David Crockett Research Paper

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Famed as a frontiersman, folk hero, congressman and Alamo defender, Davy Crockett was one of the most celebrated and mythologized figures in American history. Crockett’s biographers often say there were actually two Crocketts: David, the frontiersman and congressman martyred at the Alamo, and Davy, the larger-than-life folk hero whose exploits were glorified in several books and a series of almanacs.
The historic David Crockett was born in 1786 to a pioneer family living on the Nolichucky River in east Tennessee. The family followed the patterns of western settlement, moving three times by the time David was twelve. Later, as a young man with a family of his own, Crockett continued this westward movement until he settled in extreme northwest Tennessee. In 1813, following a massacre by Creek warriors of the occupants of Fort Mims in southwest Alabama, Crockett enlisted in the Tennessee militia. He participated in a massacre of Indians at Tallussahatchee in northern Alabama, but returned home when his enlistment was up; he was not present at the decisive Battle of Horseshoe Bend (March 27, 1814) when the Creeks were defeated. During his second enlistment, begun September 18, 1814, he joined Andrew Jackson’s forces at Pensacola; but, discharged again, he returned home, missing the Battle of …show more content…

He advanced from justice of the peace to two terms in the Tennessee legislature. He was elected to Congress in 1827 and 1829 as a Democrat. Then he broke with Jackson over a number of issues and was defeated in 1831; in 1833 he returned to Congress, this time as a Whig. In 1835 he was again defeated. Disgusted, he is quoted as saying, “You can all go to Hell and I’m going to Texas.” True or not, he did leave Tennessee in November 1835, and subsequently appeared in east Texas, ostensibly looking for land upon which to settle. Controversy surrounds his reason for going to the Alamo. He was there when it was attacked, however, and he died when it

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