Comments on: Texas, My Texas http://www.maderblog.com/index.php/2009/04/texas-my-texas/ 'Unusually Thoughtful' Tue, 16 Feb 2010 01:56:47 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: DRJ http://www.maderblog.com/index.php/2009/04/texas-my-texas/comment-page-1/#comment-2915 DRJ Sun, 07 Jun 2009 20:51:11 +0000 http://www.maderblog.com/?p=2720#comment-2915 Great post, and God bless Texas. Great post, and God bless Texas.

]]> By: David Mader http://www.maderblog.com/index.php/2009/04/texas-my-texas/comment-page-1/#comment-2838 David Mader Thu, 23 Apr 2009 00:21:29 +0000 http://www.maderblog.com/?p=2720#comment-2838 Sid, I think it's very much my interpretation, and I'm sure it's somewhat revisionist. To be frank, it's a response to the contemporary notion that the Anglo settlers were attempting simply to foist American democracy on their corner of Mexico. I acknowledge that the Anglo-Texians were undoubtedly influenced strongly by American democracy - heavens, the Texas Declaration tracks the American Declaration almost paragraph by paragraph. But I submit that part of the reason Texas has a unique sense of state identity is because they had their own independent revolution. In other words, theirs wasn't simply an extension or application of the American revolution to a new territory; rather, it was an expression of the same ideas in a different national context. It is to be noted that various of the Texas revolutionaries spent the years 1830-36 traveling to and from Mexico city to petition the Mexican government on behalf of the Texians. Yes, they were undoubtedly more likely to cast Santa Anna as a tyrant because of their Anglo-American political heritage; but that doesn't mean the Texas Revolution was simply an element of westward American expansion. (This is why the <a href="http://www.usflags.com/productDetail.asp?ItemID=1000" rel="nofollow">1824 flag</a> is my favorite of the Texas revolutionary flags, with the single and obvious exception of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Come_and_take_it" rel="nofollow">Come and Take It</a>.) Sid, I think it’s very much my interpretation, and I’m sure it’s somewhat revisionist. To be frank, it’s a response to the contemporary notion that the Anglo settlers were attempting simply to foist American democracy on their corner of Mexico. I acknowledge that the Anglo-Texians were undoubtedly influenced strongly by American democracy – heavens, the Texas Declaration tracks the American Declaration almost paragraph by paragraph. But I submit that part of the reason Texas has a unique sense of state identity is because they had their own independent revolution. In other words, theirs wasn’t simply an extension or application of the American revolution to a new territory; rather, it was an expression of the same ideas in a different national context. It is to be noted that various of the Texas revolutionaries spent the years 1830-36 traveling to and from Mexico city to petition the Mexican government on behalf of the Texians. Yes, they were undoubtedly more likely to cast Santa Anna as a tyrant because of their Anglo-American political heritage; but that doesn’t mean the Texas Revolution was simply an element of westward American expansion.

(This is why the 1824 flag is my favorite of the Texas revolutionary flags, with the single and obvious exception of the Come and Take It.)

]]> By: Siddartha Rao http://www.maderblog.com/index.php/2009/04/texas-my-texas/comment-page-1/#comment-2837 Siddartha Rao Wed, 22 Apr 2009 18:58:47 +0000 http://www.maderblog.com/?p=2720#comment-2837 Mader, Great post. In elementary school I was taught to sing "Texas Our Texas" as well as recite the pledge of allegiance, and I had as detailed a knowledge of James Bowie, Davy Crockett, and other heroes of the Alamo (Texas' Thermopylae) as I did of the American Revolution. I'm intrigued by your statement that "the Texas Declaration was first and foremost an invocation of Mexican rights guaranteed by the Mexican constitution." Is this a generally accepted view? My elementary school teachers definitely skipped the lesson on the liberal Mexican constitution and its impact on Texas' political ethos. Sid Mader,

Great post. In elementary school I was taught to sing “Texas Our Texas” as well as recite the pledge of allegiance, and I had as detailed a knowledge of James Bowie, Davy Crockett, and other heroes of the Alamo (Texas’ Thermopylae) as I did of the American Revolution.

I’m intrigued by your statement that “the Texas Declaration was first and foremost an invocation of Mexican rights guaranteed by the Mexican constitution.” Is this a generally accepted view? My elementary school teachers definitely skipped the lesson on the liberal Mexican constitution and its impact on Texas’ political ethos.

Sid

]]>