On March 5, 1770, an event occurred in Boston, which consisted of British troops shooting upon colonists. People refer to this as a massacre, but they only look at one side of the story. The Boston Massacre in 1770 was not really a massacre, but a mutual riot (Boston Massacre History Society). British soldiers went to America to keep the people of Boston in order. However, the soldier's presence there was not welcomed by the Bostonians and this made things worse (Boston Massacre History Society). The British had to fire their guns because the Bostonians were antagonizing the soldiers, which caused five people to die. The Bostonians made the soldiers feel threatened so in turn they acted in self-defense. The British soldiers and their Captain had to go through a trial, to prove they were not to blame for what had occurred.
The Boston Massacre came about because the British troops came into town and tried to enforce the Townshend Act, which placed a tax on tea, paper, glass and some other products from England (History.com). The people of Boston hated this idea and rapidly started to rebel. At this point people believed that the British were the first to start the confrontation, but they were wrong. The colonists started the riot. The colonists started throwing things at the soldiers, such as snowballs, sticks and rocks (Rebecca Beatrice Brooks).
The leader of the British, Captain Thomas Preston, gave an order to his soldiers not to fire, but his words were not clear and all the soldiers fired into the crowd. (The Coming of the American Revolution). There were five recorded deaths. One of the people that died was a man of black or Indian race named Crispus Attacks (History.com). The British troops arrived in Bosto...
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Brooks, Rebecca B. "The Boston Massacre." History of Massachusetts. N.p., 10 Nov. 2011. Web. 22 Apr. 2014.
DiCanio, Teddi. "Boston Massacre Trials; 1770." Great American Trials. 2002. Encyclopedia.com 2 Apr. 2014.
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Kelly, Martin. "The Boston Massacre - American Revolution and the Boston Massacre." About.com American History. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Apr. 2014.
Linder, Doug. "An Account of the Boston Massacre of 1770 and Subsequent Trials." An Account of the Boston Massacre of 1770 and Subsequent Trials. N.p., 2001. Web. 26 Apr. 2014.
I read a book about the Boston Massacre the was originally named the bloody massacre. The amount of killed persons is generally accepted to be 5 people. The Fifth of March is a 1993 novel about the Boston Massacre (of March 5, 1770) by historian and author Ann Rinaldi, who was also the author of many other historical fiction novels such as Girl in Blue and A Break with Charity. This book is about a young indentured servant girl named Rachel Marsh who finds herself changing as she meets many people, including young Matthew Kilroy, a British private in the 29th regiment.
This chapter provided information from the trial of Captain Thomas Preston. The chapter asked the question, “What really happened in the Boston Massacre”. Chapter four focused on the overall event of the Massacre and trying to determine if Captain Preston had given the order to fire at Boston citizens. The chapter provides background information and evidence from Preston’s trial to leave the reader answering the question the chapter presents. Although, after looking through all the witnesses’ testimonies some might sway in Captain Preston’s favor, just the way the grand jury did.
Boston Massacre Historical Society. Boston Massacre Historical Society, Boston, Massachusetts, 2008. Web. 12 Nov. 2009.
The Boston Massacre was an event that could have never happened. The innocent lives could have been saved and the British troopers would have never been put on Trial. The aftermath of the lives been loss in Boston Massacre was a trial to punish the British Troopers and finally get them out America. The lawyer of the British troops was a man named John Adams, who was the cousin of Sam Adams. John’s role in the Boston Massacre trial was to represent his clients without negotiate his role as an American. Since John had to stand behind the British troops, he had to team up with different other lawyers to make sure the British troops be treated fair. John’s ethic perspective was deontological ethics because he may not believe the British troops
Stokesbury, James L. A short History of the American Revolution. New York. William Morrow and Company, Inc. 1991.
O'Neill, Laurie A.. Chapter 8: The Massacre. The Millbrook Press, 1993. eLibrary. Web. 23 Dec. 2013.
The Boston Massacre occurred in the evening of March 5, 1770. A crowd of people began harassing the soldiers. One event lead to another and the crowd began hurling snowballs and rocks. One of the snowballs stuck a soldier and he fired his weapon causing a series of shots toward the crowd. “...the frightened soldiers fired into the crowd.” (Doc 3). As a result of this incident, three people were killed on the scene and two were mortally wounded. The soldiers were also ordered not to fire. The colonists did not think that they should have been shot at or killed, this infuriated them. This event was said to have started the American Revolution. This leads to the British seizing power over the
Even though no one can know for sure who attacked first, the soldiers or the colonists the colonists still fought showing it wasn’t one sided so not a massacre. The evidence that supports my claim is in John Buford’s painting (document B)you can see colonists holding clubs, cudgels, and other weapons and they are using them. This corroborates with the information given in Captain Thomas Preston’s article stated “On this a general attack was made . . . by a great number of heavy clubs and snowballs being thrown at them [the soldiers], by which all our lives were in imminent (immediate) danger,” This evidence supports my claim because although Captain Preston may have a bias against the colonists, John buford’s painting has virtually no bias considering it was painted about one hundred years after the event happened.
My original thoughts on the Boston Massacre were that the name rang true. I based these thoughts solely on the idea that no matter how colonist act, the military should never use excessive force in maintaining the peace. During my closer review of the actual event I have come to believe this has been given the name massacre in error. When you look at all of the depositions together and then start to take out the differences you will notice that everyone account of the event is nearly the same. The differences that are evident during the trial have been made by biased opinions and propaganda to promote the release of British troops from Boston. Although the ruling may not have been just, it served its purpose and drew the troops away from Boston in the end.
On March 5, 1770 the dreadful day came. A mob of people went in front of the Customs Office in Boston Massachusetts and started to throw stuff and give insults at the soldiers. As a result to this so-called harassment the soldiers fired on the crowd. The first to die was a black man named Crispus Attucks. He was a native of Frainghan, Massachusetts. He escaped from slavery in 1750 and had become a sailor. Crispus Attucks is considered the first martyr of the American Independence (Mahin 1). The four others who died were Samuel gray, a rope maker; James Caldwell, a sailor; Samuel Maverick, a seventeen year old apprentice and Patrick Carr, a leather worker and Irish immigrant. All in which were unarmed and brutally murdered. The soldiers killed three, mortally wounded two others, and wounded six. How much ha...
There is no doubt that the Boston Massacre leads to the death of five civilians at the hands of British soldiers. During the tea party at the custom house, some of the guard came to informed and me that “the town civilians were assembling to attack the troops, and the bell was ringing as the signal for the purpose.” Wheeler, William B., and Susan D. Becker. "The Trial of Captain Thomas Preston." Discovering the American past. SIXTH ed. Vol. I. BOSTON: CHARLES HARTFORD, nod 80-86.
The Boston Massacre was and is still a debatable Massacre. The event occurred on March 5, 1776. It involved the rope workers of the colonial Boston and two British regiments, the twenty-ninth and the fourteenth regiments. Eleven people were shot in the incident; five people were killed and the other six were merely wounded. The soldiers and the captain, Thomas Preston, were all put on trial. All were acquitted of charges of murder, however the two soldiers who fired first, Private Mathew Killroy, and Private William Montgomery, the two soldiers were guilty of manslaughter. The causes were numerous for this event. There had been a nation wide long-term dislike towards the British, and a growing hatred towards them by the people of Boston. Even before the two regiments were sent in to monitor Boston there was a growing feud before the two sides.
I will be discussing the differences between Captain Thomas Preston’s Account of the Boston Massacre (1770) and Paul Revere, Image of The Bloody Massacre (1770). I will explain both men’s story beginning with Captain Thomas Preston vision of the event, then explain Paul Revere version of the event. I will then include my opinion on which account I believe is most accurate and explain why.
The British were responsible for the Boston Massacre that happened on March 5 in 1770. The British had shot and killed many people in this tragedy making it one of the greatest events in the American history. Attacking unarmed boys and firing at a crowd where there was no actual danger involved makes the British wrong for committing these actions. These were the reasons why the Boston massacre was the British soldiers fault for all this to
The Boston Massacre was one the most controversial massacre in American history that teased the coming of the American Revolution. People were taunting a British soldier who was standing “in front of the Boston Custom House” who got very frustrated to the point where he hit somebody. The soldier got overwhelmed by people who came after he hit one of them, called help from his fellow soldiers. When Captain Preston and his soldiers arrived at the scene, people were coming from everywhere, some were trying to fight them and some were just there to watch. Then, one of the soldier shot at the people and his fellow soldiers started shooting after, which killed five people. This what ended it up being called the Boston Massacre. Some might say that the murderer were the soldiers who shot the people, but the real murderer is