The Alamo
The Alamo
The Texas Project
This exercise is designed to acquaint you with the colorful history of early Texas and its equally colorful leaders, including Stephen Austin, Sam Houston, William Barrett Travis and Davy Crockett.
Background
Texas joined the Union on December 29, 1845, as the twenty-eighth American state. But before that, Texas, or Tejas, had been part of the Spanish colony and then the Republic of Mexico. The early, colorful years of Texas history, depicted by James Michener in his book, Texas, are among its most interesting.
Texas has been described as “not a state, but a state of mind,” and the epithet cuts many ways. Texas and Texans are famous for many things, not all of them necessarily admirable; but for Texans themselves, they are often proud of the very characteristics which outsiders might find bothersome. Jokes about Texas abound, and many are told by Texans on themselves, as they wear their state pride as a badge of honor. Few Americans are neutral about Texas, including, of course, the Texans. With such attitudes prevalent, myths about Texas history have arisen, and one is challenged in attempting to separate fact from fancy. And although Texans are famous for exaggerating their individual and collective accomplishments, there is plenty of genuine glory to go around in the history of Texas and the Texans.
Texas—or Tejas—was begun more or less as a buffer zone between Mexico and her hustling neighbor to the north. When Mexico became independent from Spain in 1821, it was already apparent that land-hungry Yankees might threaten Mexican sovereignty. Moses Austin was invited by the Mexican government to become an empresario—essentially a recruiter, or what we might today all a “land developer.” When Moses Austin died, his son, Stephen Fuller Austin, took over the job, and by about 1830 had become so successful that the Anglo-Texans, or Texicans, were becoming too large a community to ignore. Thus, in ways reminiscent of the British treatment of the American colonies from 1763 until 1775, the Mexican government began to try to bring the province into line, which the Texans saw as a threat to their freedom, real or perceived. Eventually the Texans declared their independence and fought a war with Mexico, highlighted by the heroic stand of William Barrett Travis’s small band at the Alamo, and Sam Houston’s quick victory over General Santa Anna’s Mexican army at San Jacinto.
Thus Texas became the Republic of Texas, and about a decade later the Lone Star Republic became the Lone Star State. Mexico, still smarting from having lost Texas, was not ready to accede to American claims of the borderline—the Rio Grande—nor to discuss American interest in acquiring California, another Mexican province. The disagreements eventually led to the Mexican-American War of 1846-1848, as a result of which the entire Southwest portion of the “lower forty-eight” became part of the United States.
Here is a project to get you more familiar with the fascinating history of Texas.
Web Resources
Books
Films
Exercise: In an essay or digital project suitable for the web, describe the major events in Texas history from 1821-1836. Include the roles of Stephen F. Austin, Sam Houston and other important Texans.
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