Texans cherish the memory of Davy Crockett's heroic death at the Alamo in 1836 but few know what led him there or why he fought so valiantly. Throughout his life, Davy Crockett was renowned for his love of liberty and fierce loyalty to the Constitution.
Originally a Democrat, Crockett found he could no longer identify with the party's positions which he believed were straying from our country's founding principles. As a man who believed in individual liberty and the principle of congressional restraint this shift was unacceptable to him. He left the party in 1833 and joined the Whig party (forerunner to the Whig Party).
His journey of Constitutional fidelity was strengthened by a well-intentioned mistake made while in Congress. When a fire in Georgetown left several families homeless, Representative Crockett and Congress voted the next day to appropriate $20,000 to the homeless victims. The following year while campaigning in Tennessee, it has been reported that Crockett was challenged by a constituent for his vote of public charity. "Colonel Crockett, your vote for the people in Georgetown shows you either don't have the capacity to understand the Constitution or that you lack the integrity and strength of character to be guided by it."[continued]
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