Remember The Alamo History Essay

History is not static. It ebbs and flows like Earth’s great lakes, rivers, and oceans. Rather than being directly changed by the sun and the moon like the tide, history is influenced by new found evidence, reinterpretations of past events, and many other factors both seen and unseen. These “ebbs and flows” in historically understanding of the Alamo have and continue to shape culture within Texas, the United States, and Mexico due to the countless narratives, myths, and legends birthed from the Alamo battle in 1836. For some, the history of the Alamo has inspired patriotism, courage, and nationalism. For others, the Alamo’s history serves as a weapon that perpetuates injustice and racism in their everyday lives. Initially, I was interested in studying the specific events of the Alamo and their influence on culture, popular memory, patriotism, and courage; however, my interest swayed to look specifically at the aforementioned racism that resulted from the many themes commonly associated

This documentary covered the entire spectrum of the ways in which historians understand the Alamo using a variety of different lenses. Over the course of the two-hour film, many of the historians who wrote the sources further discussed in this essay also contributed to the documentary. In Remember the Alamo, viewers witness the Alamos transformation from old church mission, to hallowed battleground, and into how the Alamo’s many histories influence society today. This documentary did not only illuminate the different historical approaches, it also bridged the approaches – showing the relationships between symbolic, cultural, military, political, social, and racial histories. In the creation of this documentary, the History Channel created a meaningful piece of history that enlightens it viewers and analyses how historians come to explain the