Battle Of The Alamo Essay

A. The Battle of the Alamo wasn’t the only battle between the Texans and Mexicans. 1. The first battle was the battle of Gonzales. 2.

(pg. 345-348) This book shows that there is much more to the “story” of the Alamo than what is flashed onto the big screen. Many of the details surrounding the main events have now been combined together in an eye-opening way.

With westward expansion becoming more popular, and with people thinking it was their manifest destiny-or God given fate to go west, populations increased. But conflict arose with our southern neighbor Mexico. This conflict could’ve been prevented, or resolved, but instead it grew worse. This conflict is often called the “Mexican American War” but in Mexico it is called the “US Invasion”. On April 24th, 1836 63 American men and officers went just south of the Rio Grande when Mexico attacked.

Sam Houston was constantly sending out runners for reconnaissance reports on the position of the Mexican army and how many men were in the camp. He knew the land and what area’s to avoid because of flooding. Retreating when the Mexican army got near was Sam’s way of using time on his side. Sam knew it was just a matter of time before he would be forced to fight the Mexican army.

The authors do an excellent job showing that while the Texans were outnumbered and everything was going against them they still fought because they feared they would be ruled with a dictator and would not have freedom like they already had. They felt like this because the Santa Anna led Mexican army fought by force, the soldiers were forced to fight. That is the definition of tyranny and the Texans wanted no part of that, William Travis even expressed their mindset in a letter saying, “VICTORY or DEATH.’’ (127). What the reader sees later is that the battle of the Alamo was not just a loss to the Mexican Army, it was really a wakeup call for everyone to realize that Santa Anna was ruthless and should be accounted for.

General Santa Anna marched north with a massive army, after the Texans had captured San Antonio. They overran the defenders at the Battle of the Alamo on March 6, 1836. The Mexicans were defeated at the Battle of San Jacinto. Santa Anna was captured, which led to Texas independence. Mexico still tried to reclaim Texas in the following years, but essentially Texas joined the U.S in the year

Santa Anna maneuvered his forces under the high ground overlooking a marsh, about three-fourths of a mile from the Texas camp. When reinforcements crossed Vince’s bridge the Mexican force had grown to 1,400 soldiers compared to 800 Texans (Williams, 2014). Santa Anna believed he had the Texans trapped and postponed his attack until April 22. Following a minor cavalry exchange, on April 20, Sam Houston decided to seize the initiative and attack first on April 21. He sent a small force to burn Vince’s Bridge as this prevented further Mexican reinforcements from crossing as well as retreat from both sides.

At that time, only about 75,000 Mexican citizens lived north of the Rio Grande. As a result, U.S. forces led by Stephen W. Kearny and Robert F. Stockton were able to conquer those lands. Taylor advancing, and captured Monterrey in September. With the losses adding up, Mexico turned to old standby General Antonio López de Santa Anna, the strongman who had been living in exile in Cuba. Santa Anna convinced Polk that, if allowed to return to Mexico, he would end the war on terms positive to the United States.

It was April 25, 1846. The Mexican military invaded Texas, a disputed territory. When the U.S. military came to attack, the Mexicans killed 16 Americans. This is one of the many events leading to the Mexican American War. The Mexican-American War was a major war over Mexico’s land.

Was the United States Justified in Going to War With Mexico? Who started the Mexican-American War? Firstly, The United States went to Mexico in 1846. Texas declared its independence from Mexico in 1836. Certainly, Americans were being extremely greedy and wanted more and more land.

One of the most significant conflicts little known in history is the Battle of San Jacinto and is considered the most critical dispute of the Texas Revolution (Williams, 2014). On April 21, 1836, General Sam Houston launched a surprise attack against the Mexican army. The event took place near present day Houston, Texas and only lasted a total of eighteen minutes. The Mexican army was led by General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna. The Texans thoroughly routed the superior Mexican force at the Battle of San Jacinto and captured hundreds of Mexican soldiers including Santa Anna.

History Channel’s Texas Rising is a historical drama that follows the fight for Texas independence after the Battle of the Alamo and the rise of the Texas Rangers. It shows how General Sam Houston leads a group of Texas Rangers into a war against General Santa Anna. General Houston and the Rangers fight against insuperable odds to defeat the Mexicans and gain independence. The miniseries is enthralling to watch with compelling characters and an engaging storyline. However, Texas Rising is not historically accurate.

They soon came up with a plan to come and destroy Texas government. They wanted to seek revenge immediately. April 21, 1836, the decisive battle was fought between the two in 18 minutes. The president of Mexico was captured the next day. This mean’t that he lost the battle and Sam Houston had the victory.

The words seemed so unlike Houston.” Crisp believed that this speech he heard in its entirety in 1992 to be nothing like the man he grew up learning about in history as a child. He quotes Eugene C. Barker when questioning if the Revolution is the product of racial and political inheritances of the two sides, yet goes on to say this is not what he believes despite what others think. “It seemed to me that conflict between the two groups was not as much an immediate cause as it was an eventual consequence of Texas’s separation from Mexico.” (p. 41)

The United States war with Mexico continues to be a divisive topic among many people because of its background. The Mexican-American war was a fight between Mexico and America for land. America’s belief at the time was Manifest Destiny, which meant that they believed that America should extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific ocean. In the end, America benefited from the war and got the land. The United States expanded its size, achieving their dream of Manifest Destiny.