March 6, 1836. In an old Spanish mission, in the town of San Antonio de Béjar, known as The Alamoin the Mexican province of Coahuila y Tejas, now Texas, a group of 184 local settlers fought against several thousand Mexican soldiers led by General Santa Ana.
Before the Battle of the Alamo
At first, Texas was a fairly unpopulated area that had not generated interest in either the Spanish or the French, but after the fact that Mexico achieved its independence in September 1821, he opened the gates of Texas so that more American settlers could settle in Texas. In these times, Emperor Agustín de Iturbide was the first leader of the country, who also offered them some benefits of the time such as freedom from taxes or being able to have slaves.
With the arrival of Federal Republic, settlers continued to enjoy these incentives and Coahuila was added to this territory, which led to the creation of the State of Texas and Coahuila.
It did not take long for them to begin to realize that in this state there were more American settlers than Mexicans, so they soon began to arise the first ideas of independence.
What at first had only been a few small ideas about independence, with the arrival of the General Santa Anna to power, there began to be a genuine desire to be able to break free. The settlers had begun to mobilize and try to negotiate that their benefits (already expired) return, that more settlers be allowed to enter or to be their own state without having Coahuila. There was no positive response. Furthermore, General Santa Anna was turning the Federal Republic into a kind of dictatorship, to the point where he repealed the Constitution and the revolts began.
The story of the Battle of the Alamo
Three quarters of the population were of American origin and wanted to abide by the laws of the United States. Among the Texans, little by little the idea of becoming independent from Mexico and forming a State had been established. The fights became more frequent, and, finally, the capture by the colonists of the mission was the trigger for a fierce battle in which all those who had entrenched themselves there died.
On February 23 the siege began. It lasted 13 days, until that fateful March 6. That night, while the rebels slept, the troops of the General Santa Ana they assaulted the mission killing whoever they found there and starting what later ended up becoming a legend for the Americans themselves. A legend that has grown over time, until it hides the true events that occurred there.
Texas did not cease to be Mexican territory until then. However, the United States of America claimed its rights over that territory; Little by little, soldiers and settlers were introduced who were curtailing the domain of Mexico with ideas of independence. Immigration from the US to the Mexican Republic, arms smuggling, slaves, were sufficient reasons to think about the intrusion of the United States in the Mexican Government. In addition, in that Franciscan mission, those who fought in it did not, as legend has it, for ideals, but for the search for riches, since some had been promised large tracts of land once they became independent. Nor was the final battle as it was really noted, since its three main leaders, Travis, Bowie and Crockett they did not have the death that has been so mythically told in movies.
Travis He died shortly after the battle began, but it is thought that he committed suicide before being taken prisoner by the Mexicans.
Bowiewho suffered from tuberculosis, died a few days before the siege, so he did not even participate in the final battle.
Crockett Nor did he die brandishing his rifle, now depleted of bullets, as if it were a club and charging at the Mexican soldiers. In fact, according to what has been discovered in two diaries brought to light in 1975, and which presumably seem to be true, Crockett was found by the soldiers among the women, he surrendered as soon as the Mexicans entered and even excused himself saying that he did not had participated in the battle. Yet such was the embarrassment that a white man (David Crockett) would give in to a mestizo (Santa Ana) at a time when there was a belief in the supremacy of white men over blacks and mestizos (we were in the midst of era of slavery) that the story that was told in the following years was diametrically opposed to what actually happened.
Whatever the true story was, the truth is that on March 14, 1836, Texas declared independence from Mexico, and just a month later, in April of that same year, Samuel Houston, commanding the army of the self-proclaimed Republic of Texas, defeated General Santa Ana at San Julián. The Mexican had to sign an armistice in exchange for his life, and Texas became part of the United States of America in 1846.
In any case, the controversies and doubts about the events that really happened at El Álamo are still up in the air. Some put Texans in a bad light, others Mexicans. We suppose that, as almost always, everything depends on who tells the story, right?
Causes that triggered the Battle of the Alamo
When Mexico gained its independence, Texas was within its borders, therefore what is now known as the state of Texas was Mexican until the Texan revolutionary process managed to split off and become part of the United States.
During the 1830s the tensions between Texan citizens and the Mexican government they began to grow. The inhabitants of Texas, many of them American immigrants, who lived near the border and were more accustomed to American freedoms and laws, showed their discontent with the iron central power exercised by the Mexican government. In turn, the Mexican government blamed Texans for not making any effort to participate in Mexican culture or society.
Another version of history is the one that says that the Americans only moved based on their desire for riches, that they were simple adventurers who penetrated another territory without any respect for their beliefs, and mostly due to the promise of future riches if they managed to seize the territory from Mexico.
This situation of latent rebellion began to become a reality in 1835, when the first skirmishes between settlers and the Mexican army took place. This forced the Mexican executive to create an army solely destined to suffocate these rebellions, the so-called Army of Texas Operations.
The defeats of this Mexican army, formed for the most part by people who only fought forced, obtained continuous defeats against the Texians, helped by American citizens. General Santa Anna condemned this US meddling, further strengthened the army, and enacted a law forbidding taking prisoners: anyone captured would be executed.
This is how the Battle of El Álamo is reached, which, as we have already seen, was key in the process of separating Texas from Mexico and its annexation to the United States.
Video about the Battle of the Alamo
In the following video you can see another account of the events that occurred in El Álamo. Surely, this story differs from others, especially in the motivations of the Texans and the Americans for the revolution, but the fact is that it is interesting.
The beginning of the 19th century was a very turbulent time in Mexico, which was involved in a long, bloody and very complicated process of independence. In Sobrehistoria we have much more information about the history of Mexico if you want to continue learning:
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