Happy San Jacinto Day! (why have we forgotten) (Houston, West: campsites, living)

[Westerner92]

For that matter, one could also ask why we don't remember the Battle of Yorktown for America's independence.

[Houston3]

Originally Posted by sxrckr

It's probably forgotten because it's not considered politically correct to remember, these days. Sad, really.

This^^^^^^^it's a shame but true..... REMEMBER THE ALAMO

[Houston3]

Originally Posted by Westerner92

For that matter, one could also ask why we don't remember the Battle of Yorktown for America's independence.

Because we have the Fourth of July......

[MockingbirdHill]

Originally Posted by skelaki

"Back and forth in front of the Alamo went the two divisions of the parade, meeting and passing and turning to meet and pass again, all the while pelting each other with flowers, till the plaza where they rode was covered deep with them. And the bands played and the people cheered, till the smallest schoolboy in their midst felt a thrill of gratitude to the heroes whose deeds they were commemorating. He might miss the deeper meaning of it all, but he grasped one fact clearly enough: that had it not been for the grim battle which those brave fellows fought to the death, there would have been no San Jacinto Day for him. No pageant-filled holiday to make one feel that it is a great and glorious thing to be a son of the Lone Star State." MARY WARE IN TEXAS by Annie Fellow Johnston (one of the books in my favorite childhood series). So San Jacinto Day was celebrated at one time long ago.

It is celebrated annually on the Friday closest to April 21 at the Battle of Flowers Parade through downtown San Antonio (and it passes in front of the Alamo). Sadly, its meaning is blurred, if not totally lost, in all the other festivities of the annual week of Fiesta, which is typically about eating as much greasy TexMex food as possible and drinking all the beer you can hold. The SAPD sure have their hands full that week.

[SVTRay]

Originally Posted by Houston3

Because we have the Fourth of July......

Absolutely!

[MockingbirdHill]

Visited the San Jacinto Monument for the first time last month. Engraved around the base at the bottom is the "nutshell version" of the history of Texas Independence. REALLY NEAT place to visit if you're into Texas history.

Yesterday I visited Goliad, also for the first time. Amazing story. Having grown up in San Antonio, I now understand the battle-cry at San Jacinto: "Remember the Alamo! Remember Goliad!"

[bresilhac]

I would say this particular event in Texas history is not recalled fondly, if at all, because of the dubious nature of the so-called "battle" that took place at San Jacinto. From what I understand the Mexicans under Gen. Santa Anna were ambushed by the Texans in their sleep and routed and dispersed as a result of this "strategy". This is not something to be proud of if you're looking back at the history of Texas' war for independence.

[Dr.Mcninja]

Originally Posted by bresilhac

I would say this particular event in Texas history is not recalled fondly, if at all, because of the dubious nature of the so-called "battle" that took place at San Jacinto. From what I understand the Mexicans under Gen. Santa Anna were ambushed by the Texans in their sleep and routed and dispersed as a result of this "strategy". This is not something to be proud of if you're looking back at the history of Texas' war for independence.

If they were asleep, it was their own fault. The battle was at 430 in the afternoon.
Anytime a group of 910 men defeats an army of 1360, people are going to celebrate it. Yes, they killed many who were trying to surrender, but they were acting on the emotions of the many Texians who were killed in the same manner in the months prior.

[doctorjef]

Serious history is a complex and unlovely set of facts generally. A lot, or perhaps most, of the popular mythology surrounding any particular event is just going to be distorted or plain inaccurate. By the time of the thirteen British colonies along the Eastern Seaboard of North America declared independence, the noxious Stamp Act had long since been repealed by Parliament and those legendary taxes were not really an issue. Indeed, the taxes levied on the colonies were to pay for their defence by British forces during what we call the French and Indian Wars, although this was in fact simply the North American theatre of the worldwide Seven Years War between France and its allies and Britain and her allies. As we should know from recent experience, wars tend to cost a lot of money and you need to raise taxes to pay for them, or alternatively you can run George Bush style deficits. So, the taxes levied on the American colonies for their defence were perfectly reasonable in principle, though perhaps poorly executed politically. Further, the tax issue is only one of a number of dubious policy matters surrounding the rebellion of the colonies. I just point this out to underscore the fact that the constituting mythologies of a people can't be taken at face value. The Texas Revolution is as complex as the American Revolution, with injustices perpetrated on both sides in the respective conflicts, as well as some questionable motivations for declaring independence in the first place.

However, I doubt that Texas Independence Day and San Jacinto Day are largely ignored today out of a motive to obfuscate the complexities of Texas history. There are instead a number of reasons, far more prosaic. You can only have so many public holidays (the days are floating holidays for state employees); the main American national days - 4th of July, Veterans Day, Memorial Day and Labor Day weekends - overshadow the special days observed in any particular State; the two Texas days are too close together on the calendar; and at the end of the day, maintaining the Texas mythology is less important to people than the politics and the core mythologies of the American nation as a whole.

[Pontificator]

"The very ink with which all history is written is merely fluid prejudice."

Mark Twain