What Channel Does the Texans Come on
The story behind Texas' world-famous 'Come and Take It' flag
PHOTOS: Texas history facts
The famous flag from that Gonzales clash has become a hallmark of Texas pride, with its "Come And Take It" message one of Texas' most-defining. It is the first flag used in the Texas Revolution and close to 200 years later it shows no signs of going away.
>>>Learn some Texas history facts that aren't alays taught in school...
Zachary Symm/Getty Images/500px
Scroll ahead to learn Texas history facts they don't teach in school anymore.
Getty Images
"Texians were not fighting to form the Republic of Texas," Ramos said. "It was Plan B, after the United States rejected annexation. Texans voted over 95 percent to request statehood over forming a Republic."
PHAS/UIG via Getty Images
Most Texas revolutionaries were not native Texans
"Only two signers of the Texas Declaration of Independence were born in Texas, Francisco Ruiz and José Antonio Navarro," Ramos said.
Above: William H. Huddle, "The Surrender of Santa Anna." HARRY CABLUCK/STF
"It's not emphasized enough, the 'Defenders of the Alamo,' were only seven months earlier, the invaders of the Alamo," Ramos said, referring to the siege of Béxar, an early campaign from Texas revolutionaries against the Mexican government in modern day San Antonio.
"Texas is probably the least conscious state when it comes to Native American history," said Ramos. "In Texas, it's kind of talked about in the past tense. Except for a few tribes, it's relegated to prehistory."
John Moore/Getty Images
"There isn't enough on pre-contact history or what Texas was like before the invasion of the Europeans," Horne said. "How were the Comanches living? They were the main force opposing settler colonization."
DEA PICTURE LIBRARY/De Agostini/Getty Images
"The Republic of Texas was a slaveholder republic," Ramos said. "The Republic of Texas constitution was explicitly written to establish, maintain and preserve slavery into perpetuity. I think the way it is framed in most history books makes it a minor part of Texas. It was in fact the driving economic and political force."
Frederic Lewis/Getty Images
"We need a clearer understanding of what historians are telling about why the Lone Star State Republic was formed: the attempt to escape the abolition of slavery," Horne said. "There were two secessions, in 1836 and 1861, because of slavery."
LAURA BUCKMAN/AFP/Getty Images
"Texas history is sometimes used as a way to prove allegiances rather than understand the past for what it is," Ramos said. "Texas history school curriculum is set by the State Board of Education, which is an elected position. Because it's an elected position, education has become politicized."
File photo
"I'd like to know more about the Lone Star Republic and its diplomatic relations," Horne said. According to Horne, Texas was greatly involved in the slave trade with Cuba and Brazil, and even had an embassy in London.
David Williams/Austin Ridesharing
According to Horne, Texas' people participated in the struggle for higher wages, better working conditions, the right to organize and equal treatment for women — all of which are barely understood in their relationship with Texas history.
In a recent Houston Chronicle article, Andrew Dewey, a history teacher of nearly four decades, said no textbooks ever mentioned the Camp Logan riot, a riot caused by racial tensions that resulted in the death of dozens of African American soldiers and Houstonians.
xx
Texas has more than 180 public symbols of the Confederacy, according to the Texas Tribune. Most came decades after the Civil War and many were created during or after the Civil Rights era.
Michael Ciaglo/StaffOctober 2nd marks the 183rd anniversary of the Battle of Gonzales, which marked the first military fight of the Texas Revolution in 1835.
The famous flag from that Gonzales clash has become a hallmark of Texas pride, with its "Come And Take It" message one of Texas' most-defining. It is the first flag used in the Texas Revolution and close to 200 years later it shows no signs of going away.
RED MENACE: Texas' lost communist 'invasion' of 1952
It can be seen on shirts, neckties, underwear, license plates, album covers, food trucks, murals, hats, koozies, and fraternity walls, even tattooed into the skin of true blue Texans.
The phrase "Come and Take It" dates back to King Leonidas I defying the Persian army to take his army's weapons with the phrase "Molon labe" at the Battle of Thermopylae.
The Gonzales flag itself was created by Sarah Seely DeWitt and her daughter, Evaline, from Noami DeWitt's wedding dress.
BATTLE WAGON: Spending a night aboard the Battleship Texas, the last of her kind
The Battle of Gonzales centered on American colonists in that town who were refusing to give back a cannon (the one on the flag) back to Mexican soldiers that they had received in 1831 to fend off Natives in the area. They wanted it now to defend themselves from Mexican General Antonio López de Santa Anna's increasingly aggressive actions against the colonists.
A replica of the infamous "Come and Take It" flag from the Battle of Gonzales hangs in the state capitol in Austin, Texas.
Houston ChronicleAs the Texas State Historical Association notes, the battle was actually more of skirmish. But it did mark a definitive break in relations between the Mexicans and the colonists. Less than a year later Texas would be its own republic.
SEE ALSO: Come and Take It Flag | 3x5 feet
"Come and Take It" also was used in the American Revolution when Col. John McIntosh told British brass the same thing as they attempted to overtake Fort Morris in Georgia on November 25, 1778. The fort would later fall but the fight would motivate thousands to come.
BIG FAIL: When making a map of Texas goes really, really wrong
It has come to symbolize defiance against someone or something looking to grind you down or deprive you of a right or privilege.
The disposition of the cannon immortalized on the flag has been disputed. Some believe Mexican General Antonio López de Santa Anna's troops melted it down along with other weaponry after they seized it. You can see replicas of the flag all over Texas. That is if you don't already have one above your living room mantel, like any self-respecting Texan.
Craig Hlavaty covers Houston history and pop-culture. Read him on our breaking news site, Chron.com, and on our subscriber site, HoustonChronicle.com. | craig.hlavaty@chron.com | Text CHRON to 77453 to receive breaking news alerts by text message
What Channel Does the Texans Come on
Source: https://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/texas/article/Texas-revolution-Come-and-Take-It-flag-Gonzales-13275757.php
0 Response to "What Channel Does the Texans Come on"
Post a Comment