...The event that took place in Boston on March 5, 1770 was not a massacre. A massacre is considered an attack in which a large number of people are violently slaughtered and killed. On that day, colonists had weapons to defend themselves from the British. It would not be considered a massacre because of their ability to fight back and the fact that only 3 colonists died after the fight. The action on March 5 was just an unfair fight and it does not fall under the category of a massacre. The colonists that fought with the British Redcoats in Boston on March 5 had weapons to help defend themselves. The colonists used clubs and other weapons to harm the British. According to Document 3, Account of the Boston Massacre, “A townsman with a cudgel...
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...The Boston Massacre was a horrifying event that took place on March 5, 1770, killing 5 people 2 on accident, and 3 died on the spot. The causes of the Boston Massacre in 1770 were to enforce unpopular taxation measures passed by a British parliament that lacked American representation, an angry mob of American colonists gathering and taunting British soldiers, and the British reaction. The British weren’t welcomed at all that’s when the riot began. Fifty citizens attacked a British sentinel, objects were thrown and weapons were fired. Patriot mobs threw snowballs, stones, and sticks. Several colonists were injured or killed on the scene because of the British and this led to one of the biggest wars in American history. In this essay it will show why the colonist was horrified by the reaction of the British in the Boston massacre. Before the Boston massacre October 1768 the British had been billeted after repeated request from officials who had been harassed and imitated because their effort to enforce unpopular taxation or Townshend acts. The Townshend act caused problems because they were expected to impose duties and taxes on paper, lead, paints, and tea imported to colonies. The Boston massacre killed 5...
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...The Boston Massacre The Boston Massacre played a big role during the 1770’s by serving as an anti-British propaganda to enrage citizens and have the responsibility to eventually rise up and start the Revolutionary War. Citizens knew that they had the right to be free, but were growing angry because the British Parliament were raising taxes and placing taxes on them for more things. Without the Boston Massacre tensions leading up to war, and our freedom may not have happened at all. Since 1765, the people of Boston had been heading protests against British taxation: the Stamp Act then the Townshend Act. In 1767, The British Parliament passed the Townshend Act, enraging colonists. Citizens believed that the British didn’t have the right to tax them because they did not elect their representatives in Parliament. Only the Massachusetts Assembly, whose members were elected every year, had the right to levy taxes on its citizens. The Townshend Acts imposed duties on glass, lead, paints, paper and tea imported into the colonies. Townshend hoped the acts would defray imperial expenses in the colonies, but many Americans viewed the taxation as an abuse of power, resulting in the passage of agreements to limit imports from Britain. The East India Company was on the verge of collapse and Parliament hoped to boost the company's bottom line by allowing them to sell tea more cheaply to the colonists. Also, Boston was occupied by British soldiers in October, 1768 to help protect customs...
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...“What was the Cause and effect of the Boston Massacre?” History IB HL Year 1 Internal Assessment Word Count: 1625 Table of Contents Cover sheet……………………………………………………………………………………………...Pg1 Table of contents……………………………………………………………………………………..Pg2 Plan of investigation………………………………………………………………………………..Pg3 Summary of Evidence.……………………………………………………………………………..Pg3-5 Evaluation of Sources……………………………………………………………………………...Pg5-6 Analysis…………………………………………………………………………………………………..Pg6- 8 Conclusion………………………………………………………………………………………………Pg8 Works Cited…………………………………………………………………………………………….Pg9 A. Plan of Investigation The purpose of this paper is to answer the question, “what was the cause and effect of the Boston Massacre?” The body of the summary of evidence will investigate the people of the Boston Massacre. The summary of evidence will also investigate some of the lead up to the massacre. Documents will be analyzed to find causes and the build up to the Boston Massacre. The looking at a primary source and secondary sources will be heavily used. This paper will include the effects of the Boston Massacre such as the propaganda used to over exaggerate the Boston Massacre. In the documents being scoped at in this paper there will be the effects of the Boston Massacre such as The Committee of Correspondence and the 1773 Tea Act. While focusing on these aspects we analyze them into further investigation. B. Summary of Evidence The colonists were angering King George III, so...
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...5, 1770. British Army soldiers killed five civilian men. They fired into the crowd without orders. They killed three people and wounding many others. It was two of the people that died after being wounded in incident. A mob formed around a British sentry who was subjected to verbal abuse and harassment. The population grew and spread wide over Boston. On the day of the funeral all shops and stores were closed due to the incident that occurred. Thousands of people gathered to remember the five that died. The colonies became a nation working, thinking, and grieving together. It was a crucial step forward for the peoples of the colonies as they began to wonder whether they were truly subjects of such a cruel nation, subjects of their own nation. There were lots and lots of newspapers and articles published each of them were about the soldiers involved in crisis...
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...The Boston Massacre was a crucial event in shaping the American Revolutionary War. The massacre occurred when British soldiers opened fire on the townspeople of Boston, in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. There were many events leading up to the massacre and many resounding effects. Tensions in Boston had been steadily rising with the implantation of taxes, the boycott of British goods, the Liberty riot, and the occupation of Boston by British troops leading to the Boston Massacre, which provided martyrs for freedom and gained support for war throughout the colonies. The taxation of Britain on the American colonists was the start of a series of events leading to the Boston Massacre. Taxes started being imposed after the French and Indian War,...
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...The Boston Massacre happened in March 5, 1770 during the evening. In the Boston Massacre, British soldiers killed five inhabitants and wounded six inhabitants. Captain Thomas Preston was responsible for the British soldiers which killed five inhabitants. Whether Captain Thomas Preston gave the order “fire” or not is a controversial issue. Although there are lots of witnesses who argued they were sure that he gave the order, there were also lots of witnesses who argued they were sure that he was not gave the “fire” order. Although the evidences not give us a certain idea that Captain Thomas Preston was guilty or not, because the evidences are controversial, evidences strongly suggest that he was not guilty, he presumably did not give the order “fire”. During the 1760s and the first days of the 1770s the tension in the Boston was high because of the Stamp Act and the other new taxes which were going to be applied, known as “Townshend Duties”. “… men such as Samuel Adams were encouraging their fellow Bostonians to be even bolder in their remonstrance.”(Wheeler, Becker & Glover, 84). Because of the inhabitant’s uneasy, the British government ordered some regiments of soldiers in Boston. However, bringing soldiers in the Boston did not bring the peace in the Boston; instead it increased the tension which was already ready to increase. The disputes between the soldiers and inhabitants started slowly, but by bid. There was a reaction to the soldiers as well as to the British sympathizer...
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...On March 5, 1770 in Boston, Massachusetts, a fight took place between the British soldiers and the colonists. The started all because of the Quartering Act. The colonists were ordered by King George III to house British soldiers when they were in the colonies. The colonists were, of course, unhappy about this, so they made sure the British felt unwelcome in America. On this fateful day in March, a group of about 30-40 colonists gathered in the town square. The colonists had provoked the British soldiers and that lead to what is now today as the ‘Boston Massacre’. A massacre is the purposeful killing of a group of people, which is more than one person, who are defenseless and not attacking. Did a massacre truly take place on March 5 of 1770; some sources say yes and some say otherwise. Based in the information that was gathered, a massacre did not take place on March 5, 1770 in Boston because both the colonists and the British were armed and attacking was an act self defense, on the British’s behalf....
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...The Boston Massacre, also known as the “Incident on King Street,” occurred on March 5, 1770 in Boston, Massachusetts. Before the Boston Massacre occurred, colonists were irate due to the Townshend Acts which was created by the British that put tax on tea, glass, lead, paints, paper goods, and many other common items. These items would be made in Britain and the exported to the colonies; therefore, Britain decided to put a tariff on these items, which included a fee for exporting and trade. The colonists were irate because they were British citizens. The Boston Massacre began with a small argument between British Private Hugh White and a few colonists outside the Custom House in Boston on King Street. The argument escalated, more colonists gathered and began to harass Private Hugh White by throwing sticks and snowballs at him. Colonists continued to increase in numbers until there were over 50 colonists at the scene and soldiers were sent to the Custom House to maintain the argument....
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...The Boston Massacre was a street fight that occurred on March 5, 1770, between a "patriot" mob, throwing snowballs, stones, and sticks, and a squad of British solders. On the cold, snowy night of March 5, 1770, a mob of American colonists gathers at the Customs House in Boston and begins taunting the British soldiers guarding the building. The commanding officer at the Customs House, ordered his men to fix their bayonets and join the guard outside the building.The colonists responded by throwing snowballs and other objects at the British regulars, and Private Hugh Montgomery was hit, leading him to discharge his rifle at the crowd. Boston , the capital of the Province of Massachusetts Bay and an important shipping town, was a major center of resistance to unpopular acts of taxation customs officials seized the Liberty , a sloop owned by leading Boston merchant John Hancock , on allegations that the ship had been involved in smuggling. The crowd continued to press around the soldiers, taunting them by yelling, "Fire!", by spitting at and throwing snowballs and other small objects at them. [ 23 ] Richard Palmes, a local innkeeper who was carrying a cudgel (ie, club), came up to Preston and asked if the soldiers' weapons were loaded. He recovered his weapon, and was thought to angrily shout "Damn you, fire!", then discharged it into the crowd though no command was actually given. Palmes swung his cudgel first at Montgomery, hitting his arm, and then at Preston. He narrowly...
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...The Boston Massacre was an event, which led to the death of five colonists after British soldiers when ordered to fire upon them on March 5th, 1770. Much controversy surrounds the incident, as there seems to be a few different stories of what truly happened. Regardless, many people believe the Boston Massacre was the spark that ignited the Revolutionary War. My efforts will be focused on figuring our what really happened, and what events caused the British officers to shoot into the crowd of colonists. The incident took place on King Street (which is now called State Street today), on an early morning on the 5th of March in front of the British Sentry called Private Hugh White. Edward Gerrish, an apprentice of a wigmakers, began yelling at a British officer, lieutenant John Goldfinch for an unpaid bill. Gerrish left, but eventually came back hours later and began throwing rocks at the lieutenant. Soon, many colonists joined in and threw rocks themselves. At this point, Goldfinch had reached his boiling point, and challenged Gerrish before striking him with his musket. As the evening progressed, the crowd outside the sentry grew larger and larger and continued to harass the British officers. Meanwhile, Captain Thomas Preston overlooked the entire situation as it escalated. He immediately ordered 8 soldiers to help control the situation before it got out of hand. As the soldiers approached, with muskets loaded, the crowd of nearly 400 began to surround the outnumbered officers...
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...Screams erupt throughout the crowd as a warm red liquid sprays across the snow-covered square. As smoke arises from the muskets, five bodies buckle to the ground. It is March 5, 1770, infamously known as The Boston Massacre. While the events in March 1770 were embellished on both the British and Colonists sides, the facts still remain. The accounts of the Boston Massacre, according to British officer Captain Thomas Preston, engender him as an innocent victim. Preston embellishes his account of events by depicting the colonists as savages, portraying himself as the victim, and hiding his shame of losing control of the situation Preston gives true accounts of the events of March 1770; however, he warps the events to rationalize his actions. In his version, he often describes the colonists as uncivilized and “insolent.” The colonists used “the most cruel and horrid Threats against the Troops” Preston illustrates the colonist as wild people, rioting, chanting, and beyond any means of control. Undergoing daily fist fights with the colonists, not once does he cite the actions of his soldiers for the brawls. He, in fact, states that every aggressive...
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...The Boston Massacre that happened in March of 1770 during the Revolutionary war started with the boycott of British products that caused unemployment in Britain. Lord North sent British troops in the Massachusetts Bay Colony were there to stop the demonstrations against the Townshend Acts and keep order, instead it lead to the growing of mistrust between the British soldiers and the Americans. The soldiers were made fun of and heckled by the mobs because their uniform. Their presents provoked and annoyed the Patriots and that caused fighting between the soldiers and the citizens. The Boston Massacre got its name because of the violent confrontation between British soldiers and a Boston mob (pg. 129). On March 5, 1770 the massacre which was...
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...The Boston Massacre was a very tragic event that happened on March 5, 1770. It is a very important part of our history today. The Boston massacre was about the colonists and british throwing and firing things at each other, because the colonists started the event by breaking away from England and throwing objects at the British soldiers, and the British soldiers took it seriously and thought that they were declared to fight back. I think that the Boston Massacre happened as an accident. I believe this because the Boston soldiers were probably thinking the colonists were being cruel and wanting to actually start a war. One of the reasons that makes me believe that the Boston massacre was an accident is because the british soldiers thought that when they heard “Fire! Fire! Fire!” it was their captain and so they started firing guns and throwing snowballs like it says in one of the sources. Also the colonists had no idea that the british soldiers would fire guns and throw snowballs back at them or they never would’ve thrown sticks, rocks, snowballs ,or clubs at the British soldiers in the first place. I think the colonists got killed by an accident because the British soldiers used their instincts and fought back at the colonists before the colonists killed them before they...
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...The Boston “Bloody” Massacre took place on the streets of Boston on March 5, 1770. An angry mob started throwing snowballs at senator or collecting taxes. As the mob started to get violent an army of redcoats come to help break up the fight. The overall fight started when the king that was over 3,000 miles away sent over 2,000 troops over for a town of 16,000 people. The redcoats aim their weapons, but are told not to fire, the mob keeps coming at them. They are throwing snowballs and not giving up the fight. Soon the redcoats shoot, the first person to fall was a black sailor named Crispus Attucks who was in the front of the mob. Soon the word of the massacre spread all throughout Boston. Paul Revere, a man who worked for the newspaper, took...
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