Preview

Profiles in Courage: Sam Houston

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
655 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Profiles in Courage: Sam Houston
Sam Houston was a great man in our history. He stood up for what he believed was good for the Union not the North or the South. When Sam was rebuked for providing the winning margin for his opponents he said "I know neither North nor South; I know only the Union." He also said everyone "…must stand firm to the Union, regardless of all personal consequences." He was fiercely ambitious, yet at the end he sacrificed for principle all he had ever won or wanted. He was a Southerner, and yet he steadfastly maintained his loyalty to the Union. He could be all things to all men—and yet, when faced with his greatest challenge, he was faithful to himself and to Texas.
When still a dreamy and unmanageable boy, he had run away from his Tennessee frontier home, and was adopted by the Cherokee Indians, who christened him Co-lon-neh, the Raven. An infantry officer under Andrew Jackson in 1813, his right arm had been shredded by enemy bullets when he alone had dashed into enemy lines at the battle of the Horseshoe, his men cowering in the hills behind him. A brave man he was indeed. Apparently he discovered but a few days after his marriage that his young and beautiful bride had been forced to accept his hand by an ambitious father, when in truth she loved another.
Sam struck out with one grand assault on Texas officialdom by announcing himself a candidate for Governor in the 1857 election. But his votes on Kansas and other Southern measures could not be explained away to an angry constituency, and Texas handed Sam Houston the first trouncing of his political career. On November 10, 1857, Sam Houston was unceremoniously dismissed by the Texas Legislature and a more militant spokesman for the South elected as his successor. In the fall of 1859, the aging warrior again ran as an independent candidate for Governor, again with no party, no newspaper and no organization behind him, and making but one campaign speech. Houston delivered his inaugural address directly to the

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Elisha Marshall Pease

    • 761 Words
    • 4 Pages

    He also wrote the Probate Code of 1846. In 1851, Elisha then took his career to another level and ran for Governor of Texas. Although unsuccessful on his first try, two years later he won office and was then reelected again in 1855. One of Elisha’s best known accomplishments was his involvement in giving a great amount of focus to the legislation to establish a system of Public Education and a State University. Even though it was not the right timing, meaning the idea was something newly introduced at the time, Pease administration did manage to start of the Permanent School Fund (to assist financially public education). Another known accomplishment of his was his encouragement on railroad construction in Texas. He also was involved in the self-support basis of the state penitentiary and established reservation for the Native Indian’s education within the state. He also led in the building of the Governor’s Mansion, the General Land Office Building, the state’s Orphan Home, and a new Capitol. Elisha also is known for his outstanding roles in the establishment of mentally ill schools and by the time of his retirement as Governor of Texas, he also left the state in a very good financial position. During the years following his retirement Elisha remained active in the start of the Civil War, where his loyalty remained with the Union. In 1866 he decided to get back in politics and in the first election following the Reconstruction Era, he lost his race to the Governor’s office. In 1867, he helped in the organization of the Republican Party in Texas. And after the removal of James W. Throckmorton as the Governor of Texas which came as a result of Throckmorton’s refusal of African American’s protection that favored the Radical Republicans, Elisha was appointed his place. During this time as Governor, Elisha’s effort to reorganize the state back to its place and following his…

    • 761 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    That when his family helped his campaign. Then he won the election with 59% of the votes. He became the first Texas governor. Bush requested for the presidency after his series of primary election.…

    • 490 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    First off, the good qualities he had was the fact he had bold commitment to enforce laws and fight back against secession threats from the South. Two high tariffs were passed during 1828 and 1833 which increased taxes on imported foreign goods. The South was outraged by the high taxation, so they created the Nullification Act that allows states to nullify the laws that they do not like. Soon after the second tariff was issued, they formed a convention to build up an army with the idea of secession. Jackson was so enraged that he was willing to use all the power he had to stop it. Fortunately he was able to make a deal with the Vice President John Calhoun, who was in favor of the South, to lower the tax prices. The South backed off from secession and things settled down between the North and South.…

    • 480 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Sam Patch

    • 574 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Sam Patch was loved by many but also thought of as a threat to some. The people who saw him as a threat were the upper class people because he was trying to bring the lower level people out of poverty. By…

    • 574 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Since the dawn of America’s establishment as a country and global power in 1776, African Americans have undoubtedly had an impact on the development of the country, practically building the country upon the backs of their labor. One aspect America is known for is its extensive army and its involvement in a myriad of wars in and outside the country which have contributed significantly not only to the molding of the country but its effect on the perpetual foreign policies. In these wars millions of men have chosen to take up arms to defend their country, however history and the textbook often forget to tell of the heroic history of African American soldiers in the United States Army. Their accomplishments were more than heroic but they were looked…

    • 141 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Simon Bolivar

    • 602 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Simon Bolivar was an excellent military commander, a firm man, an inspirational leader, and a political thinker. Above all he was a man of action. He promised to free Latin America from Spain and by power of his own character made that happen. This was how he attained the title, "The Liberator". His legacy is great and will always be great. Many places and people were named after him. Even an American Civil War general conceded his name into battle, Simon Bolivar Buckner.…

    • 602 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Do you know what courage is? Have you ever done something that involved courage? Or have you seen someone have the courage to do something they possibly didn’t want to do? Well, courage is stepping out of your comfort zone even if it’s frightening; this is shown in To Kill A Mockingbird through pain, social criticism, and moral courage.…

    • 943 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    When someone thinks of a mature person some qualities that might come to mind are honesty, humility, and respect. Unfortunately they are traits that not everyone poses and some may never poses. In the beginning of the novel Henry is a whiney, unrealistic teenager. However overtime he starts to develop some traits that lead to him acting more mature, and adult-like in the environment he is in. In The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane, Henry goes from being an immature teenager to demonstrating traits of an adult and reevaluates his own personal values of wanting the fame and glory of being a soldier, and also his value of taking responsibility for his actions.…

    • 617 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Tecumseh essay

    • 937 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Chief Tecumseh once uttered these words: “When your time comes to die, be not like those whose hearts are filled with fear of death, so that when their time comes they weep and pray for a little more time to live their lives over again in a different way. Sing your death song, and die like a hero going home.” Tecumseh died nearly two hundred years ago, yet his story lives on to inspire and intrigue many. You may wonder: Why was this Indian chief so important to our country’s history? Let’s first explore Tecumseh’s early life which in turn impacted his adulthood and made him one of the greatest Indian chiefs of all time. Tecumseh, one of seven children, was born on March 9, 1768 just outside of present-day Xenia, Ohio. His father, Pucksinwah, was a Shawnee war chief who was killed at the Battle of Point Pleasant in 1774. Tecumseh was born into the Shawnee Indian tribe, which was located originally in Southern Ohio, West Virginia, and Western Pennsylvania, but is now scattered in South Carolina, Tennessee’s Cumberland Basin, Eastern Pennsylvania and Southern Illinois. When Tecumseh was but a mere child, the Shawnee Indian tribe was displaced by encroaching white settlers and many, including Tecumseh’s mother, relocated first in Indiana, then Illinois, and finally in Missouri. Although Tecumseh was only eleven years of age, he dearly loved the land of his birth and remained to be raised as a warrior by his eldest brother, Cheeksuakalo and sister, Tecumpease. Tecumseh’s first military encounter occurred against an army led by George Rogers Clark into the Ohio Country in 1782. During the battle, Tecumseh became flooded with panic and fled from the battlefield. After this humiliating event, he became determined to never run from a fight again. Quickly afterwards, he grew into a noble warrior and became a Shawnee leader. Some of his battles include the battle against the army of St. Clair in 1791. This time, the Indians in the northwest emerged from the battlefield…

    • 937 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Andrew Jackson A Hero

    • 414 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Andrew Jackson is a one of the United State’s best president is a true because of all of the things he has done to help our country. First of all he was a president, war hero, and although he had no problem with slavery, he was adamant about preserving the Union against secession and nullification. Andrew Jackson can be considered a hero and a villain but leaning towards a hero through most eyes. He did allow slavery, but he acted in better ways to way down his good side.…

    • 414 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    “‘Here they come!’” With these words the 304th regiment readied themselves for battle as the Confederate Army drew nearer, and Henry prepared himself to face his first moment of truth. In the novel The Red Badge of Courage, written by Stephen Crane, Henry struggled with the notion of what he would do once the time to fight actually came. The internal conflict between his courage and fear is illustrated in chapters 5 and 6, during his first and second battle of the Civil War. His vast difference of reactions to both battles had quite a few related causes.…

    • 566 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    To many, the word hero conjures an image of a man who is idealized for supernatural powers and impossible achievements. The word hero has been misplaced in stereotypical conceptions and has lost its true meaning. The initial day of December 1955 coincidently was the initial launch of the civil rights movement, started by the mother, Rosa Parks. After a long day of work at a department store, where African-American Rosa Parks worked as a seamstress, she boarded the yellow and green Cleveland Avenue for home. She sat down in the fifth row, the first row designated for “colored people”. AS the long ride continued, the bus began to occupy more white people. When bus driver James Blake noticed the entitled white people accumulating…

    • 594 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The purpose of this essay is to examine the theme of three Langston Hughes poems; “I. Too,” “Mother to Son,” and “Theme for English B.” The theme of these three essays is civil rights. Langston Hughes was born in Joplin, Missouri in 1902. His parents separated early in his life, he lived with his mother in Kansas City. Langston Hughes attended High School where as a senior he wrote, “The Negro Speaks of Rivers.” Langston became a Merchant Seaman in 1923 and visited Ports of West Africa. He lived for a time in Paris, Genoa, and Rome but returned to the United States after some time. In 1903 He became involved in radical politics, but after WW11 he shifted to mainstream progressive politics. Langston became a spokesman for the Civil Rights movement; He died in Harlem in 1967.…

    • 949 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    To Kill a Mockingbird is a book about courage in many different situations from many different characters. The definition of courage is “the quality of mind or spirit that enables a person to face difficulty, danger, pain, etc., without fear; bravery.” There are so many instances of courage in the novel that it is impossible not to consider it as one of the key themes of the novel. From childhood perceptions of courage such as completing a dare to the monumental examples of courage from Atticus defending Tom Robinson, all forms of courage were displayed.…

    • 765 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    As an American I feel protected by our veterans that have fought for us all. Risking your own life takes a lot of courage. So what is courage? Courage is the will to face your fears without hesitation. I know that our veterans have taken so much just for us to live on. Just what have the veterans actually given us? They have given us a life to live.…

    • 317 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays