The Mysteries of History (March 2 Edition)
Texas Independence; The Teenage Rosa Parks
“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” — Spanish-American philosopher George Santayana, 1905
1836 — Texas Declares Its Independence
public domain image from wikimedia commons
On this date in 1836, in the midst of the Battle of the Alamo in San Antonio, Texas declared its independence from Mexico. Slavery, outlawed by Mexico, was to be permitted according to the Texas Constitution the rebels drafted.
Those desiring to break free from Mexico (who included the “Tres Hombres” Jim Bowie, William Travis, and Davy Crockett) lost the battle and their lives at the Alamo, but six weeks later the “American” (as opposed to Mexican) Texans won at San Jacinto, motivating themselves with the war cry “Remember the Alamo!” Mexican dictator and General Santa Anna was captured and made an offer he couldn’t refuse: admit that Texas was no longer Mexican property, or else. Santa Anna was then allowed to absquatulate, returning, defeated, to Mexico. This (allowing him to leave) was probably not done for altruistic purposes, though, as at the siege of the Alamo, Santa Anna had ordered that no prisoners be taken.
The victorious and now independent-from-Mexico Texans wanted to be annexed by the U.S., but due to Texans’ stand on slavery, there was opposition to this by Northern States. After almost a decade as a Republic, Texas was finally admitted as a State in 1845. However, the long-awaited alliance was short-lived, as Texas severed ties with the U.S. exactly 25 years after its declaration of independence from Mexico when it seceded from the Union at the start of the Civil War.
Questions: Why did Jim Bowie remain at the Alamo rather than retreat when Santa Anna’s large force was approaching? What was Bowie defending and hoping would happen? Why did South Carolinian William Travis join Jim Bowie at the Alamo? Why did Tennessean Davy Crockett join Bowie and Travis at the Alamo? What does the term “Texas-sized” mean to Alaskans? Did you know that if they were flattened out, California and Colorado would be larger than Texas (in other words, those two mountainous States have more surface area than Texas does)?
1955 — Claudette Colvin, the Young Rosa Parks
public domain images from wikimedia commons
Providing inspiration to Rosa Parks (1913-2005), 15-year-old Claudette Colvin (born 1939) refused to give up her seat on the segregated bus she was riding nine months before Rosa famously did the same thing. Both brave acts of sitting down for their rights (and that of others) took place in Montgomery, Alabama in 1955. For Claudette, it was on this date; for Rosa, it was at the end of the year, December 1st to be precise.
Claudette knew her history, and said she felt compelled to refuse to give up her seat — which the bus driver demanded her and two other black girls to do because a white passenger had boarded, and the bus driver wanted him to have their seat. Claudette disobeyed the order because she had been learning about abolitionism in school and said she felt the hands of Sojourner Truth (1797-1883) and Harriet Tubman (1822-1913) on her shoulders, keeping her there.
Claudette was then forcibly removed by police officers, charged with violating segregation law, disorderly conduct, and assaulting a police officer, and booked into an adult jail. The first two charges were later dropped, but the last one was not expunged from her record for three score and six years (in 2021).
Claudette’s father was so afraid of reprisal at the hands of the KKK that he sat up all night with a shotgun for company.
Questions: Why was Claudette not used as a test case against segregation by Civil Rights attorneys — why did they wait for a (the) “Rosa Parks” to come along? Have you heard the Ray Stevens song “Everything is Beautiful”?
