The Fight for Freedom Texas: 1835-1836

1. The Fight for FreedomTexas: 1835-1836 7th grade Texas History

2. Question: Why did Texas go to war? • After SFA returned to Texas after being imprisoned in Mexico, he realized lasting peace between Texas and Mexico was impossible. • Santa Anna’s centralist ideals (strong control by the national government) did not match Texans’ ideals of states’ rights (laws should favor individual states).

3. Question: Where was the order of events in Texas Revolution?

4. In October 1835, a Mexican army patrol went to Gonzales to collect weapons from Texans. The big prize of this collection was a six-pound cannon. The Texans refused to give up the cannon. Instead, 160 settled armed themselves, fired the cannon at the Mexican army, and forced the Mexican Army to retreat. This is considered to be the beginning of the fight for Texas independence. Question: Why was the Battle of Gonzales important?

5. The Alamo became a battleground because it defended the Anglo settlements. A total of about 180 men defended the former mission against more than 1,000 Mexican troops under the direct command of Santa Anna. Question: What is the importance of the Alamo?

6. Question: Who was important at the Alamo? • Col. Jim Bowie – Commander of about 100 volunteers from Tennessee and Kentucky. • David “Davy” Crockett – U.S. Congressman and militia leader from Tennessee. Led a dozen men to help defend the Alamo. • William B. Travis – Led the regular army, even though he was only 26 years old. Had 60 men under his command.

7. Question: What happened at the Alamo? • Bowie and his men had orders from Sam Houston to destroy the fort and take all the weapons. Bowie decided to stay and fight instead. • Travis and his men arrived Feb. 3, 1836. Crockett and his volunteers arrived Feb. 8. • Santa Anna and his Mexican troops arrived at the Alamo on Feb. 23, 1836 and began a siege (lengthy attack on a fortified position) that lasted 13 days. • When Travis saw how many troops Santa Anna brought, he sent the famous “Victory or Death” letter. In it, Travis wrote, “I am besieged by a thousand or more of the Mexicans…”

8. Question: Why did Santa Anna want to fight at the Alamo, and why didn’t Sam Houston? • Santa Anna hoped to trap Houston himself at the Alamo. In addition, Santa Anna promised to sweep all Anglo and Tejano rebels from Texas. If Santa Anna failed to take the Alamo, his political enemies could use that fact against him. • Houston’s experience as a military commander gave him a different frame of reference (experience and culture which shapes opinion) from Santa Anna. Houston believed the Alamo was impossible to defend. He also knew the Texan army was nowhere near ready to fight Santa Anna’s troops in a large-scale battle.

9. Question: How did the Siege of the Alamo work out? • By March 5, 1836 about 1,800 troops surrounded the Alamo. The Mexicans warned the defenders there would be no mercy by raising a red flag, and playing a marching theme known as “Deguello.” • The actual battle lasted only 90 minutes before all of the defenders and an estimated 600 Mexican soldiers were killed.

10. Question: How did Texas respond to the siege at the Alamo? • On March 2, 1836, the provisional government of Texas signed the Declaration of Independence. • George Childress is remembered as the man who wrote the Declaration. He modeled the document after the U.S. Declaration of Independence. • He listed complaints against the Mexican government, and appealed to the “impartial world” to help the Texans gain their freedom and maintain their rights.

11. Question: What was happening while Santa Anna fought at the Alamo? • While Santa Anna led the main Mexican force, another force led by General Urrea marched north along the Gulf coast. • Urrea’s army killed about 100 Texans in skirmishes (small, brief battles) on his way to the presidio at Goliad. • The Texans’ largest armed group was in Goliad, led by James Fannin. Fannin tried to lend men to the Alamo defenders, but supplies and transportation prevented it. • Urrea caught up to Fannin’s men. On March 20, Fannin surrendered a few miles east of Goliad.

12. Question: Why is Goliad important? • After Fannin’s surrender, Urrea marched the prisoners back to Goliad. Santa Anna ordered all of the Texans executed. • The “Goliad Massacre” reinforced the idea that Texans would either live free or die. Santa Anna refused to allow captured combatants to live. • Texans used “Remember the Alamo! Remember Goliad!” as their battle cry in the Battle of San Jacinto.

13. Question: Where was Sam Houston during the Texans’ losses at the Alamo and Goliad? • Houston was commander of the Texas Army, but was frustrated that the volunteer armies would not follow orders. • Houston resigned briefly to negotiate a peace treaty, but returned to command in early March 1836. • Houston’s army started with less than 400 men in Gonzales. After learning of the fall of the Alamo, Houston broke camp and marched his troops east.

14. Question: Where was the decisive battle of the Texas Revolution? • By April 1836, Santa’s troops had gotten low on food, ammunition, and other supplies. • On April 20-21, Houston’s 800 troops fought Santa Anna’s 1,300 men at San Jacinto. While Mexican troops rested to prepare for a morning attack, the Texans stormed the battlefield. Santa Anna was defeated April 21, 1836.

15. Question: What happened after the Battle of San Jacinto? • Sam Houston became known as the George Washington of the Texas Revolution. • Texas became an independent republic in 1836. Houston was elected President, and Lorenzo de Zavala was vice president. • Lorenzo de Zavala was also known for helping write the Mexican Constitution of 1824 and for assisting in the Texas fight for independence.