The Boston Massacre trial was the most important event on March 5, 1770. The Massacre consisted of five deaths, and the trial was suppose to be the deciding factor for those deaths. To this day there are people that think that the redcoats were the people that instigated the shots that were fired, but the others think that it was the mob that started it.
Before the Boston Massacre the moment that the redcoats set foot in Boston, they were constantly at odds with the citizens of the town. The tension between the two seemed to have reached a boiling point. Private Hugh White was under assault by a crowd of boys throwing things like snowballs, oysters, and stones and clubs. As claimed by witnesses, a club flew through the air striking one of the soldiers in the head, causing him to lose his balance and discharge his musket. The rest of the soldiers thought that the order to fire had been given so they discharged their weapons into the crowd. There were five citizens that were on the ground, mortally wounded.
John Adams received a knock on his door the next day. Because nobody else would take the case he was asked to defend the soldiers and Captain Preston. Adams agreed to take the case without hesitation. John Adams believed in upholding the law, and defending the innocent, above all. Adams believed that the soldiers were wrongly accused and that they fired their weapons in self-defense. In Adam's diary, he wrote Samuel Adams, “‘This however is no Reason why the Town should not
After analyzing the video about the Boston Massacre, what it should be called depends all on which side you took. Patriots would have took this as a massacre because, not only would it blame the British, but their people were also considered "slaughtered". Thus, to the Patriots, this would be considered a massacre. However, for the Loyalists and British, this would be considered a riot. A crowd of colonists threw snowballs, stones, oyster shells, and even wood at British soldiers. This was basically a disturbance of peace, or a riot. The soldiers had the right of defending themselves, so I do understand the reasons for shooting, but killing wasn't necessary. In the end however, in my opinion, without being biased to any sides, the Boston Massacre should be considered a riot.
The British soldiers were anything but loved by the American colonists in the 1770s. They maliciously planned an attack on the soldiers because of their hate. Many townspeople gathered together in effort to strike against the British presence. The men were just doing their job trying to keep order in Boston, but the people still taunted them. The soldiers were being tried for murder because they fired at the people, but those charges should not have existed. The crowd initially attacked the soldiers, not the other way around. It was also dark out so the soldiers did not know of the number of colonist attackers. The soldiers heard the word fire coming from the crowd, confusing the voices with Captain Preston’s. The incident referred to as the
To please the crowds Governor Hutchinson arrested the soldiers and promised the people that there would be a trial. John Adams and Josiah Quincy took the defense of the soldiers and Preston. The soldiers went to trial in September and they and captain Preston pleaded innocent. The eight men and Preston were tried separately and only two were found guilty. The others were acquitted while the two found guilty were branded on the hand and released, an easy penalty for murder. Preston was found innocent. Adams was successful in proving the soldiers fired in self-defense.
To begin, while the colonists were attacking the soldiers, there was a profuse amount miscommunication. According to Benjamin Burdick, he heard the captain order to the soldiers “not to fire”. However, the crowd was harassing the soldiers, screaming “fire if you dare”. During all the chaos, it was hard for the soldiers to depict who was saying what. Most likely a
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.
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 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.
| Despite the fact that most eyewitnesses’ testimonies denounced Captain Thomas Pretson ordering his men to fire upon the citizens, he believed these people were biased and words aren’t 100% reliable.
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.
If you don’t know who Captain Preston is, he is the captain of the group of soldiers. Some people say that he was the one that told the soldiers to fire. It even shows him raising his hand to fire in Paul Revere’s engraving. It is not certain that, this is what happened because there is no other proof but the engraving. From what I have heard Captain Preston was telling the soldiers not to fire.
“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
March 5, 1770 – Boston Massacre – A crowd gathered, “a motley rabble of saucy boys, negroes and mulattoes, Irish teagues and outlandish jack tars” as John Adams called them during the soldiers’ trial.
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.
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.