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Nearly 200 men chose death over surrender. Why?

To be perfectly honest, two facts should be remembered.

After their rejection of the first call to surrender, they were no longer given the option. Santa Ana decreed that no quarter be given.

About 350 men who surrendered at Goliad were executed anyway. The men at the Alamo didn't know this, of course, but they were certainly aware that they couldn't count on chivalrous treatment if they did surrender.

The key thing that alot of folks simply want to overlook was that the Alamo and the entire region...was on Mexican soil. All of the Texans simply envisioned a local or national war that would cede the whole region to their republic efforts. If you could imagine 100 folks sitting in some town like Waco and having designs for a new state or nation...the state or national authorities would have to react just like Santa Ana and put down the regional rebellion.

And if overlooking is top priority...then the type of characters at the Alamo also fit into the situation. None of these "fine" gentlemen were exactly upstanding decent men. Their names have simply been written into history books as true heros and John Wayne painted them into the stuff of legends.

"After their rejection of the first call to surrender, they were no longer given the option. Santa Ana decreed that no quarter be given."

Actually, that is simply not true. Ordering no quarter be given is different than enforcing the decree. Members of the Alamo garrison that chose to leave could have done so up until the night of the actual assualt. Until then, Santa Anna's siege was pretty porous, allowing men both in and out.

At least six members of the garrison left at different points in the siege, mostly as messengers. But at least one (Louis Rose) hopped over the wall during the night and walked away.

Had they wanted to -- or had Travis ordered it -- the garrison could have successfully slipped away. Over the wall at intervals, over the space of three nights would have worked best. Individuals could have emulated Louis Rose -- if they wanted to. Departure would have been even easier for individuals than for the entire garrison, because there would have been less chance of detection.

One of the biggest lies that non-Texans throw at Texans is that "If there had been a back door to the Alamo, there never would have been a Texas." The back door was there -- and open. The garrison -- with one exception (Rose) -- chose to stand and fight, knowing that they would die in doing so. *That* is the remarkable aspect of the Alamo.