Anglos described by one Spanish
official:
'Nomadic like Arabs....distinguished
only from savages in their color, language and cunning'
New Spain had a five million
population with half being Indians. Interesting
fact for someone claiming a low number for the native inhabitants of
North America.
The Texas Revolution
There
was not much that was done in Texas that was revolutionary, though
people use the words revolution, rebellion, and separatism to mean
the same thing. It was an attempt to break away from a national
government, not to remake society.
The
myth of the Texas revolution has about as much in common with the
reality of the events in 1836 as the movie 300 would with the events
described by Herodotus. It event has its basic racial stereotypes
(The Persians are black for some reason in the movie; the depiction
of Mexicans is decidedly negative in the 'Texas Revolution myth' even
though they too rebelled against Santa Anna), Davy Crockett was the
subject of several 'dime-novels'(comics can be considered to be
descended from these). The idea of an actual race war is implicit in
the accounts of the Texas Revolution. There are wider issues of an
American populace used to federalism and a legal-system based on
common law. But these following quotes will help illuminate the
attitudes that led both sides to the conflict.
“A
war of barbarism and of despotic principles, waged by the Mongrel
Spanish-Indian and negro race against the anglo-american race”
Stephen
Austin, quoted pg 134
David
Weber Refighting the Alamo: Mythmaking and the Texas Revolution
Major
Problems in Texas History
“I
looked upon the Mexicans as scarce more than apes”
-Noah
Smithwich, pg 135
David
Weber Refighting the Alamo: Mythmaking and the Texas Revolution
Major
Problems in Texas History
But
to be fair the racism stream ran had two banks.
“Just
as the Goths, Ostrogoths, Alans and other tribes devastated
Rome.....”
-Report
of a Mexican Committee on Foreign Relations, pg 135
David
Weber Refighting the Alamo: Mythmaking and the Texas Revolution
Major
Problems in Texas History
So
clearly, during his own life Crockett was a subject of myth. So any
battle involving him will be easier to deal with than the complex
figure of Sam Houston. The defeat is celebrated because the example
of heroic sacrifice is for some reason more powerful. There is a
monument at Thermopylae which to paraphrase its actual content says
'O Stranger passing by, Tell Sparta that obedient to her laws here we
lie'. The monument at Plataea is just a melted down column made of
Persian weapons. It is more entertaining and grand a subject to speak
of a battle involving the Persian King himself in a small mountain
pass against an outnumbered Greek force than it is to discuss a
battle involving more equal numbers being led by Mardonius, a mere
general. Romans talked more about Cannae than Zama; more about
Teutoberg Wald than Germanicus recovering the standards. Single
events like battles, especially ones that involve last stands, are
easier to focus on. So in that vein, the Alamo is an oversimplified
example of the Texas revolution which lends itself to myth-making due
to the self-sacrifice of the defenders involved. San Jacinto was a
battle which was chosen by Houston after he had followed a Fabian
strategy. Historians generally do not pay attention to battles fought
in this manner, not even those of Fabius himself. Historians all wish
they were poets; and they speak most eloquently about that which
lends itself to myth and couplets more so than prose.
The
myth will change with the racial composition of Texas. It will never
be an inversion of the White supremacy inherent in its older forms ,
but it will change to focus on a state rebelling against a tyrannical
central government, especially with the emerging crises of the next
decade appearing to be controversies over federalism on such issues
as Obamacare, Gay Rights, the 2nd
Amendment, Marijuana legalization and such.
