“There seemed to be something inevitable about Texas and revolution.” (Davis, 2004, 5). Images of the Texas War of Independence has been engraved into our minds and become a part of our memorable folklore. Stories like the victorious Sam Houston at San Jacinto, Santa Anna giving Texas its freedom, William Travis and his message “Victory or Death”, Crockett and Bowie’s legendary reputations and their bravery at the Alamo. These scenes are what we as Americans picture the Texas Republic to have been like and how we as Texans perceive ourselves today. “Everything in Texas came from somewhere else” (Davis, 2004, 1). William C. Davis theorizes that even though the battle of the Alamo is a fascinating story, it is but just one episode in a …show more content…
Davis first begins with a firm investigation of the international events and politics leading up to the 1836 revolutionary war. The book reminds us how Spain was greatly weakened by the Napoleonic wars, the revolutions that produced the United States of America, how New Spain was in rebellion since 1811 and was ruined by its revolutionary war. The great historical figures are also covered, with both their positive and negative traits, such as Sam Houston, Stephen F. Austin, Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna and William Travis. Davy Crockett is not covered too much due to the fact that he did not have a lot to do with Texas Independence, but rather just the fight at the Alamo. The book also talks about the roles that the Tejanos, Anglo-Texans and non-Texan Mexicans played. He also shows how the three different societies fought for and constructed the groundwork for the current Lone Star State by connecting the relations and tensions of the three cultures and political entities between Mexico, Texas and the increasingly influential United States. All in all, Davis’s book accounts for all the minor and key circumstances that directed the path of Texas’s current history as well as the United States …show more content…
I find that one of the major strengths of this piece of work tends to be how William C. Davis was very successful on illustrating the three different cultures who fought over the land and the idea of what Texas could and would become as well as how America eventually prevailed and Texas became a part of the United States. I also very much enjoyed the last paragraph of the book. Not knowing how the Texas republic chose its flag, and that despite later official pattern changes, the Lone Star still remains to this day. Another strength I sensed, is that Davis’s book coincides with Randolph B. Campbell’s history book, Gone to Texas, A History of the Lone Star State. I feel that Davis’s book adds a lot more background information on key characters and documents, as well as emphasizing on the revolutionary era of
Identifying the common comparisons in the reviews allows the reader to analyze the structure and arguments in the monograph. A strength that three of the reviews recognize is the depth of research that Hamalainen provides on the Comanche. Recognizing the text’s detailed research, Flores states that its precise history makes it the leading text on the Comanche. Minor writes that Hamalainen’s thesis allows detailed research into the three eras of the Comanche. The rise, peak, and fall of the Comanche, Minor claims allow the readers with a comprehensive understanding of the expanse of the Comanche’s power in the southwest.
(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.
Texas has had a vast majority of Governors throughout the centuries. The governors have reshaped and created Texas rules, helpful programs, and made some bad decisions. One out of the many governors of the eighteenth century gave quite a shock to have won the election of becoming Governor of Texas. This man is Edmund J. Davis, I will be discussing his early life and some of his occupations throughout his life; I will also discuss his term as governor, and what he did while Governor of Texas. It was October 2, 1827 in St. Augustine, Florida for any other person, it was another day, but to William Godwin and Mary Ann Davis it was a great day, their son Edmund J. Davis was born.
After the fall of the Alamo, Sam was faced with an ethical
Thus in second chapter Haynes describes the matter of on-going pro-bank and contra-bank debates and collision of the interests of supporting groups that were involved in B.U.S. case. In seventh chapter, the author gives detailed account on annexation of Oregon and Texas. He explains the basis of the disagreement between England and America about Oregon territory. Haynes thoroughly analyzes the status of Texas at that time, and the claims that Mexico and the United States had over it. Further he discusses possible consequences for every country involved into conflict, if England decided to
Caudill, Edward and Paul Ashdown. Sherman’s March in Myth and Memory. Lanham, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc., 2008 Sherman’s March in Myth and Memory by Edward Caudill and Paul Ashdown is a monograph written in 2008, about William Tecumseh Sherman and his famous march to the sea that occurred during the Civil War. The events that have shaped the authors’ perspective are all the books, and films being created based off of the myth surrounding Sherman.
In her essay, “More than Just a Shrine: Paying Homage to the Ghosts of Ellis Island,” author Mary Gordon argues that a separation exists between the descendents of early American settlers and the descendents of later immigrants. Through reflecting on her experience at Ellis Island, Gordon demonstrates her connection to the Americans who passed through as opposed to those who influenced immigration policies. Gordon provides examples of how those already in America affected how Ellis Island received foreigners. Even at the beginning, New Yorkers and officials fought over where to locate the immigration center without distracting from their new Statue of Liberty.
The novel, The Day the Cowboys Quit, by Elmer Kelton is not a typical cowboy story filled with waving guns and violent fights. Instead, this story shows what the real life of a cowboy would have been like through the story of Hugh Hitchcock. The Day the Cowboys Quit is based on a cowboy strike that occurred in Tascosa, Texas in 1883. Kelton based his fictional story on the causes of the strike and what became as a result of the strike. This paper will explain historical events concerning the cowboys and depict their true lifestyle which contrasts the stereotypes normally associated with being a cowboy, as well as summarize the novel The Day the Cowboys Quit.
“The fighting in Bexar raged with a house-to-house assault unlike anything the Mexican army had before experienced” (Lee, n.d.). General Cos’ surrendered from the Alamo on December 9, 1835 with 200 of his men dead and many more wounded. The Mexican surrender and the siege of the Alamo brought immediate retaliation from Santa Anna. He quickly assembled a force of 8,000 men and pushed mercilessly towards Texas. He was determined to crush all opposition and teach the Texans a lesson (Lee,
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 annexation of Texas occurred in the early 1800’s. American colonists were expanding into the Northern sector of the Rio Grande, which developed the need for Texas to become a part of the United States. In the South, the people supported the drive toward the annexation of Texas, but the Northerners opposed this idea. Texas was another slave state and the nature of their society did not appear appealing to the North.
The topic is about fourteen lone star rangers who had extraordinary lives who made history in Texas. Each of these individual pioneers have a story like no other in Texas. Father Miguel Muldoon, the Irish-Spanish Catholic priest and diplomat who helped convert Protestant in order to settle Austin, a six-foot-two prostitute and hotel keep Sarah Bowman, who fought bravely as a man among the Rangers and was buried with full military honors who couldn’t read or write. She had successfully made it into business, and many historical events and remarkable stories to be told. These fourteen pioneers helped build an empire of Texas, their stories are like no other.
John’s book, like all others, holds various strengths and weaknesses. Largely, St. John’s thesis is supported by offering a varying look at the borderlands throughout multiple decades and discussing the progression of change as it occurred across eras and regions. St. John provides interesting historical details that would otherwise probably not be known to the reader, such as her statement in the Introduction that the desert border running from west of El Paso to the Pacific Ocean did not conform to any previously existing geographic features. This fact, like others provided in “Line in the Sand,” might not seem interesting but indeed is in the sense that it forces the reader to consider it and to contextualize it based on what the reader knows of the border. For example, reading this fact, I was forced to contemplate how the border boundary was formed west of Texas and how the line that is in place to day came to be.
Lack goes a notch higher in helping the readers not only understand the history but also key problems that characterized it but were not necessarily discussed in most historical analyses. For example, Lack argues that most historians have, for a long time, been unable to understand the deeply rooted chaotic character of the war for Texan Independence. Furthermore, he remarks that with its military insubordination, internal disagreements, class, racial and ethnic tension make the Texas war for independence very unique. So in-depth is Lack’s analysis and perspectives that he ultimately implies that it is likely that their Texans owed their successes in fighting for independence more to promising circumstances rather than their own effort, commitment and organization (Lack
He presents his opinions based on facts and reasoning, and enlightens his readers with many truths that had been buried and hidden behind false beliefs. While digging deeper into myths surrounding the Alamo, Crisp uncovers hidden truths involving other historian’s information about facts like Davy Crockett’s memorable death (p. 65), the misquoted Houston speech (p. 49), and the validity of the de le Peña