what happened to the slaves at the alamo

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. Portrait of Jim Bowie, circa 1820. There were four people enslaved at the Alamo where we know their names : Joe and Bettie (enslaved by William Travis); "Tom", who may have been Bowie's servant, and "Charlie", about whom nothing is known. Bush and San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg threw their political muscle behind reviving the project. When Mexican troops stormed the former mission known as the Alamo on the morning of March 6, 1836, Mexican General Antonio Lpez de Santa Anna ordered that no prisoners be taken. It is the countrys economic and cultural hub, as well as home to the offices of the federal government. I like the sound of the word," John Wayne's Davy Crockett lectures Laurence Harvey as William Travis in The Alamo. 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The following, adapted from the Chicago Manual of Style, 15th edition, is the preferred citation for this entry. 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. SAN ANTONIO The Alamo needs a makeover; on that, at least, everyone agrees. 3" on the balcony of Ashton Villa: . Show us with your support. On June 19, 1865, Union General Gordon Granger and over 2,000 federal troops arrived at Galveston Island to take possession of the state and enforce the two-year-old Emancipation Proclamation.There, he proclaimed his "General Order No. May 10, 202110 AM Central. On that day, accompanied by an unidentified Mexican man and taking two fully equipped horses with him, he escaped. William Fairfax Gray, From Virginia to Texas, 1835 (Houston: Fletcher Young, 1909, 1965). They ran out into the open where they were unceremoniously run down and killed by Mexican cavalry. You have to remember that this city is predominantly Hispanic. The attack on the Alamo in 1836 was not a 13-day siege and slaughter as often portrayed in film and television. 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. The church was still not completed when it was transferred to civil authorities in 1792. Someof the men defendingthe Alamo were slaveholders, and manyof them werent even Texans: they were Americans paid by New Orleans merchants who saw the potential for big profits if the state seceded. Minster, Christopher. But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! 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. Accounts of his departure from the Alamo differ, but he later joined Susanna W. Dickinson and her escort, Ben, Santa Anna's Black cook, on their way to Gen. Sam Houston's camp at Gonzales. 2023 A&E Television Networks, LLC. 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. In their fascinating new book, "Joe: The Slave Who Became an Alamo Legend," Ron L. Jackson Jr. and Lee Spencer White fill in the biographical details of a man who deserves credit for . A few of the survivors later gave chilling eyewitness accounts of the battle. A United Nations committee is expected to announce this weekend whether the Alamo will receive UNESCO World Heritage status, putting it in the same league as Stonehenge, the Taj Mahal, and the Statue of Liberty. Generations of Texas schoolchildren have been taught to admire the Alamo defenders as revolutionaries slaughtered by the Mexican army in the fight for Texas independence. "15 Facts About the Battle of the Alamo." On April 21, 1836, at the Battle of San . To an amazing degree, maybe because the Texas media [are] still dominated by Anglos as well as the Texas government, that viewpoint has just never really gotten into the mainstream. As a nation we're finally reexamining that narrative and acknowledging that it's all very well and good, as far as it goes, but for too long it hasn't gone far enough. Santa Anna sent them to Houstons camp in Gonzalez with a warning that a similar fate awaited the rest of the Texans if they continued their revolt. If you change your mind, you can easily unsubscribe. The 1793 law enforced Article IV, Section 2, of the U.S. Constitution in authorizing any federal district judge or circuit court judge, or any state magistrate . They told us how glorious that battle was. But the heart of their 26 fast-paced chapters is . ThoughtCo, May. Because of Joe, a slave, we can remember as much as we do about the Alamo. After the U.S. Department of the Interior nominated the Alamo for UN recognition last year, State Senator Donna Campbell introduced a bill preventing any foreign entity from gaining any ownership, control, or management" over the fort. During the first couple of days, however, Santa Anna made no attempt to seal the exits from the Alamo and the town: the defenders could very easily have slipped away in the night if they had so desired. "There is a definite, deliberate attempt in mainstream Texas history to start Texas history in 1836, with the arrival of the anglos," Joe Lopez, a columnist for the Rio Grande Guardian, told Fusion. The third big name at the Alamo, the commander of the force, William Barret Travis, had at least one slave with him, Joe. Click on the photo for complete transcription. Houston's men were the first to shout. Texas State Historical Association (TSHA). The Daughters of the Republic of Texas, a womens organization including descendants of the earliest Texan residents, has managed the Alamo since 1905. By mid-February 1836, Colonel James Bowie and Lieutenant Colonel William B. Travis had taken command of Texan forces in San Antonio. Come or go, buy or sell, drunk or sober, or however they choose." Joe took cover and continued fighting until the battle was over, when he presented himself and, as a slave, his life was spared. But conservative groups rallied in armed protest and turned up at public meetings chanting Not one inch!, State leaders took up the cause, including Lt. Gov. Meanwhile, Alamo Plaza became a focus of San Antonios Black Lives Matter protests. But three writers, all Texans, say the common narrative of the Texas revolt. Some historians believe slavery was the driving issue in the showdown at the Alamo, arguing that Mexicos attempts to end slavery contrasted with the hopes of many white settlers in Texas at the time who moved to the region to farm cotton. . Mexico had in fact abolished slavery in 1829, causing panic among the Texas slaveholders, overwhelmingly immigrants from the south of the United States. Joe was a stalwart defender alongside Travis and other Texians. And in the end, Santa Anna lost the war, going down in defeat within six weeks. The movie, most reviewers would tell you, is a mess. Santa Annas army arrived in San Antonio in late February1836. Mexican general Santa Anna appeared in short order at the head of a massive army and laid siege to the Alamo. Mexico gained independence from Spain in 1821, and at the time, Texas (or rather Tejas) was part of Mexico. Families were often split up by the sale of one or more members, usually never to see or hear of each other again. The historic movement carried thousands of enslaved people to freedom. ThoughtCo. Nolan Thompson, 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. On the eve of the Civil War, which Texas would enter as a part of the Confederacy, there were 182,566 slaves, nearly one-third of the states population. Santa Anna ordered his men to take no prisoners, and only a small handful of the Texans were spared. hide caption. Though vastly outnumbered, the Alamos 200 defenderscommanded by James Bowie and William Travis and including the famed frontiersman Davy Crockettheld out for 13 days before the Mexican forces finally overpowered them. 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 treatment of slaves in the United States often included sexual abuse and rape, the denial of education, and punishments like whippings. 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. Dont get me wrong the defenders of the mission-turned-fortress were killed en masse as Mexican troops stormed the structure. Twice a week we compile our most fascinating features and deliver them straight to you. It still surprises me that slavery went unexamined for so long. The only person spared in the retaking of the Alamo was Joe, the personal slave of William Travis. 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. A 2013 BexarCounty reportpredicted a $100 million benefit to the local economy and more than 1,000 new jobs if the sites receive heritage status. A former slave was not likely to have an education or much of a job. The Cenotaph at Alamo Plaza in San Antonio. Last summer, the Cenotaph was spray-painted with graffiti decrying white supremacy. All Rights Reserved. Fugitive Slave Acts, in U.S. history, statutes passed by Congress in 1793 and 1850 (and repealed in 1864) that provided for the seizure and return of runaway slaves who escaped from one state into another or into a federal territory. Did he die free? The victory ensured the success of Texan independence: Santa Anna, who had been taken prisoner, came to terms with Houston to end the war. After the battle, Mexican troops searched the buildings within the Alamo and called for any Blacks to reveal themselves. In 1832, General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna took control of the Mexican government. Visitors walk around the outside of the Alamo in San Antonio. Another survivor was a former Mexican soldier named Brigido Guerrero, who fought with the defenders but apparently escaped death by convincing the Mexicans he had been taken captive. In early 1836, a small group of Texas volunteers at the Alamo held off the Mexican army for 13 days before being defeated (and executed). Until now. 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. Houston was indecisive, lacking a clear plan to meet the Mexican army, but by either chance or design, he met Santa Anna at San Jacinto on April 21, overtaking his forces and capturing him as he retreated south. During the Mexican War of Independence, it briefly (1818) housed Mexican forces under the command of Jose Bernardo Maximiliano Gutierrez and William Agustus Magee. A band of badly outnumbered Texans fought against oppression by the Mexican dictator Santa Anna, holding off the siege. The story, and the heroismof frontiersman Davy Crockett, was mythologized in movies and taught to schoolchildren. 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. 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. After Travis fell . Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/facts-about-the-battle-of-the-alamo-2136256.