re: Tennessee sent Texas Sam Houston and Davy Crockett

quote:

---

As such, it isn't a race card or matter of wokeness to point out the realities of the day. Cotton was king and slaves were a factor of production to make it most profitable. Businessmen of the day weren't high on ceding that cost savings for higher cost factors of production. Nor were they favorable of governments trying to impose such a change on them. And, they proved in Texas and later in the US ready to go to war over it.

---

quote:

---

quote:
Playing the race card.

I'm not a fan of either school in this conversation and truly hate all of the evidence that indicates one of my childhood favorite stories and heroes was likely more myth than reality. Such as, Mexican soldiers reporting that Crockett surrendered and was executed; over half the defenders of the Alamo tried to flee and were killed by Mexican lancers; Travis put himself and other in the situation by failure to listen to reporting, there was no "line in the sand." So, the valiant delaying action was out of necessity, not choice. Moreover, it did nothing to truly affect the Mexican ends. It cost them 4 days in their planned timeline to take San Antonio.

All of the above is debatable based on historic reports, but it seems to have some historical backing once the emotional lense of "remember the Alamo" is removed. But, that was just it, the slogan creating a myth that surpassed the possible truths is what really changed the tide of support and "liberated" Texas. One of the most successful information operations in American history.

That said, it is absolutely not up for debate that slavery was foremost at the top of the list if issues causing unrest between American colonists in Texas and Mexico.

Time Magazine
quote:
Correspondence shows conclusively that Stephen F. Austin, the so-called “Father of Texas,” spent years jousting with the Mexico City bureaucracy over the necessity of enslaved labor to the Texas economy. “Nothing is wanted but money,” he wrote in a pair of 1832 letters, “and Negros are necessary to make it.” Each time a Mexican government threatened to outlaw slavery, many in Austin’s colony began packing to go home. In time, as we know now, they put away their suitcases and brought out their guns.


As such, it isn't a race card or matter of wokeness to point out the realities of the day. Cotton was king and slaves were a factor of production to make it most profitable. Businessmen of the day weren't high on ceding that cost savings for higher cost factors of production. Nor were they favorable of governments trying to impose such a change on them. And, they proved in Texas and later in the US ready to go to war over it.

---

quote:

---

Hardly had a part of his army left when Taylor learned that a new Mexican Army of some 15,000 men, including 4,000 excellent cavalry and lancers, was marching north to take back Saltillo and Monterrey under command of the same General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna who had fought the Texans at the Alamo when Texas first rebelled. General Santa Anna had vowed to push the Americans back across the Rio Grande.

With only 4,650 men left, General Taylor moved them to a narrow pass in the mountains south of Saltillo where the Mexicans could be more easily blocked. There the Battle of Buena Vista raged for two days, February 22 and 23, 1847, with Taylor always keeping the Mississippians in readiness beside him. On the second day when a dangerous break in one key line occurred, he ordered them in to save it. The legend is that he did so, saying, “Steady, boys, steady for the glory of Ole Mississippi!” Colonel Davis placed his ranks into a “V” formation which was much praised after the battle. The Mississippi Rifles not only held fast but turned the enemy back. Night soon fell and the Mexican Army retreated. General Zachary Taylor would become a national hero and in 1850, become the president of the United States.

---

quote:

---

If Sam Houston and Davy Crockett had ever met a Longhorns fan - my bet is they would have stayed at home. And probably laid the points and put some action down on Santa Anna.

---