Sam Houston's Heroic Decisions

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 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.

Sam Houston, a Senator from Texas, first displayed courage when he refused to support the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854. Houston believes the passing of this act would further divide the Union by fueling the controversy over slavery. He was the only Southern Democrat to vote against the Kansas-Nebraska Act. His opposition to this Act was considered very "Anti-Southern" and made him very unpopular. His opposition of this Act was the downfall in his run for Texas governor and his dismissal from Texas legislature in 1857. Two years later, he was asked to run for governor again and here is when Houston's second act of courage is displayed. When he was elected, Houston's term was a great setback to "pro-slavery" extremists. In response to this, the Texas legislature voted to secede from the Union. Houston refused to take the oath of allegiance to the Confederacy and was ousted from his governing position. His moral fiber and determination, in the end, led to his downfall in politics. His standing up for what he believed in caused the end of his political career.

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.

Sam Houston was a man of many faces. Whether it was a friend to the Indians, governor of two States, or president of the Republic of Texas, he always stayed true to his practicality and fought for what was right. Because of this Sam Houston’s name will synonymously remain with Texas Independence, and forever be immortalized in textbooks and novels alike.

The dictator of Mexico, General Santa Anna, set the control of military to prevent the Texans' revolution. About 100 Texans defended their settlements at the Alamo. The unforgettable moment of Texans' inspired quote, 'Remember the Alamo!' made a large impact on Mexican soldiers in the Alamo. The vision of battle of San Jacinto was full of painful bloody violence. It overwhelmed the Mexicans.

Sam Houston was one of the founding fathers of Texas known as a soldier, statesman and man of integrity. Spending most of his youth in Tennessee, he was impatient and reckless with a sense of adventure which lead him to the Cherokee country. His time spent with family and the Cherokee Indians is where he developed his practical, level-headed and grounded character. Houston’s passion for peace and support for the Cherokee’s came from having seen the effects of war and strife on the Indians. The values instilled from these early experiences are prevalent in Houston’s political and personal viewpoints throughout his life and career.

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.

Knowing that the Texans were not obeying Mexico’s laws, the Mexican President sent Antonio López de Santa Anna to fight and stop the revolting Texans. “Santa Anna gained his earliest military experience fighting for the Spanish army

     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.

I agree that Texas did do the right thing in allowing Santa Anna his freedom. Santa Anna was over confident because of the relatively easy successes he had enjoyed at the Alamo and Goliad missions where he had vast superiority in manpower and cannons, which he failed to take into account the strategy that Sam Houston put into play. After capturing Santa Anna, to obtain his release, Santa Anna had to sign two treaties, recognizing Texas independence and promising never to fight Texas again. By releasing Santa Anna after he guaranteed Texas independence, the Texans knew that trouble in Mexico would arise for him. The defeat at San Jacinto and the subsequent loss of Texas cost Santa Anna the presidency, for he returned to Mexico in disgrace. If

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

General Sam Houston did not see San Antonio as an area worth holding because most of the Anglo settlements were in the eastern section of the region. Because of the General Houston sent Jim Bowie to San Antonio with orders to destroy the Alamo and return with the rebels and their weapons. Bowie along with William B. Travis disregarded the general’s orders and took refuge

Crisp starts at the beginning of the book with a bias in favor of the heroes of the Texas Revolution. He talks about his fantasies as a child, and how he pretended to be defenders of the Alamo fighting off the Mexican army. After the beginning chapter, Crisp never really goes right out and states partiality for anything, rather he let’s his research do all the talking. Crisp is all about finding the truth behind the mystery; however, the reader can still find a few examples of favoritism towards his childhood heroes. Crisp writes about Sam Houston in one section of the book, talking about how he gave a supposed racist speech, and how he couldn’t believe that Houston would do that, stating, “I found myself reading with dismay a manifestly racist speech by Sam Houston, the idol of my Texas boyhood.” (25). He ends up writing a whole chapter to defend Houston, and successfully does so. There is also a section in the book whenever Crisp is writing over whether or not Davy Crockett died heroically in battle, or submissively as a prisoner to the Mexicans. The reader can tell that Crisp does not like what his research shows (that Crockett died submissively), which suggests that Crisp favored the heroic version of Crockett’s