Alamo Journal Project

1. Alamo Journal Project

2. JUMP START • Analyze the map from the background essay and list some of the challenges that the Mexican army might have faced in February of 1836. • When you finish, begin reading Document A, silently.

3. Document A – Santa Anna’s Speech • Who gave this speech? Where and when did he give it? • According to the speaker, who were the “miserable wretches”? What were two of the things that they did to Mexico? • According to the speaker, what mistake was made by Mexican officials? • Many of the assembled soldiers listening to this speech were ordinary men recruited from the area around Saltillo in northern Mexico. How do you think they would have responded to this speech?

4. Notes • Santa Anna wrote this speech for an audience larger than his soldiers. He sent a copy to Mexico City to be read before Congress. • It was also in Mexican newspapers. • Santa Anna refers to Mexico’s own problems. He was also dealing with issues on the homefront as well. • Mexicans feared he was becoming a dictator after a massacre at Zacatecas near Coahuila.

5. Journal Entry #1 • Date your entry “Evening, February 20, 1836.” Santa Anna’s words certainly get your attention, along with everyone else’s. And the Mexican army is only a few days’ march away! You practically run to your journal. • What is your reaction to the speech? • How do you feeling knowing he is close? • What do your friends, or comrades think?

6. Jump Start • Imagine that you are in a battle in which you and your troops are outnumbered. You realize that no one else is coming to help you. You could retreat, but you promised to fight the battle until the end. Would you stay and fight or would you leave? Why? • Finish your first entry!

7. Document B – Travis’s Letter • http://youtu.be/-HaUQhzqwJs • Who was William Travis? • Who did Colonel Travis hope would read this letter? • What reasons might Travis have had for writing this letter? • What effect might this letter have had on the people in the Alamo once it became known?

8. Notes • Upon entering San Antonio, Santa Anna raised a red flag on the tower of a church, which was visible to those in the Alamo. • Travis wrote in his last letter that Santa Anna had demanded “surrender at discretion,” suggesting that if the Texans did not give up, they would be put to death. He did not promise, however, that they would live if they surrendered. • Captain Albert Martin was entrusted with the letter traveled through out and by March 30th had reached New York. • http://youtu.be/9y9TqBLfZgk

9. Journal Entry #2 • Date your entry “Evening, February 24, 1836.” It is now four days after your first entry. Clearly, Santa Anna’s army has arrived. Deep down, how do you feel about Travis’s letter to the world? Are you with him all the way? Are you having second thoughts? You can see Santa Anna’s troops beyond the walls!

10. Jump Start – Pre AP • Swap Alamo journals with your shoulder partner and let them proofread your first two entries (or what you’ve completed so far) while you check their journal.

11. Jump Start – On Level • Make sure your first two entries are COMPLETE! • Clocking Activity - 2-3 minutes per rotation • Spelling – check for errors • Capitalization – proper nouns, beginnings • Punctuation – commas, periods, etc. • Grammar – Does it sound right or make sense?

12. Document C - Independence • Who, according to the authors of this document, is giving them the power to declare independence? • What do you think might have been the opinion of each of the following people to this Texas Declaration of Independence? • A Tejano living in San Antonio but not at the Alamo • Anglo soldiers defending the Alamo • Mexican General Santa Anna

13. Notes • There are similarities between the U.S. and TX Declaration of Independence as they include both a definition of government, what a country has failed to do, and a list of grievances. • It was signed March 2, 1836. • 5 copies were sent to nearby towns and 1,000 handbills were created. • We do not know whether the men in the Alamo received a copy.

14. Journal Entry #3 • Date your entry “March 4, 1836.” It has taken two days for a copy of the Declaration to makes its way to the Alamo. Yesterday, the number of Mexican troops surrounding the Alamo walls increased dramatically. The ground shakes as Mexican artillery pounds the Alamo’s two-feet-thick walls. You huddle with your journal, lift your pen, and write.

16. Alamo Floor Plan in 1836

17. Document D – Battle Plan • How many troops did Santa Anna employ for his attack on the Alamo? • What was Santa Anna’s strategy of attack? • What were the indications that an all-out assault on the Alamo was about to happen? • What decision did everyone at the Alamo have to face?

18. Notes • It is of interest that Santa Anna’s decision to engage the rebels at the Alamo was not supported by many of his junior officers. • “We should have attacked the enemy at the heart instead of weakening ourselves by going to Bejar, a garrison without political or military importance. This was a unanimous opinion and the commander-in-chief heard it.”---Jose Enrique de la Pena

19. Journal Entry #4 • Date your entry “10:00 P.M., March 5, 1836.” You have just left Colonel Travis and your fellow Alamo fighters. All firing outside the walls has ceased. The guns are quiet. You reach under your blanket and pull out your journal. Refer to the details of the map as you write.

20. Document E – El Deguello • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VE1ydDg8uQ4 • What was El Deguello? • What did the music signify when it played? • What did General Santa Anna hope to achieve by playing the song?

21. Journal Entry #5 • Date your entry, “Dawn, March 6, 1836.” Before rushing to your battle station on the north wall, a force bigger than yourself causes you to reach for your journal to write one last entry. The sounds of exploding shells mix with the fateful music.