. Historians estimate that one million slaves were taken in a . But as the smoke cleared after the bloody battle, around 15 survivors of the battle on the Texan side remained. The basic story of the Alamo is that rebellious Texans captured the city of San Antonio de Bxar (modern-day San Antonio, Texas) in a battle in December 1835. Thats how we came to know of Joe just Joe, any other names he had are lost to history now. This entry belongs to the following Handbook Special Projects: We are a community-supported, non-profit organization and we humbly ask for your support because the careful and accurate recording of our history has never been more important. To download your free audiobook today go to audibletrial.com/MandatoryFun. 22, 2021, thoughtco.com/facts-about-the-battle-of-the-alamo-2136256. 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. 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. Its one-room exhibit space can hold only a fraction of key artifacts. 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. The Alamo Battle Was Not About Texan Independence, The Texans Weren't Supposed to Defend the Alamo, Photograph Courtesy of the Library of Congress, The Defenders Experienced Internal Tension, The Defenders Died Believing Reinforcements Were on the Way, There Were Many Mexicans Among the Defenders. 10 Facts About the Independence of Texas From Mexico, The Texas Revolution and the Republic of Texas, The Battle of Concepcion of the Texas Revolution, The Life and Legend of David "Davy" Crockett, The Most Important Inventions of the Industrial Revolution, No One Knows What Happened to Davy Crockett, Who Won the Battle of the Alamo? 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. Minster, Christopher. Sam, James Bowie's slave, was also reported to have survived the battle, but no further record of him is known to exist. By signing up you agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy, MIGHTY NETWORKS, 2023 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED, The true story of the M1 carbines creation (it wasnt Carbine Williams), Joe escaped to Mexico on two stolen horses, Death of David Crockett at the Alamo - San Antonio, Texas, Davy's Death at the Alamo Is Now a Case ClosedOr Not | HistoryNet. These days, Trevio wonders whether the city would have been better off redoing Alamo Plaza on its own. 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. Miles places the number of enslaved people held by Cherokees at around 600 at the start of the 19 th century and around 1,500 at the time of westward removal in 1838-9. He attacked on March 6, 1836, overrunning the approximately 200 defenders in less than two hours. Legendary frontiersman Jim Bowie, suffering from a debilitating illness, asked to be carried over the line. For many years afterward, the U.S. Army quartered troops and stored supplies at the Alamo. (Creeks, Choctaws, and . The Alamo has been commemorated on everything from postage stamps to the 1960 film The Alamo starring John Wayne as Davy Crockett. "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 new colonists brought enslavement with them. There were many native TexansMexican nationals referred to as Tejanoswho joined the movement and fought every bit as bravely as their Anglo companions. 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. 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. 4. But they remained, trusting their defenses and their skill with their lethal long rifles. https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/joe. Texas became an independent republic, and nine years later, it was annexed as an American state. Juana Navarro Alsbury, the adopted sister of Bowies wife and the niece of Texian leader Jos Antonio Navarro, survived the battle with her young son and her sister, Gertrudis. Santa Anna's forces included a mix of former Spanish citizens, Spanish-Mexican criollos and mestizos, and several indigenous young men sent from the interior of Mexico. So, he set out to tell the story of the Alamo, a story that, he believes, belongs to all of us through the diversity of its defenders. "15 Facts About the Battle of the Alamo." They know they're coming and yet still they stay there. Remember the Alamo, the famous saying goesbut how you remember is just as important. "It was the thing that the two sides had been arguing about and shooting about for going on 15 years. 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. Cookies collect information about your preferences and your devices and are used to make the site work as you expect it to, to understand how you interact with the site, and to show advertisements that are targeted to your interests. As a nonprofit newsroom, we rely on members to help keep our stories free and our events open to the public. Slaves could not be imported. A central goal of independence would be to remove that uncertainty. Along the way they crossed paths with another survivor, a man named Joe, who had been William Travis slave. The third big name at the Alamo, the commander of the force, William Barret Travis, had at least one slave with him, Joe. They sold that property in 1800 and relocated to what is now Missouri. They told us how glorious that battle was. 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. 2023 A&E Television Networks, LLC. But city and state leaders are optimistic that the site will be recognized. They had been kidnapped from their homes and were forced to work on tobacco, rice, and indigo plantations from Maryland . "It means people can live free. Part of the narrative of the 1836 Battle of the Alamo is that the defenders were there to liberate Texas from the tyranny of Mexico. You get a sense that Travis never really believes something bad can happen to him. The 1836 battle for the Alamo is remembered as a David vs. Goliath story. Today, more than 2.5 million people a year visit the Alamo. 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. Because it stood in a grove of cottonwood trees, the soldiers called their new fort El Alamo after the Spanish word for cottonwood and in honor of Alamo de Parras, their hometown in Mexico. [15] Each woman was given $ 2 and a blanket and was allowed to go free and spread the news of the destruction that awaited those who opposed the Mexican government. Dont get me wrong the defenders of the mission-turned-fortress were killed en masse as Mexican troops stormed the structure. After the battle, Mexican troops searched the buildings within the Alamo and called for any Blacks to reveal themselves. It wasn't like every man fought to his death in place, as generations of historians have taught us. All of the leaders of Mexico, in itself only an independent country since 1821, were personally opposed to slavery, in part because of the influence of emissaries from the freed slave republic of Haiti. 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. According to legend, fort commander William Travis drew a line in the sand with his sword and asked all of the defenders who were willing to fight to the death to cross it: only one man refused. When I grew up I learned that the heroes of the Alamo were a bunch of drunks and crooks and slaveholding imperialists who conquered land that didnt belong to them. The Battle of the Alamo during Texas war for independence from Mexico lasted thirteen days, from February 23, 1836-March 6, 1836. BestsellerThe Barista Express grinds, foams milk, and produces the silkiest espresso at the perfect temperature. FACT CHECK: We strive for accuracy and fairness. When you visit the site, Dotdash Meredith and its partners may store or retrieve information on your browser, mostly in the form of cookies. These defenders, who despite later reinforcements never numbered more than 200, included Davy Crockett, the famous frontiersman and former congressman from Tennessee, who had arrived in early February. Joe did so and was struck by a pistol shot and bayonet thrust before a Mexican captain intervened. Santa Anna ordered his men to take no prisoners, and only a small handful of the Texans were spared. Older slaves were. Under the plan, the Cenotaph would be moved 500 feet south and deposited in front of the historic Menger Hotel. We may earn a commission from links on this page. Joes Alamo: Unsung, is a fiction-based-on-history account of what came next, after the Alamo, and after Joe escaped. Come or go, buy or sell, drunk or sober, or however they choose." The Tap Pilam Coahuiltecan Nation, an Indigenous group, is still fighting to have the complex treated as a cemetery and to tell the story of the Indigenous people buried there, said Ramn Vsquez, one of its leaders. Between 1795 and 1801, 385 payments were made to the owners of African American enslaved people. 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. Joe took cover and continued fighting until the battle was over, when he presented himself and, as a slave, his life was spared. In 1883, the state of Texas purchased the Alamo, later acquiring property rights to all the surrounding grounds. Not everyone in the fort was killed. Although nearly everyone at the Alamo was killed or captured, Texas achieved independence when Sam read more, Coahuila, one of Mexicos major steel producers, straddles the Sierra Madre Oriental Mountains. And the surrounding plaza is a tourist circus, packed with novelty shops and a Ripley's Believe It or Not museum. Austin was able to wrest from the Mexican authorities an exemption for the department -- Texas was technically a department of the state of Coahuila y Tejas -- that would allow the vile institution to continue. All Rights Reserved. But then you have to understand: The Texas revolt, for 150 years, was largely ignored by academics, in part because it was considered dclass, it was considered provincial, and because the state government of Texas, much as they're doing now, has for 120, 130 years, made very clear to the University of Texas faculty and to the faculty of other state-funded universities that it only wants one type of Texas history taught and that if you get outside those boundaries, you're going to hear about it from the Legislature. The following year, the family acquired 200 acres (80 ha) along the Red River. 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. battle cry while fighting against Mexican forces. For the Texans, the Battle of the Alamo became a symbol of heroic resistance and a rallying cry in their struggle for independence. Greg Abbott (R), voted to deny a permit to move it. A few of the survivors later gave chilling eyewitness accounts of the battle. The early depictions of Texas history was good guys against bad guys, white guys against brown guys, democracy against tyranny, Crisp said. Among the 187 men in Travis's forces who died were 13 native-born Texans, 11 of Mexican descent. And yet it still surprises me that slavery went unexamined for so long.". October 10, 1807. Last summer, the Cenotaph was spray-painted with graffiti decrying white supremacy. The 4.2-acre site includes some original structures dating back to the mission period. On February 23, a Mexican force numbering in the thousands and led by General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna began a siege of the fort. t. e. Contemporary slavery, also sometimes known as modern slavery or neo-slavery, refers to institutional slavery that continues to occur in present-day society. Texas authorities later returned Joe to the Travis estate, but he escaped to freedom barely a year later. This is their journey. The fort was full of women, minorities of many color, and followers of many religions. Roberta Shorrock and Joel Wolfram produced and edited this interview for broadcast. But if Northeasterners can be excused for embracing a somewhat fuzzy notion of abstract liberty, the symbolism of the Alamo has always been built upon historical myth. accessed March 04, 2023, "The stunning discovery that Joethe slave of Alamo commander William Barret Traviswas the brother of the abolitionist William Wells Brown has opened an entirely new chapter in the history of Texas. 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. Perhaps it goes without saying but producing quality journalism isn't cheap. 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. You can find out more about our use, change your default settings, and withdraw your consent at any time with effect for the future by visiting Cookies Settings, which can also be found in the footer of the site. 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. Cook was waiting to go to medical school when he discovered Joes story and was compelled to write about the Alamo. "Republic. 2023 A&E Television Networks, LLC. "Remember the Alamo!". Texas State Historical Association (TSHA) Some heroes of the Texas Revolution were enslavers, a neglected piece of history that has helped stall a badly needed overhaul of the revered battle site. Santa Anna. The site is much bigger than just the 1836 battle, he said. He is a former head writer at VIVA Travel Guides. What we now know is because Mexican accounts accounts from Mexican officers and soldiers a number of them, a dozen of them have come to light over the last 50 years, show that between a third and a half [of] the Texas defenders actually broke and ran. One wrinkle in the nomination is that the U.S. hasnt been paying its dues to UNESCO since the agency recognized Palestine as a state in 2013, which means the U.S.doesnt have voting rights on this or any other world heritage decisions. Rice had placed a $50 reward for Joe's capture. It includes recently discovered facts about William Travis, Susana Dickinson, Davy Crockett, and Joe himself. We know that there were slaves within the Alamo fortress for the 13-day siege that resulted in the death of the entire garrison. [The Alamo defenders have] maybe 200 guys at essentially an indefensible open-air Spanish mission. We'll send you a couple of emails per month, filled with fascinating history facts that you can share with your friends. The only problem? 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. (2021, May 22). A hearty man of six feet, Bowie was a walking contradiction; a slave trader who fought for freedom, a generous and congenial man who had his thunderous temper, and a commanding leader . In his book, Cook tells a different story from what is commonly told in textbooks, film, and TV shows. The areas main farm read more. 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. 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. The story runs, that this one man, Rose by name, who refused to step over the line, did make his escape that night. General Sam Houston felt that holding San Antonio was impossible and unnecessary, as most of the settlements of the rebellious Texans were far to the east. A $450 million plan to renovate the site has devolved into a five-year brawl over whether to focus narrowly on the 1836 battle or present a fuller view that delves into the sites Indigenous history and the role of slavery in the Texas Revolution. Then, there was a counter-story switching good guys and bad guysthe Americans were all racist, taking the Mexicans land. There were 41 Europeans, two African Americans, and the rest were Americans from states in the United States. https://www.history.com/topics/latin-america/alamo. In 1832, General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna took control of the Mexican government. In 1619, the first enslaved Africans arrived in Virginia, one of the newly formed 13 American Colonies. But the truly perplexing thing is that in the two weeks leading up to the arrival of Santa Anna's forces in San Antonio, Travis and Bowie are getting almost daily warnings of the progress. It was on March 2, 1836, that delegates meeting in Washington-on-the-Brazos formally declared independence from Mexico. Every day during the siege, the defenders of the Alamo looked for Fannin and his men but they never arrived. Even though the Texans were fighting against a certain kind of tyranny, they were also fighting for an independent republic where slavery was legal, Crisp told Fusion. ThoughtCo. There was no line in the sand drawn. Joe was the slave of William B. Travis, the commander of the Alamo during Mexican dictator Antonio Lopez de Santa Annas siege of the Texian fort. 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. 3" on the balcony of Ashton Villa: . There has always been this great mystery of why on earth [Lt. Col. William] Travis and [James] Bowie stay, and the best argument there is probably because they believe reinforcements would be forthcoming. Matamoros in the 1840s had a large and flourishing colony of ex-slaves from Texas and the United States. This famous story shows the dedication of the Texans to fight for their freedom. After the battle, Santa Anna sent Susanna and Angelina to Sam Houstons camp in Gonzales, accompanied by one of his servants and carrying a letter of warning intended for Houston. 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. Sam, James Bowie's slave, was also reported to have survived the battle, but no further record of him is known to exist. It represented a rare alliance between the states Republican leadership and one of its more liberal cities, with San Antonio committing $38 million to the budget and the state of Texas pitching in $106 million. Enrique Esparza, son of Alamo defender Gregorio Esparza, told of how Mexican troops fired a hale of bullets into the room where he was hiding alongside his mother and three siblings. Many myths and legends have grown about the Battle of the Alamo, but the facts often give a different account. A color guard carries flags from each state that lost people in the battle of the Alamo March 6, 2001 during the Annual Memorial Service at the Alamo in San Antonio, Texas. Mexican American kids can grow up in Texas believing they're Americans, with the Statue of Liberty and all that, until seventh grade when you were taught, in essence, that if you're Mexican, your ancestors killed Davy Crockett, that that's kind of the original sin of the Texas creation myth. Meanwhile,some conservatives balk at the idea of the UN getting involved in this icon of Texas pride. The church was still not completed when it was transferred to civil authorities in 1792. He was among the defenders at the Battle of the Alamo in 1836, where he perished along with all of his comrades. battle cry while fighting against Mexican forces in the Mexican-American War of 1846-1848. ", On how Texas history often fails to address slavery. https://www.thoughtco.com/facts-about-the-battle-of-the-alamo-2136256 (accessed March 4, 2023). 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. About this time it was renamed the Alamo ("cottonwood" in Spanish), after the Spanish military company that occupied it. "International travelers seem to use world heritage as a bucket list item," Richard Oliver, a spokesperson for the San Antonio Convention & Visitors Bureau, told Fusion. Texas State Historical Association (TSHA). Every dollar helps. From March to May, Mexican forces once again occupied the Alamo. Minster, Christopher. Jim Bowie, the famous knife fighter and all-around badass (look up The Sandbar Fight sometime) made a tidy sum dealing in slaves in the years before the Alamo, says Smithsonian, and brought at least two with him into the fort, a man named Sam and a woman named Bettie. Do you value our journalism? 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. Joe traveled with one of the widows, Susanna Dickinson, and her young daughter, to the other Texian forces. Minster, Christopher. A popular telling of the battle holds that in early 1836 a small group of brave Texans defended the mission-fort known as the Alamo against thousands of Mexican soldiers, knowing it meant certain death. Known simply as Joe, he was sold four times in his life, most notably to his third master, Colonel William Barret Travis. Christopher Minster, Ph.D., is a professor at the Universidad San Francisco de Quito in Ecuador. Joe, Owing to itscomplicated history, the Alamo has been controversial in the cityfor decades. Most slaves came to Texas with their owners, and the vast . He was one of several slaves spared by the Mexicans, who opposed slavery, after the battle. As the defenders of the Alamo were about to sacrifice their lives, other Texans were making clear the goals of the sacrifice at a constitutional convention for the new republic they hoped to create. Bush and Patrick traded compliments, with Bush declaring that theres nobody in the state Capitol who cares more about Texas history than Patrick. It fits in nicely with a narrative that the United States has always been and continues to be dedicated to principles like individual responsibility and freedom.