What Factors Contributed To The Boston Massacre

The American Revolution was a critical turning point in American history. Following the French and Indian War, Britain ignored its previous policy of salutary neglect and began intervening in the colonies affairs through taxes, occupation of soldiers, violation of civil liberties, all the while ignoring colonial pleas for representation in Parliament. These events led to the “shot heard ‘round the world” at the Battles of Lexington and Concord in April 1775. America was now at war with Britain. Nevertheless, the impact of

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.

One of the acts was the stamp act. This was a way to force the colonies to help pay off the war debt. The British pushed the Stamp Act through Parliament in March 1765. This act required Americans to buy paper, newspapers, playing cards, and legal documents such as wills and a marriage license strictly from

Beginning in 1764, Great Britain began passing acts to exert greater control over the American colonies. The Sugar Act was passed to increase duties on foreign sugar imported from the West Indies. A Currency Act was also passed to ban the colonies from issuing paper bills or bills of credit because of the belief that the colonial currency had devalued the British money. Further, in order to continue to support the British soldiers left in America after the war, Great Britain passed the Quartering Act in 1765. This ordered colonists to house and feed British soldiers if there was not enough room for them in the colonist’s homes. An important piece of legislation that really upset the colonists was the Stamp Act passed in 1765. This required stamps to be purchased or included on many different items and documents such as playing cards, legal papers, newspapers, and more. This was the first direct tax that Britain had imposed on the colonists. Events began to escalate with passage of the Townshend Acts in 1767. These taxes were created to help colonial officials become independent of the colonists by providing them with a source of income. This act led to clashes between British troops and colonists, causing the infamous Boston Massacre. These unjust requests and increasing tensions all led up to the colonist’s declaration as well as the Revolutionary War.

The major events that occurred during the revolutionary wars in French and America facilitated in the transformation of both worlds. The American Revolution encountered many events, such as, the Boston Massacre, the Paul Revere’s Ride, and Battles at Lexington Concord, the Declaration of Independence, and the publishing of Common Sense. These events changed America, especially the Declaration of Independence, because it provided the freedom of speech, and it also gave the people their rights back to do as they please but under a govern law.

Due to the British tightening their control over the colonies to pay off the huge debt after the French and Indian War, patriots rebelled and started a revolution that would lead to great things. These were colonists who believed that the right to govern themselves belonged to the colonies. Britain had recently gotten into a war in the Americas against France and the Native Americans. Although they won and expanded their American empire, the debt they were in was just about up to their necks. To help solve this problem, they took more control over the colonies. Before the Proclamation of 1763, Britain did not pay much attention to the colonies. However Prime Minister George Grenville needed help to pay off the debt, and the British people were already paying taxes on several of their

In Brinkley eyes, results from The Boston Massacre is more than just a tragic but rather another cause for the revolution and claiming independence for the U.S. from Britain. As taxes rises and become more abundant, the colonists started to take actions against the British, causing the tensions to get worse. The Boston Massacre, along with other significant events such as Boston Tea Party, Boston Port Act, and more set the revolution in motion. The Boston Massacre was another event that help fueling the flame for the claim of independence.

Through and through, the British had pulled America’s last straw. America was frustrated by being overtaxed. Many laws led to more resentment from the colonists. America was inspired by actions that defied the British rule. Patrick Henry’s speech and the Boston Tea Party emboldened the colonists. Tons of controversial laws led to war and changed the

The act also gave customs agents the authority to search property, including the colonists’ homes. The colonial response to these acts was increasing violence against the customs officials. In 1768, the British government sent troops to America to reinforce the Townshend Acts and protect the customs agents. At one point there were 4,000 British soldiers in a city of only 16,000 people (Phelan, 24). According to Phelan, there were “almost daily confrontations” between soldiers and civilians (38). There was increasing tension between the troops and the American colonists. Some children as well as adults tormented the troops by throwing snowballs and chunks of ice at the soldiers. There was also increasing tension between the colonists who were loyal to the Crown and those who were loyal to the colonies because some store owners broke their agreements about importing and selling British goods. Children threw trash and rocks at those storeowners’ buildings. Several days before the Boston Massacre, one of the loyalist merchants shot and killed a young man who was a part of group vandalizing his business (Phelan, 44-46). The colonists’ tempers flared.

Parliament passed the Townshend Acts, which placed taxes on paper, lead, paint, and tea that was imported to New England. The colonist began to boycott these goods which angered English authorities. They placed military officials so that they could force the colonists to pay the much needed taxes. Tensions between British soldiers and colonists escalated. This lead to the Boston Massacre; it was propagandized and impassioned many settlers to rebel. In response for the unfair taxes on tea, the colonists dumped the imported tea into the harbor. People became much more ardent to their side after the incident. You were either for the revolution; a patriot, or you sided with England; a loyalist.

Several conflicts between the colonist and soldiers ended in the Boston Massacre which resulted as a response to some laws imposed in the colonies from the British Empire. Examples of these laws were: the stamp act in perpetuity, which was repelled after colonists’ protests; the Townshend Revenue Act, which add new taxes to goods like sugar, tea, glass, etc.; and

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).

Then the Boston Massacre came in and ignited a fuse in all of the colonists sprung them madness to all go against the British. Several young, nervous British soldiery shot on a group of angry colonists, clean up 5, and this showed just how tense everything was in the colonies now. In 1773 the colonists struck again and decided to dump a million dollars worth of tea into the ocean and this was later called the Boston Tea Party. Which then caused the British to impose the intolerable routine in 1774, which included the port number, justice deed, new quartering act, and the government act. The port act was the closing of the Boston Seaport until the tea was paid for and the new quartering act was when the colonists had to figure barrack for the British troops and they built them on their own property.

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.

About a decade before the American Revolution happened in 1775, there were lots of tension building up between the colonists and the British. The colonists did not like being under British rule and control because they liked freedom and wanted independence. However, the British government attempted to raise tax revenues by imposing more taxes on the colonists to pay for the leftover debts from the Indian-French War. Some of the laws passed include the Stamp Act of 1765, the Townshend Tariffs of 1767, and the Tea Act of 1773. Some events that escalated the tension include the Boston Massacre, the Boston Tea Party, etc. The colonists were justified in rebelling against Britain.