The Contribution of Texas in WWI

Ever since the Manifest Destiny became the United States’ holy goal, Texas had always been in the sight of the United State, for the location and size of the territory were extremely attractive for the expansion. In addition, the state offered the Rio Grande River which promised great trade in the future. These factors made Texas a key component in fulfilling the sacred duty, so when news spread that Texas became independent, there was no time wasted from the United States in integrating them into the union. Even before Texas gained their independence, the United States had become intertwined with the culture of Texas by having hundreds of American citizens immigrating into the territory and spreading American values across the land. As many historians have said “Throughout the United States, especially in the South, support for Texas was warm and widespread. Men, money, and

Texas was fighting the Mexican army for their independence in 1835, which leads to fighting in the small fort called the Alamo. The Texans had been defeated at the Alamo, on April 23, 1836, for Texans, the Battle of the Alamo became a symbol of the resistance to oppression and their struggle for independence, which they won later that year. The 1915 movie The Alamo (The Birth of Texas) was the first movie to tell us what happened in the Battle of the Alamo but did a bad job in telling it. There was another film made in 2004 also called the Alamo which did a much better job than the original one in 1915. Both the 1915 and 2004 are good movies but have many scenes and information factually wrong.

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.

To understand how became a Texas Hero we must first explore the struggles that lead him to Texas and eventually. Houston’s early years where less than promising despite being named after his famous father. Houston disliked working on the family farm and going to school. When given the chance to leave the hard work of the farm and work as a clerk Houston choose to runaway. When he ran away meet with and was accepted into the Cherokee tribe not far from his family’s farm. Here he found comfort and acceptance in the tribe. Years later he returned to the white settlement becoming a teacher and then joining the Tennessee Militia. Later he would serve in the United States House of Representatives. In 1829 Houston married Eliza Allen of Tennessee, however the marriage was short lived. After Houston’s failed marriage he resigned his office and headed west out of Tennessee where he rejoined living with the Cherokee. However, this time he returned depressed and took to drinking heavenly.

When German womans stepped on the new country, they were treated liked they were in hell, but for men like in heaven in Hook they restated this sentence “As one old lady remarked, Texas is heaven for men and dogs, but (hard) for women and oxen.” The Germans loved the way that Texans treated them, Texas made a treaty that protected them from the Native Americans in Document A is stated “The German people and Colonist for the Grant between the waters of the llano and the San Saba shall be allowed to visit any part of said country, and the protected.” The Germans who settled in Texas were diverse in many ways. It includes farmers and intellectuals. This diversity in the Germans colonies reflected their diversity of Texas. When the second generation of Germans came to Texas it came more educated, particularly in comparison to the average Texan. Because of this it changed a lot in Texas way of thinking on education. The idea of kindergarten, physical education and vocational education were the contributions of the Germans. Especially they were the leaders in the call of the universal education. When Germans were planted in the state of Texas they soon spread their cultures and traditions. Beginning in 1850s, German holidays traditions, including the Christmas tree, Santa Claus and even the Easter Bunny became popular in Texas. And the most amazing thing is that they invented

First and foremost, Texas was not colonized by British settlers. This has always made it stand out as a fiercely independent territory then later a state. The individuals who shaped and formed Texas did so in such a way to hold tightly onto its fierce independence. This fierce independence was fueled throughout the first several decades of Texas existence due to invading foreign armies and the daily struggles of just surviving in the Wild West. Because of this, the people of Texas developed strong work ethics and a

More and more Texans answered the call to arms such as Ben Milan a soldier of the War of 1812, James Bowie who was know for his knife, Sam Houston and Stalwart Davy Crockett both former soldiers and congressmen. The name that would lead them all William Barrette Travis.

From March 2, 1836 to February 19, 1846, Texas as its own independent country in North America. Those who resided in this independent country were referred to as Texians. Texas declared its independence from Mexico in 1836 during the Texas revolution which ended on April 21 of that same exact year. However, Mexico did not want to give the Republic of Texas its independence which resulted in conflicts between that of Texas and Mexico that went on into the 1840s. As a result, The United States of America recognized the Republic of Texas as an independent country in 1837 but failed to append their land. Later receiving its independence, Texas elected a Congress of fourteen senators and twenty-nine representatives in the month of September and year of 1836. However, within the Republic, citizenship was not a privileged for everybody living in Texas. Not everybody had legal rights to reside within the limits of the Republic without Congress permission. The Constitution of the Republic of Texas created differences for each and every ethnicity for each individual person. Meaning, whoever was there on the day the Republic of Texas won their independence had to be classified as a citizen of the Republic including Africans, those with African descent, and Native Americans. For Caucasian immigrants to become citizens they would have to had lived in the Republic for six months or less and take an oath. Those who were brought to Texas as a slave had to stay a

To understand why the Texans were victorious at San Jacinto, you cannot purely just look at the battle itself, but at the tactical genius of what it seems General Sam Houston had been planning all along. General Houston had known all along that the fight against the Mexican army at the Alamo would have been futile and though the council wanted to hold the Alamo at all costs, Houston knew this to be unwise and this is why he sent James Bowie to destroy the fortifications and retreat back to Gonzales. General Houston knew also that his army was not to the standard of the Mexican army in ways of drilling and moving in battle formations and he needed time to train the army and prepare them for battles. General Houston was trying to form an army from the men that were spread across the lands. The council kept sending men on expeditions with groups of

One country, divided between the North and South, fighting each other- each hoping to achieve victory. A devastating and long four years was coming for the soldiers- the Civil War. Texas, the seventh state to secede from the North, contributes about 65,000 soldiers to the Confederacy, however, almost one-fifth of them lost their lives. So, there is one question that looms over us all- why did Texans choose to risk their lives for such a cause- why did Texas fight in the Civil War?

The Texan army continued to fight for its independence after the battle of the Alamo. When the won their independence from Mexico, the republic of Texas was then created. The U.S. was hesitant to annex Texas, because it was currently a slave state and they did not want another.

This is one reason why Texans fought for the Confederate. Many Texans were missing there home. They missed their family, friends, and expectually Texas ( Document D). People, that were Texans, went into war to protect Texas and their families. Some people didn’t have choice because they got drafted. Many of them were very loyal to Texas they even stayed in the war for four years ( Document D). Most Texans enlisted for Texas service only which showed they were only fighting for Texas (Document D).

This image tells of the history of Texas. It tells of the hard-fought battles which lead to the rise of The Lone Star Republic in 1836, which was finally recognized by President Jackson in his last day in office in early 1837. A republic of only 40,000 people, which was thought by many to not hold its independence for very long.

In document D, solider John Wesley Rabb has many similarities to the people of the south, they love their state. Another reason Texas fought for the south, was state’s rights. When the CSA was formed, Texas listened on what their goal is where states have equal rights. When Texas agreed and joined,

”(Doc C) This statement shows that texans thought what the union was doing was not right. This isn’t the only reason why texans fought in the war.