Describes what happened during the siege at the Alamo in 1836, as experienced by young Enrique Esparza and his family, and includes a script and instructions for staging a theatrical performance of this adventure.

In early 1836, trouble broke out in Texas. Texas was part of Mexico, yet many of its settlers wanted to fight for independence. Mexican General Santa Anna and his army came to battle the Texans in San Antonio at the Alamo. Eight-year-old Enrique Esparza witnessed the battle. His father was a soldier with the Texas army. The whole Esparza family had taken shelter at the Alamo, but they knew it might be dangerous. Would they survive? In the back of this book, you’ll find a script and instructions for putting on a reader’s theater performance of this adventure. At our companion website—www.historyspeaksbooks.com—you can download additional copies of the script plus sound effects, background images, and more ideas that will help make your reader’s theater performance a success.

As Mexican soldiers fought the mostly Anglo-American colonists and volunteers at the Alamo in 1836, San Antonio's Tejano population was caught in the crossfire, both literally and symbolically. Though their origins were in Mexico, the Tejanos had put down lasting roots in Texas and did not automatically identify with the Mexican cause. Indeed, as the accounts in this new collection demonstrate, their strongest allegiance was to their fellow San Antonians, with whom they shared a common history and a common plight as war raged in their hometown. Timothy M. Matovina here gathers all known Tejano accounts of the Battle of the Alamo. These accounts consist of first reports of the battle, including Juan N. Seguín's funeral oration at the interment ceremony of the Alamo defenders, conversations with local Tejanos, unpublished petitions and depositions, and published accounts from newspapers and other sources. This communal response to the legendary battle deepens our understanding of the formation of Mexican American consciousness and identity.

Retelling of a classic story of the siege of the Alamo told from the unique viewpoint of a 12-year old boy.

"Among the fifty or so Texan survivors of the siege of the Alamo was Joe, the personal slave of Lt. Col. William Barret Travis. First interrogated by Santa Anna, Joe was allowed to depart (along with Susana Dickinson) and eventually made his way to the seat of the revolutionary government at Washington-on-the-Brazos. Joe was then returned to the Travis estate in Columbia, Texas, near the coast. He escaped in 1837 and was never captured. Ron J. Jackson and Lee White have meticulously researched plantation ledgers, journals, memoirs, slave narratives, ship logs, newspapers, personal letters, and court documents to fill in the gaps of Joe's story. "Joe, the Slave Who Became an Alamo Legend" provides not only a recovered biography of an individual lost to history, but also offers a fresh vantage point from which to view the events of the Texas Revolution"--

The dramatic story of one of the most famous events in Texas history is told by Ben H. Procter. Procter describes in colorful detail the background, character, and motives of the prominent figures at the Alamo—Bowie, Travis, and Crockett—and the course and outcome of the battle itself. This concise and engaging account of a turning point in Texas history will appeal to students, teachers, historians, and general readers alike.

THE STORY OF THE YOUNG PEOPLE PLAYED IN AMERICAN HISTORY.