History: Sam Houston - Essay Example

The war of 1812 was crucial in which Houston’s heroics became the focal point of his personality as brilliantly shown by the authors. Houston’s heroics clearly cannot be undermined as his actions spoke louder than his words. During the war of 1812, Houston reported to a training camp in Knoxville, Tennessee and enlisted in the 39th Infantry to fight the great empire of Britain. In midst of the second war with England, Houston portrayed his courage as he enlisted as a private soldier. His leadership skills were so exceptional that he was made the sergeant of his coalition.

Harkins and sales, the two authors also illustrate Houston’s valiance brilliantly as they depicted at the Battle of Horseshoe Band in March 1814 with descriptive adjectives. This was also the battle in which he was heavily wounded in the groin by an arrow. However, he refused to remain hospitalized and rejoined the fight by bandaging the wound near his groin area. His fantastic military skills quickly won the trust of his men and especially Andrew Jackson, who valued his determination and confidence.

During the battle, he was hurt three times in such a manner that could have been fatal. Throughout his life, Jackson and Houston became great friends. Jackson as mentioned above acknowledged Houston’s talent and appointed him as an agent that was responsible for removing the Cherokee nation. However, he continued to portray his skills as a lieutenant before retiring to focus on his academic career. After he returned from the war, he was admitted to a law school. After six months of study under a mentor known as Judge James Trimble, Houston passed the examination for law school.

In order to enhance his experience, Houston initiated a legal practice in Tennessee. Houston was also appointed as a prosecutor in Nashville and was also obligated to head lead the regional army. In 1822, Houston was elected to represent Tennessee as a US representative. As a supporter of his fellow colleague Andrew Jackson, Houston was heavily favored to represent the people. propagated for important issues and won public office as a US congressman in 1823 and 1825. One of the aspects that authors attempt to really explicitly acknowledge is his marriage.

It was unfortunate that Houston’s marriage failed since it was a hot issue that seems to be a hot topic for politicians at that time period. Susan Sales, and William H. Harkins do their best not to be bias about his marriage even though it was a focal point in his life. One can argue that the age difference was a huge factor since Houston was 35 when he married Eliza Allen, who was 19 to put in perspective. According to the authors, Houston was in deeply love with her. However, Eliza felt that they were not compatible and ran away which undoubtedly was a huge impact on Houston.

Due to this unfortunate incident, Houston was forced to resign as a governor of Tennessee and went in exile with the Indians. The marriage career of Houston is depicted as a rocky adventure since Houston married three times in his lives. Clearly, Harkins and Sales do an excellent job of how these marriages impacted his political career as he refused to run for re-election to Congress in 1827. The depiction of Houston migrating from Tennessee and Texas is described as a change that was deemed necessary by the authors.

Texas was as opportunity for Houston to showcase his leadership skills and start a fresh outlook on life. He wanted to stand for re-election in 1828, but was