Both Martyrs of the Alamo and The Alamo have trouble with how they tell the story of the Alamo. Martyrs of the Alamo does not portray Mexicans and Mexican-Americans in a very positive way, did not show very much of and demonized Santa Anna, and did not have a lot of Sam Houston. The Alamo was better about its portrayal of Mexicans; still demonized, but showed more of, Santa Anna; and included more about Sam Houston.
Martyrs of the Alamo is the earliest surviving silent film to show the battle for the Alamo. In this version, the Texans are fighting against not only a threat to their land, as the Mexicans try to remove Texan settlers from San Antonio, but also a moral threat, as the Mexicans are shown as lustful and lewd toward Anglo-American women. The negative portrayals of Mexican-Americans in Martyrs of the Alamo are very prominent. The Alamo is a extremely controversial and violent part of Mexican/American history, because they were fighting for what they both thought of as theirs. Added to this, Alamo legends often depict this battle as one between two national or racial character types. The film definitely shows negativity, because the main obstacle of the film is the treatment of Texan women by Mexican men. The movie says, “Under the dictator’s rule the honor and life of American womanhood was held in
…show more content…
In Martyrs of the Alamo, Santa Anna is demonized when he is portrayed as merciless and cruel towards anyone that tries to go against him. A good example of this is his movement of Calvary men behind his foot soldiers to prevent them from going backwards with the threat of death. Another attempt to demonize him is before the battle of San Jacinto when he is shown drugged up in a tent full of females dancing. This behavior leads to his being found cowardly crouching in a bush, his defeat, and his forced signing of a document to recognize Texas' freedom and
De Leon is attempting to demonstrate that Mexican Americans, during the World War I years and the 1920s, expected to become more socially integrated, accepted, and acculturated into American Society, especially Texas, where there were large numbers of Mexican Americans, and an age of modernity was taking place. De Leon, highlights the endeavour that Mexican Americans took to display their patriotism by helping the United States defeat the axis powers during World War I, in order to become more accepted and experience less stifling social conditions in Texas, and also becoming involved and represented in politics and the workplace. De Leon emphasized how Texas Mexicans contributed to the war effort as combatants, by volunteering in the armed
The Crown of Spain continued his control of New Spain, but ceased the sending of new settlers to the territory. A new cultural group emerged during this time, called the Tejanos, Mexicans living in Texas. The Tejanos face some of the same discrimination today as they did in the 18th and 19th centuries, because they were neither fully Mexican or fully Texan. This became a major issue after the Texas revolution from Mexico, as many viewed the Tejanos as loyal to the Mexican side and disloyal to Texas. Additionally, during this period of establishing the new territory, many began to assimilate with the Native Americans (and some African Americans residing in the territory).
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.
And even the positive ones somehow had some negative aspects to them. For example, the film mentioned “the subconscious images that the rest of the world will have because of the roles Latinos play in
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.
As stated before, the US was justified in going to war with Mexico because of three reasons, Americans were killed, Texas was already annexed, and Manifest Destiny allows it. The United states had many superb reasons for going to war with Mexico. This essay is significant because it helps explain the United States’ choice to go to war with
The opening scene portrays the violence between whites and Mexicans. This was a fairly common happening. There was a lot of racial animosity still in America. Another example of this is Sheriff Behan saying he was the president of the Non-Partisan Anti-Chinese League. These were fairly common during the 1880s, when the Chinese would come through Angel Island and work in the railroads and in the mines.
Since the Mexican people were not able to vote when Santa Anna gave away Texas, they felt as if the US took advantage of them when Santa Anna was president. Mexico did not see the war as a dual sided conflict. To Mexico, the war was an invasion of the weaker by the stronger, and at a time when Mexico was vulnerable
In the novel Insurgent Mexico, John Reed travels south of the border to experience the Mexican Revolution first hand while traveling in the year 1914. Reed was a journalist writing for Metropolitan and was ordered to bring back his work to publish in the United States. During this time Reed travelled to many places and met all different types of people from war generals, to peones, to Indians and many others. Reed has described his time in Mexico as the “most satisfactory period” in his life (Publisher’s Note), and it can be reflected through the stories he shares in Insurgent Mexico about his traveling companions and his experiences. Some moments were very serious, and at times even dangerous, while others were light hearted and amusing for
Student’s name Professor’s name Course Date Book Review Synopsis of the Content The Texas Revolutionary Experience by Paul D. Lack is a book aimed at honoring the legends of the Texas Revolution. More focus and insight is given on the reasons that led to the conflict witnessed in 1835-1836 and an analysis of how the real events transpired.
In the altar’s center is “a plaster image of the Virgin of Guadalupe, quarter-life size, its brown Indian face staring down on the woman” (Paredes 23). The implication of the stare is of criticism as the Virgin, symbolic of an ideal Mexican womanhood, looks down on Marcela, whose Anglo features starkly contrast with the Virgin’s, and whose actions are in opposition to the values that she represents. This carefully constructed scene is meaningful. Marcela’s lifeless body lies between the bed and the altar, and opposite to the altar is Marcela’s shrine dedicated to Hollywood movie stars. These are the visual images of the opposing forces that characterize the Mexican-American struggle for resistance against American cultural hegemony.
In the book Sleuthing the Alamo, by historian James E. Crisp we are faced with some surprising truths about the Texas Revolution as he draws attention to many facilities that have been said to be truths over the years. These facts are often covered by tales of racism and political correctness. Over the course of this engrossing interpretation of the Texas Revolution this historian works like a detective to bring light to the more difficult truths behind all the tales that many believe. I believe James E. Crisp’s thesis to be fairly straightforward. This historian wishes to bring truth to the light.
In order to write this book, the author clearly uses different manuscripts and papers that helped him to explain and show the situation of this social movement. He also uses and gets information from people that were living those situations, for instance in Chapter one, he mentions a note from Journalist Ruiz Ibañez: “Contrary to the common belief that those groups are composed of “punks” and hoodlums….”1. Related to him, he is an American historian and sociology that obtained his sociology and political science degrees in the University of Texas at Austin and Yale University, as well. Currently, he is a professor of Ethnic Studies at the University of California, Berkeley and he is president of the Center for Latino Policy Research. He wrote not only Quixote’s Soldiers but also, Anglos and Mexicans in the Making of Texas, 1836-1986.
This war created a bad relationship between the U.S.A and Mexico. During the war, the daily paper, "El Republicano"
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.