Essay on The Boston Massacre: Who's to Blame

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.

During the night of March 5, 1770, colonists gathered outside the Boston Customs House. As the crowd grew bigger, colonists started to throw “snowballs, oyster shells, and chunks of ice” at the soldiers. The soldiers panicked and fired at the colonists causing the death of five colonists and ten injured men. I believe that the cause of the Boston Massacre was due to the British. The reason why I blame the British is because, the British soldiers could have handled the situation, made unnecessary actions, and made the colonists angry with taxes and the Quartering act.

Similar to the way that the colonial and British perspectives greatly varied for the Boston Massacre, their opinions are once again vastly different for the Battles of Lexington and Concord. In this event as well, both parties attempt to place the blame on the other which is not unusual due the nature of the sources. However, this highlights the large amount of bias evident in all of the accounts. For the colonial perspective, there are two statements, each from a member of a colonial militia that fought during the Battles of Lexington and Concord. Both of these sources place the blame on the British soldiers and claim that the British fired first, killing several colonists. One account, from the Battle of North Bridge, claims that the colonists were ordered to hold their fire and that they didn’t fire until the British opened fire upon them. The other account, from soldier who fought during the skirmish at the Lexington Green, states that the colonists did not even get a single shot off, at least not before the soldier whose account this is was wounded. This source also claims that the British commanding officers were yelling at and insulting the colonists as their ranks closed on the milita. Both these sources are very similar to the colonial perspectives of the Boston Massacre because they all place the blame on the British soldiers and attempt to make themselves appear as the victims.

On March 5th 1770, shots was were fired at colonists leaving 5 of them dead. The colonist were mad about the Stamp Act and were protesting. The King sent soldiers to go and maintain the colonist, this later ended up causing the boston massacre. The Boston Massacre lead to more tension for the revolutionary war. There were a lot people that could have been at fault on this day. The colonists are to blame because they were taunting the soldiers, throwing objects at the soldiers, and the colonist were upset with the stamp act.

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.

Before America was America people fought a war where theoretically they should not have won. After the war ended, they came out victors, but at the price of losing thousands of men. “We are fallen into the most unhappy times, when even innocence itself is nowhere safe!” (Boston Gazette, February 1770). This excerpt shows that the people in the colonies were angry and wanted change. There was sufficient cause for the American colonists to take up arms and rebel against the British government because people have the right to privacy, and Britain was not giving it to them.

I am writing to express my opinion about the events that occurred March 5, 1770 in Boston. I feel very strongly that the blame rests solely on the nine British soldiers that fought in the massacre. These soldiers were much to harsh to the colonists were involved in this fight, and had no right to fire a gun at these innocent colonists trying to stand up for their rights of privacy, as well as just rights in general. I believe that the world should know what really happened on March 5, 1770 in the streets of Boston. I hope that you should continue reading to find out more.

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

Boston Massacre The day of 5, March 1770 have its immense significance in the history of America. It is remembered as the day of the killing of five heroes of the revolutionary process of America. It is the day of Boston Massacre. It has its strong implications in the nation’s history (Sanchez).

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.

On the evening of March 5, 1770, a group of kids came up to a British soldier. The soldier was alone so the kids thought that he would be an easy target to pick on. The kids approached the soldier

The Boston Massacre is one of the most controversial events in American history that occurred in Boston before the American Revolution. Certainly, it has a fundamental role in the development of America as a nation, which led it to have a huge motivation for revolution. A heavy British military presence and having very high taxes in the country were some of the main reasons that made Boston citizens very irritated. Thus, there were already many disagreements and tensions between inhabitants and the British that could have led to the Massacre. In this essay, I will carefully analyze three primary sources, and compare these to the interpretation given by HBO’s John Adams. In my view, these sources can be

“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

Hurry! The british are coming closer. I was in boston March 5 1970 the british were shooting into big crowds. I saw the pedestrians getting shot. I was stuck in between a huge crowd that I could of barely move.

Secondly, the Americans were unjustified in their separation from Britain because they had a biased view against all that the British did. One well known event that occurred before the American Revolution was the Boston Massacre (History.com Staff, “Boston Massacre”). It occurred on the 5th of March in 1770. A bunch of British soldiers came to support a sentry that was being harassed and taunted by a crowd of American colonists. In response, the British fired. Three were immediately dead upon the first shots and another two died due to extensive wounds. After the event, some important colonial men - such as Benjamin Franklin and Paul Revere - started to spread propaganda to try and get colonists to support them in fighting for their independence (Insider, Business). Some include the disjointed snake, illustrated in 1754 and a print that depicted an armless and legless person illustrated to repeal the Stamp Act - both drawn by Benjamin Franklin. Yet, one very noteworthy piece of propaganda, engraved by Paul Revere in 1770, depicts the story of the Boston Massacre. But, based on the engraving, the story was completely different than what actually had happened (Document 3). According to the engraving, the colonists were not fighting and the British were killing “innocents” because they “felt like it”. However, in Document 3, the description says that the British fired because they were threatened. Because of the biased views of influential American leaders such as Benjamin