Lisa Santini History 2010 Fall, 2011 Crisp, James E. Sleuthing the Alamo: Davey Crockett's Last Stand and Other Mysteries of the Texas Revolution. New York: Oxford University Press, Inc, 2005. Book Review 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. …show more content…
In conclusion, this book would not be recommended as an authentic historical piece of literature. The beginning and end of the book is based solely in racism eluding the realities of what happened at the Alamo and why it happened. Crisp is defending his own research rather than having a well-rounded historical book based on facts from all sides and he uses historical documents where there is a language barrier and therefore the translation is done with speculation. Crisp says in the book that there were no survivors of the Alamo when there were known survivors who did in fact do interviews and saw the massacre firsthand. This is not a recommended book to read for perspective on what happened at the
The book explores a life story of Sam Houston from this beginning in Tennessee to joining school, then the military, up to when he became a political leader. The book also focuses on expressing ideas that present his impact on Texas, since he had become an influential person. The book explains that he managed to establish a War against Mexico. The book focuses on characterizing Sam’s influence on Texas, through a focus on the political environment in the region during the early days as a Republic.
Did you know that Texas was actually once Mexican territory? You may wonder why Texas is one of the 50 states in America today, and what were the events leading up to the Mexican American war. But why does a simple mission church relate to all of it? The battle of the Alamo was one of the most gruesome battles in American history. Today the Alamo Cenotaph stands 60 feet tall in the heart of San Antonio to honor all of the brave men and women who lost their lives for the freedom of Texas. Today America would be very different if the Mexican American war had not occurred.
Sleuthing the Alamo is a very interesting book written by James E Crisp that was published in 2005. The book focuses on talking about unveiling the myths that occurred during the Texas revolution. Myths such as Davy Crockett’s death are explained in this book which is probably the centerpiece of this text. Not only does it unveil some myths but it tells us some anecdotes that happened back then. James E Crisp reveals this information by using reliable sources such as books, documents, paintings, films and among others.
The film “The Alamo” revealed the history of Texas and battle of Alamo about Texas revolution, early back in the mid-1830s. The film was released in 2004, which reflected how the Texans fought bravely against Mexicans government to preserve their independence from the Mexico. Sam Houston, Jim Bowie, William Barrel Travis, Davy Crockett, Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna were the main characters of the movie. Sam Houston was the governor of the Texas and used to live with Indians. Jim Bowie was the colonel with a huge knife and was opportunities. William B Travis was lieutenant colonel who divorced his wife and Jim used to call him “Buck” in the movie. Davy Crockett was renowned as a bear fighter and sharpshooter. He used to play violin and everybody
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
While the Texas Revolution began as colonists in the Mexican province of Texas rebelled against the Mexican authority for political and economic reasons, many historians believed that there was a racial and cultural factor in the conflict. Historians such as Eugene C. Barker, a prominent history professor and an expert in Texas history, based his argument of a racial war on Sam Houston’s speech to the Texas volunteer army at Refugio. In his book, Sleuthing The Alamo, James Crisp comes to Sam Houston’s defense and disproves Barker’s argument by taking a closer look at the speech and the details associated with it.
The Texas Revolution was a key point in our nation’s history and in the history of the state of Texas. For, if Texas had not revolted the way that they did, it would probably not have become a state. There are many causes that are speculated on why Texas revolted whether they are political disputes against the Centralist party in Mexico that had primary control at the time of the Revolution. These and more will be explored. Also, there are key battles in the Texas Revolution that decided the final fate of Texas, none more famous than the famous Battle of San Jacinto and The Alamo.
The events that began on February 23, 1836 have roots that span as far back as 1808. This exploration into the events and carnage that took place before, during and after the Alamo will only go back to the events immediately leading up to the Alamo. Mainly the frame of mind the Mexican government had regarding the Texas settlers and the reasons leading to the confrontation at the Alamo.
The Battle of San Jacinto was a decisive battle that helped to secure the independence of Texas. The Battle occurred on the 21st of April, 1836 in which the Texan Army led by General Sam Houston defeated the Mexican Army led by General Santa Anna. Despite the Mexican Army having a superior number of troops and equipment, they were not able to defeat the Texan Army, and thus led to the eventual capture of General Santa Anna and the withdraw of Mexican Forces from Texas (Hardin, 1994). The one key element that aided the victory of the Texan Army was the patience and terrain knowledge that General Houston had. What if General Santa Anna had sent a scout element to recon the terrain? What if General Santa Anna
All through history there has been a plentiful measure of occasions; some are substantial and ready to change the course of history, while some are little and have minuscule influence in the advancement of today's general public. At the point when initially brought into the subject of Texas Independence, James Crisp's, the creator of Sleuthing the Alamo, surveys a lot of data that paves the way to address given by Sam Houston, concerning the theme of accepting Texas Independence from Mexico. At the point when Crips goes over this discourse he is amazed by the word usage of the location and wasn't anticipating that it should give such a stunning component. With the stun of the discourse, Crips had a right personality to go on a noteworthy chase
Travis drew out his sword and drew a line. For those who wanted to stay and defend the Alamo as strong serving men had to cross the line. All 200 men crossed the line but one. The 200 men that chose to stay at the Alamo was mainly because of the letter that Travis sent out for support and therefore, the soldiers stayed and fought for liberty. A native of France that was a veteran of the Napoleonic wars known as Louis Mosses Rose, the soldier did not see a reason for him to stay and die for something Rose did not believe in. This soldier did not care for the letter that Travis sent out nor the liberty of Texas; however, the letter did impact the soldiers. It motivated the soldiers to fight with passion. The soldiers grew hope and patriotism, regardless that all 200 men were free to leave but yet staid at Travis’s side to fight for liberty.
The book, Beyond the Alamo: Forging Mexican Ethnicity in San Antonio, was written by Raul A. Ramos. It was well written and backed up with good research. As I read the book, I realized how history doesn’t have a definitive conclusion; it’s an infinite series of events that have shaped us to where we are today. The book showed how certain factors contributed to the tension between the Tejanos and other groups, which led to certain outcomes. I believe the author did a great job in writing this book with the Tejano perspective of the Anglo intrusion because it well illustrated those who gave up their lives in defense of freedom against an oppressor.
“Remember the Alamo!” became the battle cry of the Mexican-American War of 1846-1848. Despite being ten years following the battle of the Alamo, the rally cry still incited deep-seeded emotion for many Texans.
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
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