Analytical Essay ( Boston Massacre)

On the cold and snowy night of March 5, 1770, rioters marched down King Street in Boston, breaking the usual silence. In front of the customs office, the violent rioters were met by five British soldiers and their commanding officer. They immediately began haranguing the soldiers. During the ensuing chaos, the soldiers, who had been bombarded by stones and balls of ice, were becoming anxious as they waited for commands from their superiors. However, the soldiers panicked when they heard, through the yells of the rioters, the word “Fire!”. Upon hearing that word, the soldiers opened fire on the crowd with their muskets. “Shouts and curses filled the air.” (pg. 206). Five rioters were swiftly killed.This was the infamous Boston Massacre- An event that shaped U.S. history and fed the growing flames of revolution among the British colonists in America. After the massacre, the outraged people of Boston called for a trial. Defending the soldiers was renowned lawyer and future president John Adams, who believed that everyone should be granted a fair trial. With the help of Mr. Adams, the soldiers were determined to achieve victory. Through months of thought and many struggles, they succeeded. As punishment, the soldiers were branded and sent back to England, but

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.

"I heard the word fire and took it and am certain that it came from behind the Soldiers. I saw a man passing busily behind who I took to be an Officer. The firing was a little time after. I saw some persons fall. Before the firing I saw a stick thrown at the Soldiers. The word fire I took to be a word of Command. I had in my hand a highland broad Sword which I brought from home. Upon my coming out I was told it was a wrangle between the Soldiers and people, upon that I went back and got my Sword,” said Benjamin Burdick. This account shows the confusion that was ever-present during the Boston massacre. It also shows that the colonists and the soldiers may have been equally violent during the Boston Massacre.

Do to the resentment directed at the British for the taxes the colonies were facing, British soldiers were patrolling Boston. One group of soldiers who were patrolling came across a crowd who began to insult them and throw snowballs at them.The leader of the men Captain Preston ordered his men to fire above the colonists with the hope that the shots would scare them off. However, in the confusion that surrounded the event the British soldiers fired at the colonists.The Boston Massacre resulted in the deaths of two men and eight men were wounded, three of the men wounded would die later. After the Boston Massacre, Captain Preston and his men were put on trial for murder and attempted murder. John Adams and Josiah Quincy represented them at their trials. The jury found Preston and six of the soldiers to be not gulity. The remaining two soldiers were found gulity of manslaughter.

You may know this affair as ¨The Bloody Massacre¨, The Boston Massacre, ¨the incident on King street¨, but do you know the true story. In this tractate youĺl find why this event even happened, the scene itself, how Paul revere's engraving was actually a propaganda, and the aftermath of all this!

By March 5, 1770, only 600 British troops remained in the city (Zobel, 181). “On Monday, March 5, Boston seemed to be holding its breath” (Lukes, 32). The friction between

The fact that both the colonists and the British had been armed, signals this event was not a massacre. What Captain Thomas Preston states occurred that night in Boston, it justifies my claim that if both parties were armed and used their weapons accordingly, it defies the definition of a

In the painting, Revere gives unique and detailed facial expressions to each of his characters. The citizens have an expression of horror and fear and the British Red Coats seem to wear a sadistic smile. The appalled and panic-stricken faces of the civilians amplify the sense of evil and further condemns the soldiers. These ruthless smiles convey to the audience that the soldiers delight in inflicting pain on the public and would gladly repeat the offense. However, the innocence of the civilians displayed by the painting is deceiving. US History.org states, “In the heat of the confusing melee, the British fired without Captain Thomas Preston's command.” This means that the rioting people of Boston created such chaos, that it threatened the soldiers, who then acted in self-defense. Even though, “The British officer in charge, Capt. Thomas Preston, was arrested for manslaughter, along with eight of his men; all were later acquitted,” states History.com. This reveals another untruth within the painting because Captain

On March 5 1770, a union of colonists gathered at the Customs House where they protested and harassed soldiers standing outside. These colonists were representing The Sons of Liberty, a secret organization aiming to rebel against the British Parliament. There was an abundance of tension between the colonists and Great Britain after new taxes were passed and British troops arrived in Massachusetts to enforce them. After many hours of chanting and protesting a shot was fired; the atrocious event left five men dead. The question society still ponders over 200 years later is what really happened and whose fault was it? The Boston Massacre initiated because of miscommunication; it was not a massacre but a mutual riot.

The Boston Massacre happened because of Captain John Goldfinch not replying to the apprentice Edward Garrick. He ignored the young apprentice and kept walking he complained to his friend then the Private Hugh White replies that the captain is a gentleman. Then White conked Edward in the head. This is how the conflict started. If Goldfinch had just told him he had paid, the conflict may not started. When the apprentice left and came back with friends, they started throwing snowballs at the sentry guards. The sentry guards mistook their commanding officer, Captain Thomas Preston command "Fire!" and fired into the crowd killing 5 and injuring one person. In Captain Preston's letter, it said that he was doing ALL in his power to persuade them to retire peaceably thought in John Tudor's Diary or the other articles did it mention of Captain Preston trying to persuade them.

To deeply understand that what is Boston Massacre is all about, it is necessary to critically analyze the causes and effects of the incident of Boston Massacre. Boston Massacre is considered as one of the decisive incidents in the history of America. The act of Boston Massacre happened on March 5, 1770. This incident was known as the act of massacre because it causes the brutal killing of five American men due to the fight between British soldiers and the American

Hewitt, Nancy and Steven Lawson. “The Boston Massacre.” In Exploring American Histories: A Brief Survey With Sources. Vol.1: To 1877. 2nd ed. Boston: Bedford St. Martin’s,

“Between the hours of nine and ten o’clock, being in my master’s house, was alarmed by the cry of fire, I ran down as far as the town-house, and then heard that the soldiers and the inhabitants were fighting in the alley… I then left them and went to King street. I then saw a party of soldiers loading their muskets about the Custom house door, after which they all shouldered. I heard some of the inhabitants cry out, “heave no snow balls”, others cried “they dare not fire”. The Boston massacre has been no massacre it was propaganda. The incident that happened March 5th, 1770 in the streets of Boston only killed five people and had six people with non fatal injuries. There were

The American Revolution is a defining moment in American history. Each part of the Revolution is very important when talking about the Revolution itself. However, most the events leading up to the Revolution haven't necessarily been given enough credit. One of these events is the focus of this paper. The event that I will focus on for this paper is the Boston Massacre. The Boston Massacre, like the Boston Tea Party, is said to have been the moment the war started. Why is this the case? What made the Boston Massacre so memorable in public memory? My answer to this question is humor. The use of political humor and propaganda left lasting impressions on events that would have faded into obscurity. Through this essay, I will analyze the “A Verfe Occafioned by the

The Boston Massacre is considered by many historians to be the first battle of the Revolutionary War. The fatal incident happened on March 5 of 1770. The massacre resulted in the death of five colonists. British troops in the Massachusetts Bay Colony were there to stop demonstrations against the Townshend Acts and keep order, but instead they provoked outrage. The British soldiers and citizens brawled in streets and fought in bars. “The citizens viewed the British soldiers as potential oppressors, competitors for jobs, and a treat to social mores”. A defiant anti-British fever was lingering among the townspeople.