One of the most widely recognized American phrases is "Remember The Alamo!", but I am sure most Americans could not even name the decade in which this battle took place. But you guys can! Right? Right! (1830s of course!)
Anyway, many inaccuracies have crept into our collective remembrance of the Alamo. Check out this website on some of the most common misconceptions. In the comment sections, detail the one you found the most interesting. Also, discuss why Americans seem to prefer myth to reality.
The most interesting thing to me about the Alamo was that the soldiers did not know that the United States had made a declaration of its independence before they started fighting. The day after the declaration was signed the men at the Alamo sent a letter saying that the convention must go on and they wanted the declaration made.
ReplyDeleteAmericans want the myth rather than the truth because the myth makes for a better story than the truth. With Christopher Columbus, we made a holiday for him and he would cut natives’ heads off to see if his swords were sharp enough. But Americans want to see the part about him discovering and settling America. We only want the attractive part of the story to make ourselves feel better about how screwed up our country is and was and will be.
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I think the most interesting myth was the one where there are no survivors. Many people still believe today that there were no survivors after the attack on the Alamo. In reality about 22 women and children survived to tell of the attack that happened there. Santa ana also used the survivors to warn the other Texan not to revolt. I think Americans prefer myths over fact because they like to hear stories of Americans prevailing and not the actual truth. We need to be sure we are hearing the truth and not a made up story by someone telling us.
ReplyDeleteThe most interesting thing to me was that the soldiers that were volunteers were not what we would think of as volunteers. When I think of a volunteer, I think of a person that does something with no obligation to finish. The people that were volunteers at the Alamo had a little different situation because they had to sign an oath saying that they were completely loyal to the cause. This said they would fight hard and obey the government of Texas then and in the future. In other words this was a big deal and they could not just quit and go home when they got scared they were going to die.
ReplyDeleteI think Americans go with myths because they are more fun. The stories you hear in your history class of cool people doing amazing things sounds really cool and exciting. Then we get to Mr. Haston's class and learn that Christopher Columbus sliced people in half to see how sharp his sword was. We also learn that Pocahontas never fell in love with John Smith. It kinda makes the stories lose their excitement. (186)
The most interesting misconception to me was that people think there were no survivors. “Thermopylae had her messenger of defeat; the Alamo had none.” That quote made people think there were not any survivors when really there was! Most of the Texans did die but almost twenty women and children were allowed to go back home.
ReplyDeleteAmericans would rather have myth over reality for different reasons. I think there are two big ones. One is to just make the story more interesting. If you say nobody survived, it makes the battle sound more intense. We want interesting things… not boring ones! So people would rather have a myth. The second is that we try to cover stuff up. We do not want some of the stories to sound so bad. Just like the real white mamba pointed out, we do not want people to know that Christopher Columbus was a murderer! If they knew that then their childhood would be ruined like mine. (164)
I thought that it was interesting that they said there were no survivors. I can see why people would say that because the Texans got their butts whooped at the battle of the alamo. But, about 20 women and children were spared and were sent back to their homes. The most famous survivor was Susanna Dickinson whom Santa Anna sent to the Texans with a warning that they would be squished too if they revolted.
ReplyDeleteI think that the reason people prefer myth over reality is because myths are sometimes more exciting than reality is. If you say,” a few survived the battle,” vs. “no one survived the battle,” than people will find the second one more interesting and intense. (120)
I thought that the thing that interested me the most was that there weren't any survivors, but actually, there were survivors. phrases made people think that there really were not any survivors at all. the phrase “Thermopylae had her messenger of defeat; the Alamo had none” had people thinking that there weren't any survivors.
ReplyDeleteI think that people prefer myths over the real truth. Myths are usually more exciting. but like the Alamo there were actually survivors at least 20ish. I guess if people tell you things for so long it actually turns out to be truth. but the truth about the Alamo having zero survivors is false. (109)
i really like the myths of the Alamo but the one i like is number six they could have left because they were volunteers. The volunteers signed an oath saying that they would not leave. So they actually could not leave.
ReplyDeleteAnother one i like is the Mexicans didnt know that Texas had declared independence. They know it was coming it was so expected and did not surprise them.
I really like the myths, things that i thought were true were actually false. I would never think of this myths to be actual myths.i guess people like lies better than the truth. (103)
The misconception I found the most interesting was the the one stating that "there were no survivors." It's a pretty bold statement to claim that there were no survivors so I feel like lying about that is a big deal. It is such a blunt statement that it sticks in people's heads and they remember it! So at least make people remember the right thing. But at the same time, the statement was kind of true. The piece I read on the website said that the women and children who survived left before the last day of the battle. So on the final day, there were technically no survivors. And just so we're clear on this, before this history class the only reference I had to the Alamo was from the movie 'Pee Wee Herman' so I would like to thank Mr. Haston for informing me that it's not all about the red bike in the basement. Once again, ruining our childhood here. (163)
ReplyDeleteThe misconception that stood out to me was the one that said that they could go home whenever they wanted! I honestly had no idea! That is crazy. Maybe it is just because I live in this generation and not that one, but I would not have done it to begin with! Whenever we started loosing battles or a lot of men, I would have said forget this, and gone home! But when you think about it, if all of the volunteers that fought had said that, things today would be a lot different. And the fact that they were all volunteers is pretty amazing! I mean, what if no one had volunteered? Then we would really be in trouble!(120)
ReplyDeleteThe ‘Alamo myth’ that I thought was most interesting was that the soldiers could leave whenever they wanted because they were volunteers. First of all I don’t even know why someone would make something like this up because it defiantly makes our army system look like a joke, but apart from that it’s not even logical; the army doesn’t even work like that today. I think that the motive for saying this and or believing this would be because it makes us look good. You’re basically saying that the people who fought in the Alamo are inspirational brave men because they stood through and held out fighting and died for something they believed in and were passionate about and they did it by choice….oh wait. I think that’s why Americans tend to want to believe the ‘fairy tails’ more than they do the true stuff, because it makes us look good. We all want the wonderful, brave, courageous stories about fearless people to be true but that’s just not how it always works.174
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