Brooke Heary
Mr. Buzzelli
U.S. History
12/4/17
Boston Massacre Did you know that when the Boston Massacre was taking place there was an estimated amount of twenty-thousand residents there as well as four-thousand British troops? Out of those twenty-thousand people, only five were shot. The Boston Massacre was an extremely important event during the Revolutionary War because of the things that led up to the massacre, what happened during the actual event, and the effects of it. There were multiple things that happened before the Boston Massacre but the major one was the taxing of tons of products like lead, paper, and sugar. The colonists strongly disliked the taxes Great Britain was placing on them and were outraged. They thought that it was against there rights and unfair. Because of the taxing, they started protesting British goods. One event that happened just before the massacre was the Townshend Acts; this was when Britain placed a tax on things like glass and paint. From this source it says, “Just like when Britain imposed the Stamp Act, the colonists began to protest and the British brought in soldiers to keep order”(ducksters.com). Besides protesting, things then started getting violent. To try and keep stuff in order, Great Britain decided to send some of their soldiers to the colonies. All of the different taxes Britain placed on different things sparked a rebellion within the colonies. Finally, the colonies realized that they wanted to be free.
What follow are the events and tensions leading up to the Boston Massacre on March 5th, 1770. The soldiers and the colonists were quarreling and there were high tensions amongst them. In the days leading up to the massacre the soldiers may have plotted against the colonists of New England. There was a fight that took place at the ropemakers, which is considered to be one of the most influential encounters between the soldiers and the New Englanders. There are several different accounts of how this conflict took place. According to Captain Preston, “[o]n the [2nd] instant two of the 29th going through one Gray's ropewalk, the rope-makers insultingly asked them if they would empty a vault. This unfortunately had the desired effect by provoking
The Boston Massacre took place on March 5th, 1770. This historic event was caused because of an ongoing conflict between the British soldiers and the people of Boston. According to George Hewes account, “Crowds of artisans and laborers joined the elite in protesting British policies, although their differing points of view revealed the divisions within colonial society.” People were upset over the British passing the Towsend Act, which was a surplus of unpopular taxes. The people of Boston also resented the British troops, who were also looking for jobs.
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'; (Mahin 1). A defiant anti-British fever was lingering among the townspeople.
Before the Boston Massacre even occurred, tensions were high in the city of Boston between the Bostonians and the British. At this time people were just
The Boston Massacre occurred on March 5, 1770 in Boston, Massachusetts. The Boston Massacre was a small riot between the colonists and British soldiers. Evidence supports that the colonists were to blame for the events that led to the Boston Massacre, which resulted in five colonial deaths.
The royal troops first started to appear in October 1768 in Massachusetts, where they enforced a heavy tax burden implemented by the Townshend Acts. This cause a great deal of tension between them and the American colonies shortly after. two groups ended up being formed, one made up of people of Boston, and another of those who were trying to enforce the King’s ruling. The British custom officials would be harassed for trying to enforce the Townshend Acts though, and numerous confrontations between the soldiers and people would be the end result of this.
The Boston Massacre, known as the Incident on King Street by the British happened on March 5 1770. A squad of British soldiers were being attacked by a mob. One of the soldiers fired, which caused others to fire. Over all five died all colonists. The event greatly boosted the revolution.
Beginning on March 5th of 1770, several men grouped around a sort of British redcoats and began to curse at them while throwing snowballs at their frames. This angered the soldiers, and even scared them a little bit as well. In reaction they fired their weapons and watched the patriots fall to the ground. In the description of Paul Revere’s engraving, The Bloody Massacre in King Street states, “When the shooting ended, several people were dead and more were wounded.” This engraving had been sent throughout the colonies, therefore raising awareness of the tragedy that had happened just weeks before. In particular, it made the redcoats look guilty and the colonists to be innocent. This was probably because in the engraving, the patriots were on the ground, injured and defenseless while the soldiers held their guns high, in perfect bodily conditions. Thus giving it its name, the “Boston Massacre.” This gave the colonists the idea that the British were cruel and unjust, which made them want to fight back even
The Boston Massacre was said to be the event that brought the colonies closer to unite against the British Government and these conflicts between the colonists and the British army were rising because of how the British Government was trying to gain more control over the American colonies while also trying to raise the American taxes. The Massacre was used to encourage colonists to fight harder for their freedom and independence but also was known as a zero hour in the American Revolution. This point had allowed groups like the Groups like the Sons of Liberty to use it to show the corruption of British rule.
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
The Boston Massacre was an extremely important event in American History. Also, it a very controversial topic. To this day, no one can really give an accurate description of the events that transpired. The Boston Massacre was not a random event at all; many actions led up to the massacre. As a result of this disaster, America was changed forever and sent on a road towards revolution. The Boston Massacre was a defining moment in American history.
The Boston Massacre was an important event in U.S. history, that lead to the American
“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
In 1770 an extraordinary number of British troops were stationed in Boston. The Colonists didn’t understand why there were so many troops after the war. This added to the already existent tension. The colonists taunted the Red Coats and on March 5, 1770 the colonists threw snowballs resulting a hasty decision by the Red Coats to fire at the colonists. Five colonists were killed and nine were wounded. This night is known as the Boston Massacre.
There are three major things that led to the Boston Massacre: First was the growing mistrust among the British soldiers and Americans. There were a number of other incidents were the British clashed with the patriots and their supporters. Individual soldiers were beaten on street corners and soldiers abused unarmed civilians. In all the Americans in Boston made it clear that the British soldiers were unwanted. The second reason is somewhat odd. The removal of two out of four regiments meant there were to inadequate amounts of soldiers to keep the peace. There were enough on the other hand to remind the patriots of the great British military. The last reason would be the revolt of the Townshend Acts. The patriots and Americans did not agree and strife with the British soldiers over it. The Act built tension between the two.