they will put all the paragraphs in order, write the transitional sentences between paragraphs and write the introductions and conclusions. Done!
To guide them, each week I present the kids with the topic of their paragraph.
Then they must pull the resources from the shelves and learn to use the index or table of contents to find the pages with appropriate information.
Although this is not difficult, my kids prefer to “write from the brain” instead of taking the time to back up their facts from sources.
So I guide them in their thinking, by asking questions and giving them tips if needed.
Souvenir
My son’s most important souvenir from the day was a Davy Crockett hat. Any guesses who he’ll be for our next Becoming History Presentation?
