According to Texas lore, it's the site in San Antonio where, in 1836, about 180 Texan rebels died defending the state during Texas' war for independence from Mexico. Visitors walk around the outside of the Alamo in San Antonio. For many years afterward, the U.S. Army quartered troops and stored supplies at the Alamo. Fannin had decided that the logistics of reaching the Alamo in time were impossible and, in any event, his 300 or so men would not make a difference against the Mexican army and its 2,000 soldiers. The Battle of the Alamo was part of the Texas Revolution, in which American settlers in the Mexican state of Texas fought for secession fromthe increasingly centralized and autocratic Mexican government. The original plan, announced in 2017, called for repairing the Alamo, fixing up the plaza and building a world-class museum for artifacts, including a collection donated by rock musician Phil Collins, an Alamo enthusiast. When the din of the fighting died down and the Mexicans firmly controlled the fort, Joe was shot and bayoneted, only to be saved by a Mexican field officer. Historians estimate that one million slaves were taken in a . On that day, accompanied by an unidentified Mexican man and taking two fully equipped horses with him, he escaped. I can truly say that I hate that place and everything it stands for.. While fighting alongside Travis and the other defenders, Joe was shot and bayoneted but lived, becoming the only adult male on the Texan side to survive the Alamo. On March 1, 32 brave men from the town of Gonzales made their way through enemy lines to reinforce the defenders at the Alamo. A notice offering fifty dollars for his return was published by the executor of Travis's estate in the Telegraph and Texas Register on May 26, 1837. Joe claimed that when Gen. Antonio Lpez deSanta Anna's troops stormed the Alamo on March 6, 1836, he armed himself and followed Travis from his quarters into the battle, fired his gun, then retreated into a building from which he fired several more times. James W. Russell, University Professor of Sociology at Eastern Connecticut State University, is the author most recently of Escape from Texas: A Novel of Slavery and the Texas War of Independence. My view, which is shared by the vast majority of San Antonians and Texans, is that regardless of your feelings on the Cenotaph moving, its not moving. Did Davy Crockett Die in Battle at the Alamo? Davy Crockett, a famous frontiersman and former U.S. congressman, was the highest-profile defender to fall at the Alamo. Joe was sold four times in his life, with his most well known owner being William B. Travis, [1] a 19th century lawyer and soldier, who would later be the lieutenant colonel for The Battle of the Alamo. Most of the survivors were women, children, servants, and enslaved people. More information is available at http://escapefromtexas.com. "The Alamo is a symbol of greatness to some people; to others it's a symbol of Anglo dominance that is a dark side of our history," says Scott Huddleston, a veteran reporter covering the Alamo. explicitly said they were fighting for slavery. But aspects of the plan quickly met with outrage, especially its treatment of the Cenotaph, a 56-foot monument to Alamo defenders erected in the plaza in 1940. He was one of several slaves spared by the Mexicans, who opposed slavery, after the battle. Houston was indecisive, lacking a clear plan to meet the Mexican army, but by either chance or design, he met Santa Anna at San Jacinto on April 21, overtaking his forces and capturing him as he retreated south. The Mexican government was opposed to slavery, but even so, there were 5000 slaves in Texas by the time of the Texas Revolution in 1836. Many of the defenders of the Alamo believed in independence for Texas, but their leaders had not declared independence from Mexico yet. Once he saw the fort's defenses, Bowie decided to ignore Houston's orders, having become convinced of the need to defend the city. About half of the men there were not enlisted soldiers, but volunteers who technically could come, go, and do as they pleased. The mayor of San Antonio, however, claimed to have seen Crockett dead among the other defenders, and he had met Crockett before the battle. There can be no doubt that the symbolism of the Alamo is at the center of the creation myth of Texas: that the state was forged out of a heroic struggle for freedom against a cruel Mexican dictator, Santa Ana. Key members of the states GOP leadership and some conservative groups are insisting that the renovation stay focused on the battle. Santa Anna ordered his men to take no prisoners, and only a small handful of the Texans were spared. Legendary frontiersman Jim Bowie, suffering from a debilitating illness, asked to be carried over the line. Joes Alamo: Unsung, is a fiction-based-on-history account of what came next, after the Alamo, and after Joe escaped. Likewise, its victims have come from many different ethnicities and religious groups. Joe, slave of William B. Travis and one of the few Texan survivors of the battle of the Alamo, was born about 1813. In point of fact, there's large disagreement about how many men Travis commanded at the fort, anywhere from 182-250. hide caption. Protests have become less common in the past few decades, as the city made an effort to include more of the contested histories in its educational material. In 1829, the Mexican government outlawed the practice, specifically to discourage that influx since it was not an issue there. Families were often split up by the sale of one or more members, usually never to see or hear of each other again. Share your thoughts about this episode on Twitter at: @MandoFun and on our Facebook group. The Alamo has been commemorated on everything from postage stamps to the 1960 film The Alamo starring John Wayne as Davy Crockett. And yet it still surprises me that slavery went unexamined for so long.". Though exact. Houston defeated the Mexican army in just 18 minutes. On April 21, 1836, during Texas war for independence from Mexico, the Texas militia under Sam Houston (1793-1863) launched a surprise attack against the forces of Mexican General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna (1794-1876) at the Battle of San Jacinto, near present-day Houston, read more, A country rich in history, tradition and culture, Mexico is made up of 31 states and one federal district. Though exact numbers do not exist, as many slaves may have escaped to Mexico as escaped through the more famous underground railway to Canada. Dickinson and Joe were allowed to travel towards the Anglo settlements, escorted by Ben, a former slave from the United States who served as Mexican Colonel Juan Almonte's cook. The Indians took him to their village in Ohio,. There's also some evidence that at one point in his later years he returned to Texas and perhaps even visited the old fortress where he nearly died. At a time when Confederate flags have sparked controversy around the U.S., some wonder why a fort defended by whites fighting Mexicans for the right to own slaves deserves international recognition. On April 21, 1836, Sam Houston and some 800 Texans defeated Santa Annas Mexican force of 1,500 men at San Jacinto (near the site of present-day Houston), shouting Remember the Alamo! as they attacked. A little more than a year later, Every dollar helps. Joe did so and was struck by a pistol shot and bayonet thrust before a Mexican captain intervened. The 4.2-acre site includes some original structures dating back to the mission period. If you change your mind, you can easily unsubscribe. [Mexican Gen. Antonio Lpez de] Santa Anna is coming north with 6,000 troops. In early March, Nirenberg took the unusual step of replacing a city council member, Roberto Trevio, who had been leading two committees coordinating the project and had been staunchly in favor of moving the Cenotaph. They had been kidnapped from their homes and were forced to work on tobacco, rice, and indigo plantations from Maryland . Elected leaders have talked for decades about redeveloping the Alamo complex, which lies in the heart of San Antonio, not far from the famous River Walk. In a remarkable feat of historical detective work, authors Ron J. Jackson, Jr., and Lee Spencer White have fully restored this pivotal yet elusive figure to his place in the American story. To some, the Alamo, the San Antonio fort where Texans died while fighting off the Mexican army, is a symbol of liberty and Texas pride. Bonham and the men from Gonzales all died during the battle. "15 Facts About the Battle of the Alamo." But conservative groups rallied in armed protest and turned up at public meetings chanting Not one inch!, State leaders took up the cause, including Lt. Gov. Mexican general Santa Anna appeared in short order at the head of a massive army and laid siege to the Alamo. It was rebuilt by Maj. E. B. Babbitt in 1854, but then the Civil Warinterrupted. They also established the nearby military garrison of San Antonio de Bxar, which soon became the center of a settlement known as San Fernando de Bxar (later renamed San Antonio). Meanwhile, historians argue that support for slavery was indeed a motivating factor for the Texas Revolution, a fact that should be acknowledged at the site, even if it tarnishes some giants of Texas history. Rather, what is surprising is that some men snuck into the Alamo in the days before the fatal attack. James "Jim" Bowie (c. 1796March 6, 1836) was an American frontiersman, trader of enslaved people, smuggler, settler, and soldier in the Texas Revolution. It makes absolutely no sense of why they stayed there, except for the fact that these are men who, by and large, have never been in war. The attack on the Alamo in 1836 was not a 13-day siege and slaughter as often portrayed in film and television. battle cry while fighting against Mexican forces in the Mexican-American War of 1846-1848. By the time of annexation a decade later, there were 30,000; by 1860, the census found 182,566 slaves -- over 30% of the total population of the state. he Alamo Cenotaph, also known as the Spirit of Sacrifice, is a monument in San Antonio, Texas, United States, commemorating the Battle of the Alamo, which was fought at the adjacent Alamo Mission. Military troopsfirst Spanish, then rebel and later Mexicanoccupied the Alamo during and after Mexicos war for independence from Spain in the early 1820s. Still, many of his officers believed he had paid too high a price. "So if there's ever been a time for there to be a robust civic conversation about this, about the place of the Alamo in our history, about Texas history itself, we hope it was now. And of course, this leads to one of the great myths, which is the bravery of the Alamo defenders, how they fought to their death and everything. Renovations to the Alamo have previously been stalled due to similar conversations over the sites legacy and the role of slavery in the Texas revolution.. (Creeks, Choctaws, and . FACT CHECK: We strive for accuracy and fairness. These men included famed frontiersman Davy Crockett and inventor of the Bowie knife, James Bowie, who was confined to bed but still managed to . ", On how Texas history often fails to address slavery. A popular historical anecdote is the design of the famous M1 carbine by convicted murderer David Marshall Williams. Perhaps the most well known Alamo survivor was Susanna Dickinson, wife of defender Almaron Dickinson, who spent the battle hiding in a small dark room with her infant daughter, Angelina. The domestic slave trade, also known as the Second Middle Passage and the interregional slave trade, was the term for the domestic trade of enslaved people within the United States that reallocated slaves across states during the Antebellum period.It was most significant after 1808, when the importation of slaves was prohibited. The Alamo is the cradle of Texas slavery, and a host of other oppressions. A former slave was not likely to have an education or much of a job. Two and a half million people visit the Alamo each year where, according to its website, men made the ultimate sacrifice for freedom, making it hallowed ground and the Shrine of Texas Liberty.. Because of Joe, a slave, we can remember as much as we do about the Alamo. In December of 1835, a group of Texan volunteer soldiers had occupied the Alamo, a former Franciscan mission located near the present-day city of San Antonio. "Remember the Alamo!". They sold that property in 1800 and relocated to what is now Missouri. (Her husband, Dr. Horace Alsbury, had left the fort in late February, likely in search of a safe place for his family.) Indeed, an enslaved man named Joe, who was owned by Travis, survived the battle of the Alamo and became one of the primary sources of information about the 13-day siege, inspiring dozens of books and movies, including the John Wayne classic. Though vastly outnumbered, the Alamos 200 defenderscommanded by James Bowie and William Travis and including the famed frontiersman Davy Crockettheld out for 13 days before the Mexican forces finally overpowered them. But three writers, all Texans, say the common narrative of the Texas revolt. A United Nations committee is expected to announce this weekend whether the Alamo will receive UNESCO World Heritage status, putting it in the same league as Stonehenge, the Taj Mahal, and the Statue of Liberty. Houston sent Jim Bowie to San Antonio: his orders were to destroy the Alamo and return with all of the men and artillery stationed there. Nearly half of the board members of the nonprofit raising funds for the Alamo renovation resigned in protest raising doubts about where the rest of money would come from. Published by the Texas State Historical Association. https://www.thoughtco.com/facts-about-the-battle-of-the-alamo-2136256 (accessed March 4, 2023). The report said enslaved people would have done the hard work, like sawing logs and moving stones,. No matter how he ended up there, he was one of many slaves and free blacks who fought or died at the Alamo. One of these was Susannah Dickinson, the wife of Captain Almaron Dickinson (who was killed) and her infant daughter Angelina. Per The New Yorker, we know Davy Crockett owned slaves back home in Tennessee, though there's no record of his slaves accompanying him to Texas. As more slaves came into the Republic of Texas, more escaped to Mexico. In 1845, the United States annexed Texas. "use strict";(function(){var insertion=document.getElementById("citation-access-date");var date=new Date().toLocaleDateString(undefined,{month:"long",day:"numeric",year:"numeric"});insertion.parentElement.replaceChild(document.createTextNode(date),insertion)})(); FACT CHECK: We strive for accuracy and fairness. The Cenotaph at Alamo Plaza in San Antonio. And of course, it doesn't happen. Today, more than 2.5 million people a year visit the Alamo. The third big name at the Alamo, the commander of the force, William Barret Travis, had at least one slave with him, Joe. The Alamo (technically, the surviving structure is a former church next to the fort) is the top tourist destination in Texas, and a new museum is under works. ThoughtCo. Did you know? You get a sense that Travis never really believes something bad can happen to him. But no one knows exactly how Joe got there. . The reality is a lot more complicated, says James Crisp, a historian at North Carolina State University whos written a book about the myths and the reality of the Alamo. Joe traveled with one of the widows, Susanna Dickinson, and her young daughter, to the other Texian forces. Joe took cover and continued fighting until the battle was over, when he presented himself and, as a slave, his life was spared. A band of badly outnumbered Texans fought against oppression by the Mexican dictator Santa Anna, holding off the siege. On February 23, a Mexican force comprising somewhere between 1,800 and 6,000 men (according to various estimates) and commanded by General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna began a siege of the fort. There were many native TexansMexican nationals referred to as Tejanoswho joined the movement and fought every bit as bravely as their Anglo companions. "15 Facts About the Battle of the Alamo." It is the third largest country in Latin America and has one of the largest populationsmore than 100 millionmaking it the home of more Spanish speakers than any other read more, From the stone cities of the Maya to the might of the Aztecs, from its conquest by Spain to its rise as a modern nation, Mexico boasts a rich history and cultural heritage spanning more than 10,000 years. Not until the late 1890s did two women, Adina De Zavala and Clara Driscoll, collaborate to preserve the Alamo. "Most academics now believe, based on Mexican accounts and contemporary accounts, that, in fact, [Crockett] did surrender and was executed," Burrough says. The Legacy of Slavery. In early April 1836, Santa Anna had the structural elements of the Alamo burned, and the site was left in ruins for the next several decades, as Texas became first a republic, then a state. The site is much bigger than just the 1836 battle, he said. The new colonists brought enslavement with them. Joe was a stalwart defender alongside Travis and other Texians. While scant information exists on the states pre-Hispanic era, the Huastecos, Chichimecas and read more, Guanajuato, the birthplace of famed muralist Diego Rivera, is also the site of Alhondiga de Ganaditas, a former town granary that became a revolutionary symbol after the heads of insurrectionists Hidalgo, Allende, Aldama and Jimenez were posted at the four corners of the read more, From the renowned beaches of Acapulco and Ixtapa to the silversmiths of Taxco, Guerrero is known as a mecca for ocean-loving tourists and sports fisherman. Between 1836 and 1840, the slave population doubled; it doubled again by 1845; and it doubled still again by 1850 after annexation by the United States. In 1824, Mexico's leaders wrote a federalist constitution, not much different from that of the United States, and thousands of people from the U.S. moved into the region. Pennybacker describes the line-drawing episode and puts in another footnote: "The student may wonder if none escaped from the Alamo, how we know the above to be true. Cook discovered the Alamo was more than a bunch of white, male landowners fighting for Texas. And thats whats missing right now in our society, is the nuance.. Until now. This was mirrored very much in the kind of ethnic cleansing that went on after the revolution in which hundreds of Tejanos were pushed out of San Antonio, in Victoria and existing towns, their lands taken, laws passed against their ability to marry white women and hold public office. The fort was full of women, minorities of many color, and followers of many religions. Sam and Charlie disappear. In 1883, the state of Texas purchased the Alamo, later acquiring property rights to all the surrounding grounds. As a nation we're finally reexamining that narrative and acknowledging that it's all very well and good, as far as it goes, but for too long it hasn't gone far enough. In May, Mexican troops in San Antonio were ordered to withdraw, and to demolish the Alamos fortifications as they went. https://www.tshaonline.org, https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/joe. Roberta Shorrock and Joel Wolfram produced and edited this interview for broadcast. The Alamo became a symbol of resistance to oppression and the Texas fight for freedom. Plaster is flaking off the walls of the nearly 300-year-old former Spanish mission, the most revered battle site in Texas history. Afterward, they fortified the Alamo, a fortress-like former mission in the center of town. Although Dickinson would eventually be sought out as an important witness, says Houston Public Media, Joe slipped away. Many myths and legends have grown about the Battle of the Alamo, but the facts often give a different account. Talk free. Matamoros in the 1840s had a large and flourishing colony of ex-slaves from Texas and the United States. You have to remember that this city is predominantly Hispanic. William F. Gray reported that Joe impressed those present with the modesty, candor, and clarity of his account. In 1619, the first enslaved Africans arrived in Virginia, one of the newly formed 13 American Colonies. The 1836 battle for the Alamo is remembered as a David vs. Goliath story. The exemption was, in their minds, a temporary measure and Texas slaveholders knew that. Rice had placed a $50 reward for Joe's capture. One of the points that often gets lost amid the flag-waving and coonskin caps is that by the time of the Texas Revolution, Mexico had abolished slavery, and Texas hadn't. Nolan Thompson, As a nonprofit newsroom, we rely on members to help keep our stories free and our events open to the public. Not everyone in the fort was killed. Some historians believe slavery was the driving issue in the showdown at the Alamo, arguing that Mexicos attempts to end slavery contrasted with the hopes of many white settlers in Texas at the time who moved to the region to farm cotton. On March 20 Joe was brought before the Texas Cabinet at Groce's Retreat and questioned about events at the Alamo. Casey Tolan is a National News Reporter for Fusion based in New York City. San Antonio was built around it. After the Alamo battle, the soldiers under Sam Houston's command were the only obstacle between Santa Anna's attempt to reincorporate Texas into Mexico. In their new book, Forget the Alamo, Burrough and co-writers Chris Tomlinson and Jason Stanford challenge common misconceptions surrounding the conflict including the notion that Davy Crockett was a martyr who fought to the death rather than surrender. The Mission San Antonio de Valero housed missionaries and their Native American converts for some 70 years until 1793, when Spanish authorities secularized the five missions located in San Antonio and distributed their lands among local residents. Beyond where he lived, what did he do? About this time it was renamed the Alamo ("cottonwood" in Spanish), after the Spanish military company that occupied it. As the Texans were facing the whole Mexican army, desertions are not surprising. Generations of Texas schoolchildren have been taught to admire the Alamo defenders as revolutionaries slaughtered by the Mexican army in the fight for Texas independence. Enslaved people who attempted to resist going to their new masters were whipped and thrown in jail until they relented and promised not to run away during the new arrangement. The only problem? It is the countrys economic and cultural hub, as well as home to the offices of the federal government. They told us how glorious that battle was. The Tejanos, who were the Texians' key allies and a number of which fought and died at the Alamo, were entirely written out of generations of Texas history [as it was] written by Anglo writers. The struggle over the Cenotaph ended in September when the Texas Historical Commission, a state board whose members are appointed by Gov. Todd Hansen, editor of The Alamo Reader, found an account of Bettie staying with the Mexican troops at first, but later working as a servant and fleeing to Mexico to avoid being enslaved again in Texas. The Underground Railroad. After the U.S. Department of the Interior nominated the Alamo for UN recognition last year, State Senator Donna Campbell introduced a bill preventing any foreign entity from gaining any ownership, control, or management" over the fort. Meanwhile, the Alamo had been under siege for days, and it fell early on March 6, with the defenders never knowing that independence had been formally declared a few days before. "One of the reasons that it matters most is that Latinos are poised to become a majority in Texas, according to census data," he says. Because of the wine production in the area, the city of Parras de la read more, San Luis Potos, which has some of the richest silver mines in Mexico, is also where Gonzales Bocanegra wrote the Mexican national anthem in 1854. [Wayne] made the movie basically because he wholeheartedly believed that America was falling apart, that it was going to the dogs and that somebody needs to stand up for what are today called "patriotic values," "family values," "American values." Santa Anna's Mexican army killed virtually all of the roughly 200 Texans (or Texians) defending the Alamo, including their leaders, Colonels William B. Travis and James Bowie, and the legendary. On April 15, the city council voted to go forward with a new plan that leases much of the plaza to the state for at least 50 years and leaves the Cenotaph in place.