Every nation has heroes: men and women from its history that it looks up to. These icons of history may be political leaders, economic innovators or military generals. A great portion of nineteenth century American history has to do with the growth of the United States and the “frontier”. Heroes emerged during this period of Westward Expansion. They were adventurers and freedom-fighters.
Another great American phenomenon is Texas. Texas is called the Lone Star State and the attitude of many Texans makes it seem as if there were only one star on the flag. Texas itself could be considered the “Land of the Free and Home of the Brave”. Perhaps this fierce Texan independence springs from a time in history when Texas was its own country. This period was short but Texans are proud of it nonetheless.
At first, Texas was part of Mexico. (Well, to be fair, it belonged to the Native Americans first and then the Spanish.) American settlers began settling in Texas and soon the number of American settlers outnumbered the number of Mexicans. Mexico grew suspicious and the “Texans” grew confident. When Mexico began moving from a Republic towards a dictatorship the Texans rose up and declared independence. The Mexican President Antonia Lopez de Santa Anna led troops to crush the rebellion.
One of the main Texan fortresses was called the Alamo. The garrison of the Alamo was commanded by Jim Bowie and William Travis. Bowie was a legendary Kentucky frontiersman and one of America’s great “frontier heroes”. Travis had been born in South Carolina and had emigrated to Texas in the early 1830s. Another American “frontier hero” present at the Alamo fortress was Davy Crockett.
The Mexican army under de Santa Anna surrounded the garrison in February, 1836 and a siege began. On March 6, the Mexicans thrust a major assault on the Alamo and broke into the fortress. A vicious fight occurred in the fort until eventually all the Texans had been killed after either surrendering or attempting to escape. Travis, Crockett and Bowie all died at the Alamo.
The Texans were outraged when word was spread that de Santa Anna had ordered a massacre of prisoners after the battle. Sam Houston led Texan troops to victory soon after at the Battle of San Jacinto. His battle cry was “Remember the Alamo!”
The Battle of the Alamo was the defining moment of the Texan Revolution. After Texas gained its independence from Mexico in 1836 it attempted to join the Union. Because of Texas’ slave holding, it was denied statehood until 1845. The admission of Texas to the Union would be a major step towards war between the United States and Mexico, which ended in vast American conquests, including California, Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada and Utah. The Alamo was an epic frontier battle from the time of the early Republic.