Remember The Alamo!

I have decided to do my second essay on The Alamo.  Aside from being one of my favorite events in the wild west days, it was also one of my grandfathers favorites as well.  I know he has a collection of books and writings and some magazines in a box.  I’d love to get my hands on it, but can’t rely on that information until I can look through it tomorrow when I go visit the family.

But until then, my first source is going to be this book that I bought awhile back but haven’t even looked at yet.  It has just been sitting on my bookshelf collecting dust.  The “Buy with one click” feature on amazon.com causes me to buy a lot of stuff sometimes but I guess this purchase will end up being worth it.  The book is called “The Alamo” by Frank Thompson and it has really good reviews.  Here is the link with a better description.

http://www.amazon.com/Alamo-Frank-Thompson/dp/1571458409

My second source is an article from the 1996 issue of “Wild West” magazine written by Lee Paul.  It is an informative, well written piece located at

http://www.historynet.com/the-alamo-13-days-of-glory.htm

My third source is from the Smithsonian Magazine.  This article seems to correct the story, at least from America’s perspective.  Of course each country (Mexico and the US) have a different perspective of how it all went down.  I think this is important because people have to realize that there are two sides to every story.  I’d be curious as what Germany teaches in their curriculum when teaching about World War 2 and the nazi’s, etc.  This narrows that down a little bit better in terms of the two viewpoints.

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history-archaeology/alamo.html?c=y&page=1

My fourth source is a book by William C. Davis called “Three roads to the Alamo”.  It is more informative about the more important men of the battle, such as Davie Crockett.  It is supposed to be in stock at the library but I can’t pick it up until Monday, but it also has really nice reviews.  The “main” men in this battle were very famous.  Davie Crockett was very intimidating to Mexico.  He was believed to be some sort of super hero type strength of a man.  This source also talks about Jim Bowie, which is where the name for the “Bowie” knife comes from.  He carried a very large blade with him during fights.  These little details are important to grasping this battle.

http://www.tamu.edu/faculty/ccbn/dewitt/adp/central/books/reviews/three_roads_to_the_alamo.html

My fifth source is an internet based source that tells more about the Mexican-American War, which was the main war the battle of the Alamo was fought in.  I think it’s important to have a grasp on the entire war as well, to realize the importance of the battle of the alamo.  The Alamo was just one fight, and probably the most famous.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/general-article/grant-mexican-american-war/

I am hoping that these sources are appropriate for this essay.  It definitely is going to be much more difficult to put it all together than the first essay.

 

Yee Haw!!

– Chris

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