Below is the memorial tower for the place where Texas fought for their independence. The battle only lasted 18 minutes and in the end Texas won. The commander of the Texas army was Sam Houston and he was later elected the first President of Texas. The battle was called the Battle of San Jacinto and it took place on the south side of Houston. The battle cry of the Texas soldiers was, "Remember the Alamo!"
From the highest floor of the tower we could see how swampy the land is. I think it would be difficult to fight a battle in a swamp and I wondered if there were alligators out there. You can also see ships in the background carrying oil or other goods.
The pictures below are of models made to show some of the important buildings in Texas' history. The first one is where the Texas Declaration of Independence was written. The second and third, show what the first two capitol buildings in Austin looked like. You may notice the flag on top of the building in picture #3. It tells us that Texas joined the Confederacy during the Civil War. The last picture shows what the capitol looked like for the short time it was located in Houston.
I didn't know that Texas was it's own country until we started learning about it. Interesting right?