Posted on Jun 17, 2021
'Forget The Alamo' Author Says We Have The Texas Origin Story All Wrong
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https://www.npr.org/2021/06/16/ [login to see] /forget-the-alamo-texas-history-bryan-burrough
Remember the Alamo? 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.
The siege of the Alamo was memorably depicted in a Walt Disney series and in a 1960 movie starring John Wayne. But three writers, all Texans, say the common narrative of the Texas revolt overlooks the fact that it was waged in part to ensure slavery would be preserved.
"Slavery was the undeniable linchpin of all of this," author Bryan Burrough says. "It was the thing that the two sides had been arguing about and shooting about for going on 15 years. And yet it still surprises me that slavery went unexamined for so long."
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.
Remember the Alamo? 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.
The siege of the Alamo was memorably depicted in a Walt Disney series and in a 1960 movie starring John Wayne. But three writers, all Texans, say the common narrative of the Texas revolt overlooks the fact that it was waged in part to ensure slavery would be preserved.
"Slavery was the undeniable linchpin of all of this," author Bryan Burrough says. "It was the thing that the two sides had been arguing about and shooting about for going on 15 years. And yet it still surprises me that slavery went unexamined for so long."
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.
'Forget The Alamo' Author Says We Have The Texas Origin Story All Wrong
Posted from npr.org
State of Texas
American History
Mexico
San Antonio
Edited >1 y ago
Posted >1 y ago
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Got to call a little BS on this. I am sure the defenders of the Alamo understood their fate. They held out 13 days that allowed Sam Huston to organize an army. The real question is why Santa Anna wasted two weeks there. Next we will read the real reason for the Lewis and Clark expedition was to find cheap slaves out west.
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I had great teachers back in the late 60's. They told us abut the other issues at the Alamo. You should of heard about what they said really happened for Thanksgiving. OH wait, I suppose a few of you would call them liberal extremist brainwashing our children; like religion or Fox does.
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PO1 William "Chip" Nagel
SFC Randy Hellenbrand Bingo. I think I had Similar Teachers that weren't that big about Selling Sugar Coated Lies to Me.
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well, the tale we are told makes Mexicans into the bad guys. can't have them looking like the good guys. that role belongs to all the whites at the mission
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PO1 Sam Deel
Your racial tome is based upon slight of hand of the Truth. You seem to dismiss the fact that there were a number of Tejanos and Indigenous that Served in that mission, under various capacities, before and all throughout the Battle of the Alamo, set against the Mexican Army. One can argue that some did so for their spite against Mexican nationals. Juan Seguin was the leader of the Tejanos and the Indigenous forces that fought AGAINST Mexico in the Texas Revolution. The fact of the matter is, the Mexicans WERE bad. They slaughtered Texian, Tejanos and Indigenous alike, as they were instructed by their Dictatorial Regime. So drop the racial trope that the European Texians were in it for slavery.
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