Hollywood vs. History: The Alamo The Alamo was one of the most astounding and critical battles of our country. Its men were ruthless in their bravery and love of their country. Their mission for independence lives on in the hearts of all American’s today. Their legacy lives on forever and their courageous souls are still in the heart of the people of the lone star state. This is the story of bravery, love, tyranny, and liberty. This is the story of the Alamo The battle of the Alamo only spanned an approximate 13 days yet it’s a very critical battle in winning the independence of Texas and helping expand the United States to the west. There were many small conflicts that led up to this battle but it all started as white settlers …show more content…
But what really started the fighting was in December of 1835 when Santa Anna’s brother in law General “Cos” surrenders in a fight to retrieve cannons from the Texans. Cos is made of promise never to attack the federalists again or take up arms against the people of the Texan republic. This left a blemish on Santa Anna’s families name and he sought to redeem his families glory by once and for all putting those Texans in place and showing them who their real leader is. In January of 1836 about 145 Texans were fortified in the soft walls of the Alamo also known as Cottonwood. Some of the important people here were lieutenant Colonel William Berret Travis, Jim Bowie, and Davy Crocket. Meanwhile Santa Anna drove his troops into Texas in the dead of winter to level the Alamo. They arrived and began their siege on February 23. Fighting Ensued for about 13 days with minimum casualties. But on the 13th day of battle March 6, 1836 Santa Anna ordered a surprise attack from all sides in the dead of night. All defenders of the Alamo died that night. Many a time has Hollywood skewed the difference between reality and fantasy, exaggerating the truth and placing heavy importance on the myths. A recent historical movie was made about the Alamo. This movie though very historically accurate was different from the documentary; I will compare the two and show the differences. The movie was
The Battle of the Alamo is probably the most famous battle to take place in the history of, and in the state of, Texas. The battle has given Texans the will to persevere against tough odds and the courage to endure through seemingly impossible situations for many generations. Many a Texan would draw inspiration during the fights following the defeat at the Alamo. This inspiration eventually led them to victory during the Texas Revolution following the Battle of San Jacinto. Had the Texas military correctly utilized their intelligence and combat assets available to them at the time, they would have been able to properly reinforce the Alamo. This would have allowed Texan leadership to develop an effective strategy to defeat the Mexican army
The last scene cuts from the mass executing fields of San Jacinto, highlighting dead Mexican troopers to the extent the eye can see, to the famous figure of Davy Crockett fiddling on the mass of the Alamo. The gore at San Jacinto reviews the butcher at the Alamo and is all the more huge for its conveying Texas from the grip of the domineering Mexican general Antonio López de Santa Anna. The vanquishing of the brutal and ethically suspect corrupt Mexican pioneer brings into being the Texas republic. Overall, the film relates to history because of the battles fought during the Texas Revolution making the Alamo an iconic
Sleuthing the Alamo: Davey Crockett’s Last Stand and Other Mysteries of the Texas Revolution is more about the issue of racism than it is about history itself. The author does make several good points and gives historical documentation to back up his points such as the diary of Jose` Enrique de la Pena. However, the book has a lot of opinion mixed in with fact. Crisp does not get an overview of the battle of the Alamo from both sides but takes his opinion from the Mexican standpoint and the standpoint of a German soldier.
The men fought very bravely and had some of the best fighters in America at their side, such as Davy Crockett, Jim Bowie, and William B. Travis were all patriots who came together to fight for Texas’s freedom. All of the soldiers who fought for the Alamo were volunteers, all wanting their freedom from the Santa Anna. The Texan soldiers defeated over 700 of the Santa Anna’s soldiers but still lost the battle of the Alamo.
This was a war movie so it contained the violent scene of bombarding and murdering. Although it was illegal to have slaves in Texas but some did carry slave which violated the laws. As well as the film portrayed that the Mexicans are hard hearted, they were so rude in nature. The film was set in The Alamo. The movie set version of The Alamo chapel façade forward 30-40 feet more than exact structure. It was because the director wanted to show The Alamo chapel and interior of the fort in one shot. It was the largest and most expensive set which was overbuilt in North America which comes off 51 acres. The exterior scenes were shot in Texas between Jan-June 2003, near Austin. The film main scene of the Mexican attack on The Alamo was done under harsh weather conditions – battles scenes were shot in cold rain for hours to make scenes realistic. The costumes worn by two different parties were peculiar. The Texans wore long hat, coat, pant, and shoes whereas the Mexicans set of clothes were colorful, they worn clothes composed of different color like red, white, black, and white with peacock like a hat. And finally, I think that this important history is very much relevant in creating Texans who are living in this 21st century. This history helps Texans to be proud of their past and feel great for their
The battle at the Alamo is one of the most significant events in the Texas Revolution, as well as in both Mexican and American history. For Mexican President and General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna, it was a tale of determination and holding to the principles of a strong, central government. For Americans living in Texas, the Alamo was a venture of small scale Revolutionary ideals; a people should be able to democratically express how they feel their homeland to be governed. As we know, both countries experienced the extreme opposites of their desired outcomes, if only initially. The tales of this specific point in time are many, though some certainly contain many varying details from the next. However, most can hardly be proven, as
The Alamo first saw action when General Cos landed at Copano, and headed to San Antonio to meet up with Colonel Ugartechea. By now war was on everyone’s mind and many events prior to Cos marching toward San Antonio set the playing field for war, but not everyone really was for it,..... at least not yet. Meanwhile, in Gonzales the revolution had started over a cannon that the settlers would not give up. This is also were the phrase “come and take it!” was born. What had happen was Ugartechea sent a lieutenant with some men to unarm a group of colonist who had a cannon at their disposal in Gonzales. What the Mexican’s did not count on was that in the end they would be sent running off to San Antonio after being repulsed by the colonists. Now the colonists formed a small army to March on Cos and his men, which the settlers wanted out of Texas for good. As Lord points out Cos would be ready for the settlers in San Antonio. Lord also points out how the mission in San Antonio got its name, Lord states that the mission once held a colonial company from the Alamo de Parras in Mexico, and that the named carried over and was shortened to just being called the Alamo.
On February 15 and 16, 1836, General Santa Anna and his men crossed the Rio Grande to put down the uprising and prevent Texas from becoming its own state. The Mexican Army successfully won multiple skirmishes and battles, to include the Alamo and Goliad (Hardin, 2004).
this time many battles were occurred in different cities. We lost many people but gained a great area of land. For example three important events are the battle of Palo Alto, the battle of Buena Vista and the Treaty Of Guadalupe Hidalgo. The Mexican American War is important in American history because it further changed our borders forever. Three important players in the Mexican American War were Zachary Taylor, James K. Polk and Santa Anna. Each of them played an important part in the war. A few days before the Treaty Of Guadalupe, gold was discovered in California which made the Americans want to come farther west more. The battle of Palo Alto took place May 8 of 1846, the battle of Buena Vista took place February 22 of 1847 and the Treaty Of Guadalupe
The Battle of the Alamo was a battle between rebellious Texans and the Mexican army. The Alamo was a fortified old mission in the center of the town of San Antonio de Béxar, it was defended by about 189 rebellious Texans, chief among them Lt. Colonel William Travis, famed frontiersman Jim Bowie and former Congressman Davy Crockett. A massive Mexican army led by President/General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna opposed them. After a two-week obstruction, Mexican forces attacked at dawn on March 6 the Alamo was overran in less than two hours (The Alamo, 2016,
The battle for Texas’ independence was a hard battle. Many lives were taken, home destroyed, and families were torn apart. Texas residents wanted to break away from Mexico and become a self-governing republic inside of Mexico because they did not like Santa Anna’s laws. Mexico did not allow slave immigration, so Texas wanted to be a part of the United States that allowed slavery. But the main reason was that Mexico would not change or consider any government ideas that the Anglos and Mexicans had for Texas, and resulted in Santa Anna ruling and making all the laws and decisions. Santa Anna also overthrew the Mexican government and made himself the Mexican dictator. Stephen Austin came to try and settle the trouble caused by the suggestion of Texas’ constitution, but instead Santa Anna imprisoned him for a year.
Even though Travis did not succeed due to the overwhelming number of Santa Ana’s army which Travis and the troops paid with their lives Travis’s letter did however struck a core in many of the volunteers and the US army, which Sam Houston led to victory over Santa Anna in April 21 1836, in the Battle of San Jacinto. Travis’s letter had a vast impact that shaped the destiny of America and the world with the defeat of Santa Anna since the Republic of Texas
The actual number of defenders and Mexican soldiers who participated in the battle of the Alamo varies depending on the source. One thing is for sure though, the defenders of the Alamo were immensely
Texans are full of pride and have been since the term Texan was created. The Texas revolutionary war was a great battle between Mexican Republic and the Texas Colonists. The Texas Revolution was also known as the Texas War of Independence. What will be discussed throughout the research paper are the battles that took place throughout the revolutionary war. The paper will explain how these battles shaped the way Texas Independence was won and how it shaped the future for Texan colonists. The battles of Gonzales, Goliad, The Alamo, and the final battle of San Jacinto played the biggest roles in the Texas Revolution
The siege, fall and ensuing massacre of nearly two hundred Alamo defenders at the hands of Mexican General, Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna y Perez de Lebron’s army of over five thousand was a defining moment in both Texan, and American history. For 13 days against insurmountable odds, a small, but very determined Texan garrison force fended off an equally determined Mexican Army ordered to capture it. I’ll discuss the events and political climate leading up to the siege, key historic figures involved on both sides, the siege itself, along with events immediately following the battle. The iconic phrase, “Remember the Alamo!” would later go on to become a rallying cry at the Battle of San Jacinto.