Premium Essay

Boston Massacre Research Paper

Submitted By
Words 554
Pages 3
The Boston Massacre was a disastrous incident that happened on March 5th of 1770. In this, the British soldiers killed five men and wounded six people. The British who were positioned in Boston since 1768 to protect and support the crown-appointed- colonial officials were trying to enforce the unpopular Parliament Legislation. On one harsh cold night of March 5, 1770, a crowd of angry American colonists came together at the Customs House in Boston and began to harass some British Soldiers who were put to guard the building. The people who harassed the British were known as Protestors and considered themselves Patriots. The Protestors were trying to protest the occupation of the British troops who were sent to Boston to enforce unpopular taxation .

The British Captain Thomas Preston, who was the commanding officer at the Custom House, sent his men to fix their bayonets and to join the guard outside the building. That was when the colonists started throwing snowballs at the British. One of the snowballs accidently hit Private Hugh Montgomery rifle and caused the rifle to discharge. Which also led the British soldiers to fire at the protestors because they thought that the …show more content…
He then spoke to the people and promised an inquiry and promoted some of the troops to castle island. Many troops were arrested and some also charged with murder. One man named John Adams who was going to be the future president, and a lawyer, defended the six soldiers who were acquitted. The other two British soldiers who were convicted for manslaughter, was sentenced to branding of their hands. Multiple reports of this incident and information about this event were then sent to England. This also made Paul Revere write and draw a dramatic version of the Boston Massacre, that he later published to start a revolt in the thirteen original colonies. This also put high tension in the thirteen original

Similar Documents

Premium Essay

Boston Massacre Research Paper

...The Boston massacre had a major role in the America’s fight for freedom. Over the years some people think the Boston Massacre was not the worst event that occurred in the American Revolution, but it still had a role in in starting the war. The Boston Massacre occurred on March 5, 1770 between a “patriot” mob, throwing snowballs, stones, and sticks, and a squad of British soldiers. A squad of British soldiers, came to support a sentry who was being pressed by a heckling crowd, let loose a volley shots. The massacre was named as one of the first battles of the Revolutionary war. It happened because protests did not want British troops in their city, which were sent to enforce the unpopular taxation laws. The soldiers raised their weapons and the protests responded by throwing snowballs, and other objects until something hit a soldier causing him to fire his weapon out into the crowd. Despite the fact that the Boston Massacre pushed us closer to war....

Words: 304 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

Boston Massacre Research Paper

...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...

Words: 258 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

Boston Massacre Research Paper

...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...

Words: 930 - Pages: 4

Premium Essay

Boston Massacre Research Paper

...Along with being called the boston massacre it was also called the state street massacre because the monstrosity was started on the streets of boston. Soon after the troops were sent to the colonies the colonist have had it, they were tired of being bossed . The colonists were so aggravated with the situation that on March 5, 1770 school boys threw snowballs and started calling guard's names in Customs house in Boston some say the boston massacre was only an accident because only five people died in it. British troops in the Massachusetts Colony were there to stop demonstrations against the Townshend Acts and keep things in the order they should be in, but instead they cause an enormous outrage. This all started with people getting tired of the stamp acts, they could not take it anymore. The night of the boston massacre was a very brutal night, not many people died but many were hurt. There was a crowd of three to four hundred people. The crowd was constantly throwing snowballs, shouting “FIRE!, FIRE!”, and spitting at the soldiers in the red coats or so they called the “lobster backs”. Preston yelled at the large sized crowd and told them to disperse, they did not listen and continued to do what they were before. Although the...

Words: 622 - Pages: 3

Premium Essay

Research Paper On The Boston Massacre

...The Boston Massacre took place on the evening of March 5, 1770. It was a cold, snowy Monday night. There was a foot of snow on the ground. The sun had already set, and the moon was out. The massacre was a result of the stamp act, and other acts that brought on tension between Great Britain and the colonists. It is said that the massacre took a few days to happen. The second provocation documented that led to the massacre occurred on February 29, 1770. There were a few provocations that had led up right before a massacre was finally declared. According to Samuel Drowne, he saw about fourteen or fifteen soldiers of the 29th regiment coming from Murray’s barracks armed with weapons around nine at night. He saw them march on to King street...

Words: 312 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

Boston Massacre Research Paper

...As time progressed in colonial Boston, disputes between colonists and English sympathizers and soldiers began to become more and more common as more taxes were placed on those in the colonies. Some of these were rather violent. For example, in February of 1770, an angry crowd approached a British informer at his home and began to raid and destroy it. The incident resulted in the death of a young boy and a city drawn together in their distaste for the English. Not even a month later on March 5th, the conflict later known as the Boston Massacre took place. Like the death of the boy in February, this conflict became a rally for change in the eyes of the colonialists. But, there is conflict as to what happened that night due to accounts of what happened varying between colonists and British, and even between colonists themselves. What is known for sure is that on the evening of March 5th, a group of Bostonian boys began to throw snowballs at a sentry on duty. A small crowd began to support the boys and taunt the sentry, leading him to call for help. From there, the events drastically escalated to the point...

Words: 1163 - Pages: 5

Premium Essay

Boston Massacre Research Paper

...Colin Tierney Prof. Eric Kim University Writing 24 March 2015 The Boston Massacre On the third Monday of every April, tens of thousands of runners line up on Main Street in Hopkinton, Massachusetts, to embark on the experience of a lifetime. A challenge that symbolizes not only self-accomplishment, but the even greater achievement of the “American Dream.” Following the path taken by the patriots during the battle of Lexington and Concord, the runners of the Boston Marathon march sneaker over sneaker towards freedom and accomplishment. On Patriots Day each year, these athletes and spectators alike, are equal, supporting each other in the great race. The Boston Marathon specifically, is a task that should not be taken lightly. It is America’s...

Words: 1916 - Pages: 8

Premium Essay

Boston Massacre Research Paper

...On the day of March 5, 1770, The Boston Massacre took place. This should not have been labeled as a “massacre”. A massacre is the killing of defenseless people. Nothing but a small riot happened and both sides, the people and the british soldiers had weapons. The people were throwing snowballs with rocks inside and clubs at the british soldiers. This fatal accident happened when the people starting brewing trouble in Boston. The bostonians thought that the Boston Patriots were the worst, most dreadful , unpleasant people in the colonies. A noisy mob of citizens were throwing rocks and ice at the soldiers that were guarding the Boston Customs House. They were daring the soldiers to fire and picking on the soldiers about their uniforms, calling them “lobsterbacks”. The mod dared them to fire while the commander of the soldiers commanded they go home and that their pleas had no effect. The soldiers were forbidden to fire on the citizens. Someone in the mob had fired, knocking a soldier to the...

Words: 448 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

Boston Massacre Research Paper

...March 5, 1770, a fight broke out between the soldiers and the colonists in Boston. This tragic event resulted in the Boston Massacre. It was a small riot and five Bostonians were killed and ten were injured. Some believe that it was an accident, while others think someone was to blame. However, I think the colonists are to blame for the incident. The British soldiers thought of the colonists as “trouble-makers.” They would taunt the soldiers but the soldiers were forbidden to fire their guns at the citizens. The Bostonians knew this, which only made them worse. The colonists would throw rocks and snow at the soldiers guarding the Boston Customs House, they would call them names, shout at them to fire, and hit their guns with sticks. Some...

Words: 326 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

Boston Massacre Research Paper

...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,...

Words: 1623 - Pages: 7

Premium Essay

Boston Massacre Research Paper

...The Boston Massacre was an event of great significance in American history, as it marked a turning point in the mounting tensions between American Colonists and British soldiers that eventually led to the Revolutionary War. On the fateful night of March 5, 1770, a tragic clash between British soldiers and a group of American Colonists in Boston, Massachusetts resulted in the loss of five civilian lives. This event served as a catalyst that further escalated disputes and tension between the two groups. However, despite the tragedy, the aftermath of the Boston Massacre set legal processes in motion that led to a transformation of the justice system in colonial America, leaving a lasting legacy that still resonates today. Following the Boston Massacre, a series of high-profile legal cases...

Words: 1574 - Pages: 7

Premium Essay

Boston Massacre Research Paper

...In 1770, British troops were sent to the American colonies to quell the protests by colonists against taxation. Colonists in Boston were against British soldiers being in America. Colonists were starting to protest taxation from the Sugar Act as well as other taxes. Great Britain had begun taxing their American colonies because of the heavy debt incurred from the French and Indian War. So that my reader will understand, the American colonists helped Britain win a war against France to create one of the largest empires of the 18th century. Britain won all of Canada and all land from the Atlantic Ocean to the Mississippi River. Another upsetting act of the British was the Proclamation of 1763, which prevented Americans from crossing the Appalachian Mountains. What became known as the Boston Massacre was a protest against taxes, the Proclamation of 1763, and the intrusion of British soldiers into America....

Words: 450 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

Boston Massacre Research Paper

...Boston Massacre: Murder or Self Defense In 1770, a bloody massacre of five deaths took place on the cold streets of Boston. Nine soldiers including their captain were in King street, in Boston, when a young drunk lad went up to one of the soldiers. The soldier hit the young lad and he ran off into the same pub he had gotten drunk in to tell everyone else about the soldiers up in King street. A huge mob of colonists went to the soldiers and started throwing items like rocks, snowballs and sticks. The soldiers started firing on the crowd with their guns. After the event the soldiers were branded murderers by some and by others innocent, for using self defense. The British used their weapons in self defense. For instance, the British were outnumbered...

Words: 494 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

Boston Massacre Research Paper

...Sierra Emilaire It was a seemingly normal Monday in Boston on the cold, snowy night of March 5, 1770. Many families were already in the safety of their homes, while others were still roaming the streets for reasons unknown. It was quiet and everyone appeared to be minding their own business, little did the city of Boston know what was planned for that night and who would be killed as a result of it. In the years following up to the Massacre, the Board of Commissioners had started to assume control over the colony after their arrival in 1767. The presence of this Board was becoming “detrimental to the commerce and political interests of the town and the province”. The people of Boston saw them as no more than a nuisance and treated them...

Words: 507 - Pages: 3

Premium Essay

Boston Massacre Research Paper

...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...

Words: 650 - Pages: 3