Alamo, the

The Alamo, originally named Misión San Antonio de Valero, was built in 1724 and served as a home to Spanish missionaries and Indian converts. It is located in what is today San Antonio, Texas. During the early 1800s, the Spanish army stationed a cavalry unit at the mission and named it the “Alamo” (meaning “cotton-wood” in Spanish) in honor of their hometown, Alamo de Parras, Coahuila, Mexico. During the Mexican revolution for independence from Spain, the fortress had been in the hands of both revolutionaries and royalists. It remained in the hands of the Mexican army until December 1835, amid the Texas Revolution, when the rebel Texans captured the fort by driving Mexican forces out of San Antonio de Bexar. Soon after, in February 1836, Mexican forces sought to recapture the Alamo in a battle that made the fort famous and a shrine to Texan patriots to this day. The siege of the Alamo began on February 23 and lasted 13 days, ending on March 6 when Mexican forces permeated the walls of the fort.

The Mexican president-cum-dictator, General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna, assembled a force to quell the Texan rebellion and retake the Alamo. The Texan rebels, made up of Texians (Anglo-American settlers) and local Tejanos (ethnic Mexicans of Tejas), were determined to hold the fort despite the news from Commander William Travis that reinforcements would not come. A small band of 33 men from Gonzales, Texas, would later join the Alamo garrison. On March 2, Texas declared independence in the midst of the Alamo battle, unbeknownst to the defenders, who sent a vote in favor of independence to the constitutional convention at Washington-on-the-Brazos. Among the defenders of the Alamo were some local heroes and national icons. David Crockett, former Tennessee congressman and legendary frontiersman, was among the Texian patriots who gave their lives for the Alamo and for Texas. Famous knife fighter James Bowie was in command of a volunteer force defending the Alamo. Tejano political and military hero Juan Seguín was among the Alamo defenders as well and was sent out as a courier in request of more troops. The Alamo defenders were a diverse force. Americans from the north and south, Western Europeans, Tejano natives, and Black slaves all fought and died at the Alamo. They banded together in a fight against the increasing centralization of the Mexican government under Santa Anna, who rose to power in a coup and abolished the Constitution of 1824. This encroachment on autonomy is what sparked the Texas Revolution, and the Alamo became a symbol of that resistance.

After killing most of the Alamo garrison, Mexican forces continued through the town of San Antonio de Bexar, setting fire to homes and abusing locals. The loss at the Alamo stirred a fire in the hearts of Texians and Tejanos. The subsequent victory of Texan forces at the Battle of San Jacinto solidified Texan independence and identity. Texan soldiers cried out “Remember the Alamo” in memory of their fallen compatriots. The brutality of Santa Anna's forces in the wake of the Alamo perpetuated and intensified anti-Mexican sentiments among Texas's Anglo population. The Alamo was yet another catalyst for tension during an immutable conflict between Mexico and Texas.

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