Did Davy Crockett Die in Battle at the Alamo

On March 6, 1836, Mexican forces stormed the Alamo, a fortress-like old mission in San Antonio where some 200 rebellious Texans had been holed up for weeks. The battle was over in less than two hours, leaving great Texas heroes like Jim Bowie, James Butler Bonham and William Travis dead. Among the defenders, that day was Davy Crockett, former Congressman and legendary hunter, scout, and teller of tall-tales. According to some accounts, Crockett died in battle and according to others, he was one of a handful of men captured and later executed. What really happened? Davy Crockett Davy Crockett (1786-1836) was born in Tennessee, then a frontier territory. He was a hard-working young man who distinguished himself as a scout in the Creek War and provided food for his whole regiment by hunting. Initially a supporter of Andrew Jackson, he was elected to Congress in 1827. He fell out with Jackson, however, and in 1835 lost his seat in Congress. By this time, Crockett was famous for his tall tales and folksy speeches. He felt it was time to take a break from politics and decided to visit Texas. Crockett Arrives at the Alamo Crockett made his way slowly to Texas. Along the way, he learned that there was much sympathy for the Texans in the USA. Many men were heading there to fight and people assumed Crockett was, too: he didnt contradict them. He crossed into Texas in early 1836. Learning that the fighting was taking place near San Antonio, he headed there. He arrived at the Alamo in February. By then, Rebel leaders such as Jim Bowie and William Travis were preparing a defense. Bowie and Travis did not get along: Crockett, ever the skilled politician, defused the tension between them. Crockett at the Battle of the Alamo Crockett had arrived with a handful of volunteers from Tennessee. These frontiersmen were lethal with their long rifles and they were a welcome addition to the defenders. The Mexican army arrived in late February and laid siege to the Alamo. Mexican General Santa Anna did not immediately seal the exits from San Antonio and the defenders could have escaped had they wished: they chose to remain. The Mexicans attacked at dawn on March 6 and within two hours the Alamo was overrun. Was Crockett Taken Prisoner? Here’s where things get unclear. Historians agree on a few basic facts: some 600 Mexicans and 200 Texans died that day. A handful—most say seven—of Texan defenders were taken alive. These men were swiftly put to death by orders of Mexican General Santa Anna. According to some sources, Crockett was among them, and according to others, he was not. What’s the truth? There are several sources that should be considered. Fernando Urissa The Mexicans were crushed at the Battle of San Jacinto about six weeks later. One of the Mexican prisoners was a young officer named Fernando Urissa. Urissa was wounded and treated by Dr. Nicholas Labadie, who kept a journal. Labadie asked about the Battle of the Alamo, and Urissa mentioned the capture of a venerable-looking man with a red face: he believed the others called him Coket. The prisoner was brought to Santa Anna and then executed, shot by several soldiers at once. Francisco Antonio Ruiz Francisco Antonio Ruiz, the mayor of San Antonio, was safely behind the Mexican lines when the battle began and had a good vantage point to witness what happened. Before the arrival of the Mexican army, he had met Crockett, as the civilians of San Antonio and the defenders of the Alamo mingled freely. He said that after the battle Santa Anna ordered him to point out the bodies of Crockett, Travis, and Bowie. Crockett, he said, had fallen in battle on the west side of the Alamo grounds near â€Å"a little fort.† Jose Enrique de la Peà ±a De la Peà ±a was a mid-level officer in Santa Anna’s army. He later allegedly wrote a diary, not found and published until 1955, about his experiences at the Alamo. In it, he claims that the â€Å"well-known† David Crockett was one of seven men taken prisoner. They were brought to Santa Anna, who ordered them executed. The rank-and-file soldiers who had stormed the Alamo, sick of death, did nothing, but officers close to Santa Anna, who had seen no fighting, were eager to impress him and fell upon the prisoners with swords. According to de la Peà ±a, the prisoners â€Å"†¦died without complaining and without humiliating themselves before their torturers.† Other Accounts Women, children, and slaves who were captured at the Alamo were spared. Susanna Dickinson, the wife of one of the slain Texans, was among them. She never wrote down her eyewitness account but was interviewed many times over the course of her life. She said that after the battle, she saw Crockett’s body between the chapel and the barracks (which roughly corroborates Ruiz’ account). Santa Anna’s silence on the subject is also relevant: he never claimed to have captured and executed Crockett. Did Crockett die in Battle? Unless other documents come to light, well never know the details of Crocketts fate. The accounts do not agree, and there are several problems with each of them. Urissa called the prisoner venerable, which seems a little harsh to describe the energetic, 49-year-old Crockett. Its also hearsay, as it was written down by Labadie. Ruiz account comes from an English translation of something he may or may not have written: the original has never been found. De la Peà ±a hated Santa Anna and may have invented or embellished the story to make his former commander look bad: also, some historians think the document might be a fake. Dickinson never personally wrote anything down and other parts of her story have been proven questionable. In the end, its not really important. Crockett was a hero because he knowingly remained at the Alamo as the Mexican army advanced, boosting the spirits of the forlorn defenders with his fiddle and his tall tales. When the time came, Crockett and all of the others fought bravely and sold their lives dearly. Their sacrifice inspired others to join the cause, and within two months the Texans would win the decisive Battle of San Jacinto.​ Sources: Brands, H.W. Lone Star Nation: The Epic Story of the Battle for Texas Independence. New York: Anchor Books, 2004. Henderson, Timothy J. A Glorious Defeat: Mexico and its War with the United States.New York: Hill and Wang, 2007.

A Heros Journey - 3224 Words

A Hero’s Journey: Hamlet and Simba What images come to mind as you reflect on your childhood? Playgrounds, blackboards, and soccer balls may be among the warmest of memories. Yet for many mermaids swim their thoughts, princesses get swept of their feet, and lions roar to their loyal place in the animal kingdom. There is no doubt that today’s entertainment has most of its touch using classical influences. Walt Disney has produced animated films that have captured the heart and imagination of audiences of all ages around the world through the magic of storytelling and imagery. Many of us appreciate the imagination and magic that Disney puts into its animations with out knowing they are based off of classical and traditional storylines†¦show more content†¦The final point on the Hero’s Journey is return. This is when the hero acquires his ultimate goal, and returns back to the original departure point and his life prior to that. In Hamlet, the return is marked by Prince Hamlet’s maturation, his Godliness and the changes in his overall behavior after he has reached what he called his ultimate goal. â€Å"The Hero’s Journey† is a pattern of narrative identified by the American scholar Joseph Campbell that appears in drama, storytelling, myth, religious ritual, and psychological development. It describes the typical adventure of the archetype known as The Hero, the person who goes out and achieves great deeds on behalf of the group, tribe, or civilization. The hero’s journey is divided into three sections departure, initiation, and return. The three sections are then divided into subsections that give a little more in detail journey that the so-called â€Å"hero† takes in the storyline. Hamlet and Simba are the main characters in the two storylines that take on the role of the hero. Throughout the early acts of the play, Hamlet acts foolishly and is very immature. He talks to himself and even arg ues with himself. 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Digestive system Essay Example For Students

Digestive system Essay Digestive SystemThe human body uses various kinds of food for energy and growth. To be used, however, food must be changed into a form that can be carried through the bloodstream. The bodys process of extracting useful nutrients from food is called digestion. The digestive system of humans and other higher animals is the group of organs that changes foodcarbohydrates, fats, and proteinsinto soluble products that can be used by the body. Both mechanical action and chemical action are necessary to change food into products that are usable by the body. Human digestion, or the change that food undergoes in the digestive system, takes place in a long tubelike canal called the alimentary canal, or the digestive tract. There is good reason why the passageway used by food to travel through the body is called the alimentary canal. Just as canals are constructed to guide ships through waterways to their destinations, the alimentary canal guides food as it travels through the human body. The wh ole canal is lined with a mucous membrane.Digestion begins in the mouth. Here the food is cut and chopped by the teeth. The tongue helps mix the food particles with a digestive juice called saliva, which is secreted in the mouth. Saliva moistens the food so it can be swallowed easily. It also changes some starches into simple sugars. It is important to chew food thoroughly to mix it well with saliva. Thorough chewing cuts food into small pieces that are more easily attacked by digestive juices. Food should not be washed down with quantities of liquid to avoid chewing. From the mouth the food is swallowed into a transport tube, named the esophagus, or gullet. A flap called the epiglottis closes the windpipe while food is being swallowed. Peristalsis, a wavelike muscular movement of the esophagus walls, forces food down the tube to the stomach. Peristalsis takes place throughout the digestive tract. It is an automatic, or involuntary, action, carried out in response to nerve impulses set up by the contents of the tube. When digestion is working normally, a person is unaware of the movements of the gullet, stomach, and most of the intestine. Swallowing is a voluntary muscular action.At the end of the esophagus there is a muscular valve, or sphincter, through which food enters the stomach. This sphincter muscle keeps food in the stomach from being forced back into the esophagus. Peristalsis in the stomach churns the food and mixes it with mucus and with gastric juices, which contain enzymes and hydrochloric acid. These gastric juices are secreted from millions of small glands in the lining of the upper stomach walls. These glands pour about three quarts of fluid into the stomach daily. Similar glands in the small intestine also secrete enzymes and fluid. Hydrochloric acid secreted by the stomach sets up the sour or acid condition necessary for digestion. Certain remedies for indigestion are advertised as correcting this acid condition. If these remedies actually d o get rid of the stomach acids it is not wise to take them. Acid is required for digestion to be properly undertaken in the stomach. The stomach churns the food into a thick liquid, called chyme, before it is passed on by peristalsis into the small intestine. Another strong sphincter muscle further mashes the chyme and has some control over the rate at which it is passed out of the stomach into the duodenum, or upper small intestine. The sphincter also prevents the chyme from passing back into the stomach. Little by little, as the digestive process in the stomach is completed, all the chyme is passed through the sphincter into the duodenum. This peristalsis is regulated by the autonomic nervous system. This process does not take place all at once. It continues over a period of time. From the time a meal is eaten, it takes from 30 to 40 hours for food to travel the length of the alimentary canal. Different kinds of food, depending on their components, are held in the stomach for var ying lengths of time. Starch and sugar are held in the stomach for a short time only, usually no more than one to two hours. Protein foods are there from three to five hours. Fat foods may remain in the stomach even longer than proteins. This is why eating a heavy dinner of meat, potatoes, and gravy satisfies our hunger longer than one made up entirely of sweets or greens. Furthermore, food made up of easily digested carbohydrates passes quickly from the stomach and into the small intestine. The stomach, though important, is not considered by physicians to be essential to life. People who have had their stomachs completely or partially removed are frequently able to live by taking special foods in small quantities many times a day. The small intestine is then able to perform all necessary digestion.The small intestine, which is from 22 to 25 feet (6.7 to 7.6 meters) long, is the longest part of the digestive tract of humans. The main parts of the small intestine are the duodenum, je junum, and ileum. Food remains in the small intestine for several hours. Two large glands, the liver and the pancreas, connect with the small intestine by ducts, or tubes. Through these ducts the liver and pancreas pour secretions which further aid digestion. Fluid from the pancreas is called pancreatic juice. Fluid from the liver is called bile. The pancreas is one of the most important glands in the body. It secretes up to a pint of pancreatic juice a day. This digestive fluid contains enzymes which help digest carbohydrates, proteins, and fats. One of these enzymes is trypsin, which helps digest protein foods. Other enzymes are amylase and maltase, which help digest carbohydrates. The pancreatic enzyme lipase, along with bile from the liver, helps digest fat. Bile, however, does not contain important enzymes. Bile is stored in the gall bladder, a small hollow organ located just under the liver. We could not live without the liver but the gall bladder can be removed by surgery wit hout serious effect.The liver stores glycogen for later use by the body and furnishes clotting material for the blood. When fully digested, proteins are changed into amino acids; fat foods are changed into fatty acids; and carbohydrates are changed into sugars. These soluble food products are dissolved and then absorbed into the bloodstream through the walls of the small intestine. While food is in the small intestine it is further diluted by fluid secreted by the intestinal glands. In an adult the small intestine is about 21 feet long. By the time the diluted food products have traveled its length, most of their nutrients have been absorbed into the bloodstream.The lining of the small intestine contains many folds. These folds increase the surface area that can be in contact with the food products. The lining surface of the intestinal folds is further increased by many microscopic fingerlike projections called villi. The digested food is passed through the cell membranes of the vil li into the blood and lymph, which carry it to the cells. The body can then use the food for energy and growth. .u1f8e85c23178da9d05ca82f8aca8126f , .u1f8e85c23178da9d05ca82f8aca8126f .postImageUrl , .u1f8e85c23178da9d05ca82f8aca8126f .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .u1f8e85c23178da9d05ca82f8aca8126f , .u1f8e85c23178da9d05ca82f8aca8126f:hover , .u1f8e85c23178da9d05ca82f8aca8126f:visited , .u1f8e85c23178da9d05ca82f8aca8126f:active { border:0!important; } .u1f8e85c23178da9d05ca82f8aca8126f .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .u1f8e85c23178da9d05ca82f8aca8126f { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .u1f8e85c23178da9d05ca82f8aca8126f:active , .u1f8e85c23178da9d05ca82f8aca8126f:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .u1f8e85c23178da9d05ca82f8aca8126f .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .u1f8e85c23178da9d05ca82f8aca8126f .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .u1f8e85c23178da9d05ca82f8aca8126f .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .u1f8e85c23178da9d05ca82f8aca8126f .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .u1f8e85c23178da9d05ca82f8aca8126f:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .u1f8e85c23178da9d05ca82f8aca8126f .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .u1f8e85c23178da9d05ca82f8aca8126f .u1f8e85c23178da9d05ca82f8aca8126f-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .u1f8e85c23178da9d05ca82f8aca8126f:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Social Issues Essay Peristalsis moves material from the small intestine into the large intestine. Peristalsis continues in the large intestine but at a much slower rate. Although the large intestine is only about 6 feet long, waste material takes 10 to 20 hours to pass through it. Here most of the water that was mixed with the food is removed through the walls of the large intestine. The waste is turned into solids that are passed from the body by excretion. In addition to the rectum, anus, and other parts, the large intestine is made up of the ascending colon, the transverse colon, and the descending colon. The contents of the small intestine enter the ascending colon through a sphincter muscle, which prevents their return into the small intestine In the ascending colon, fluids and salts are absorbed. Water taken with meals is absorbed here. Water drunk between meals is mostly absorbed in the small intestine. In the transverse colon more water is removed from the waste materials until they are in sol id form. The descending colon is a holding area for waste. In the colon there are large numbers of bacteria. These bacteria aid in digesting the remaining food products. They also produce folic acid, which prevents anemia, and they aid in the absorption of several vitamins. Enzymes help plants and animals digest their food just as enzymes help humans digest theirs. An enzyme, amylase, helps break down starch into sugar. Another enzyme, maltase, acts upon malt sugar and changes it into glucose, which is more easily absorbed by the body. Lipase changes fats into more usable forms.