Library Chat with Ms. Pat: Texas Turns 175!

Thursday, March 3, 2011

Texas Turns 175!


By Bonnieblue.png via Wikimedia Commons

175 years ago, Texians took a giant step in forming the Republic of Texas. On March 2, 1836, the delegates attending the Convention of 1836 in Washington-on-the-Brazos adopted the Texas Declaration of Independence. At the same time, Mexican leader, Santa Anna, was leading the siege of the Alamo, which eventually fell on March 6.

The Texas State Library & Archives will have the Texas Declaration of Independence and the William B. Travis letter from the Alamo on display in Austin until April 21. If you get a chance to make the trip, you should take the opportunity to view these rare documents. You will be one of a small group of people to actually see these items! For more information see - Texas State Library & Archives.

The AMS library has many books on the Texas War for Independence and the Republic of Texas. Some that I found interesting:

The Texas War of Independence

by Richard Worth

Marshall Cavendish Benchmark, c2009

This book tells the story of the Texas War of Independence and the Mexican War from the viewpoint of Mexican Americans. The efforts of Mexicans to preserve their empire in the southwest against a large migration of Anglo settlers who believed they were fulfilling the Manifest Destiny of the United States are detailed here. At First, the clash between Anglos and Mexicans led to the independence of Texas. Finally, it resulted in the U.S. invasion of Mexico and the takeover of the southwest, which became part of the United States.

13 Days to Glory : the Siege of the Alamo

by Lon Tinkle

Texas A&M University Press, c1985

A day-to-day chronological investigation of the siege of the Alamo in 1836, discussing the circumstances that led each person to be inside the abandoned mission during the battle that claimed the life of frontiersman Davy Crockett.