What is the purpose or significance of the Alamo?

Answer 1

The Alamo's purpose is when an army battled in the Alamo. The Alamo was a Spanish fort used to defend the village San Antonio from the Indians. It later became the site of a battle for Texas' independence from Mexico. Within the fort is an old Spanish mission (San Antonio de Valero) which is now called the Alamo.

Answer 2

The Alamo started as an Eighteenth-century mission in San Antonio, Texas. It became site of a historic siege of a small group of Texans by a Mexican army (1836) during the Texas war for independence from Mexico. The abandoned mission was occupied occasionally by Spanish troops, who named it the Alamo ("cottonwood") after the surrounding trees. At the start of the war in December 1835, volunteers occupied the Alamo and vowed to fight to the death any attempt to recapture it. In February 1836 a Mexican army of several thousand began a siege that lasted 13 days. The Texan force of about 180, led by Jim Bowie and including Davy Crockett, was overrun; nearly all the defenders were killed (about 15 persons, mostly women and children, were spared). Mexican casualties were at least 600. "Remember the Alamo!" became a rallying cry for Texans through the remainder of the war.

Answer 3

The Texan purpose was to offer resistance and delay the Mexican Army as long as possible until the Texan Army could be formed. Strategically, the Alamo was of little importance. Santa Anna could have easily bypassed it. Or he also could have waited for his 30-pounder siege cannon to arrive and pound the Alamo to pieces without losing a single Mexican life. Yet, the Alamo had much political significance, and in this regard Santa Anna's pride and machismo worked against him. For almost two weeks the Mexican Army assaulted the Alamo, taking many unnecessary casualties in the process, before crushing the symbol of Texan rebellion. It was the chance for Santa Anna to demonstrate the power of his army, which was at that time the most powerful in the Americas. His victory proved to be hollow, as it gave the Texan Army time to form under General Sam Houston, and it actually strengthened the Texan will to fight as the dead of the Alamo became martyrs to be avenged.