Premium Essay

The Colonists: The Boston Massacre

Submitted By
Words 1239
Pages 5
The Colonists

Since 1765, the people of Boston had been having protests against the british taxing them. First against the Stamp Acts, then in 1767 against the Townshend Acts. Many citizens believed that Britain did not have the right to tax them because they did not have their representatives in Parliament. Only the Massachusetts Assembly, whose members were elected every year, had the right to put taxes on the colonies. The day is March 5, 1770 right outside the Customs House, the day the Boston Massacre occurred.

A colonist walked over to a sober soldier had a few words with him. The soldier hit him randomly with the painful butt of his hard wood and metal gun. The colonist walked over to the other colonists and explained what happened …show more content…
It was believed to be 9 soldiers and it is not known how many colonists there were but it was recorded to be about 50. A ropemaker Samuel Gray, a mariner named James Caldwell and well known black sailor Crispus Attucks all died immediately. Later, Samuel Maverick who got shot in the abdomen, and Patrick Carr died later of their wounds. The news spread like wildfire because Paul Revere made a paper and a legendary picture about the boston massacre. Samuel Adams used the massacre to rile up the colonists against the British and to gain more recruits for the Sons of Liberty. John Adams defended successfully; all but two of the british were acquitted of murder. They were actually convicted for manslaughter mostly because the jury was filled with almost all loyalists unjustly by John Adams. Now, to remember there is a star in the middle of the square where they fought to represent the five colonists dead by the five pronged …show more content…
But in later days it was found out by researchers that the soldier did pay the master for his services. The apprentice then taunted the troop man who with a strong reason hit the man with butt of his gun. The man walked over acting total innocence and said that for no reason the soldier hit him. All the colonists formed a raging mob which rose up to attack him.the colonists were very vicious it was a torture getting hit with snowballs and threatened by people with torches and clubs. One of the alert british officers Captain Thomas Preston called for more troops to calm down the riot that was starting. When the other soldiers came one of the colonist slammed his club on too a reinforcement troop. Who tried to frighten the colonists away by shooting into the crowd. Right after the shot, mayhem broke

Similar Documents

Premium Essay

Boston Massacre Research Paper

...Boston Massacre Table of Contents -How the gruesome event started and what happened -The nasty British soldiers perspective and the colonists perspective - The confusion before the Boston Massacre trials Introduction Think, why did the British do this, just why? "Stop, stop, now," the colonists shouted! "Fire, pop, pop, pop,'' goes the British Soldier's muskets. ''AAAAAHHHHHHH,'' the colonists scream! When you're in the streets and men fall to the ground dead! Another man, another, another, another!!! Blood everywhere, what would you do?!? The deadly Massacre from start to finish. The British compared to the colonists, two totally different perspectives. Three weeks after the Bloody Massacre, there were trials. The trials were long!! What happened to the soldiers, might you ask? The Boston Massacre was one very, very gruesome event!! How The Gruesome event started and what happened...

Words: 602 - Pages: 3

Premium Essay

Boston Massacre Dbq

...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...

Words: 661 - Pages: 3

Premium Essay

Boston Massacre Fault

...The Boston Massacre, a horrific incident that was nowhere near an accident. Depending on a person’s personal perspective, some may see it as an accident whereas others may see it as either the soldiers or the colonists fault. However, resources show that the colonists were at fault for the Boston Massacre. The Boston Massacre today still stands as a landmark that will be remembered as a critical point in time before the American Revolution whether it was the colonists or soldiers fault. The conflicts that progressed into the Boston Massacre led the soldiers to perform an act of self defence. The possibility of the soldiers not being able to correctly hear their captain is strong. With many insults being yelled and snowballs being thrown, unconscious...

Words: 489 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

Boston Massacre Research Paper

...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....

Words: 492 - Pages: 2

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

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

Free Essay

The Effects of Boston Masacre

...“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 he...

Words: 1873 - Pages: 8

Premium Essay

Boston Massacre Research Paper

...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...

Words: 637 - Pages: 3

Premium Essay

The Seven Years War: The Boston Tea Party

...the Boston Massacre, the Boston Tea Party and the Intolerable Acts. Britain wanted to create colonies in what is now America and they were very successful. Britain had power over the colonies and used that to make unfair laws for the colonies to follow. The Seven year was caused Britain to go into great debt and put taxes on the colonists which caused the colonists to become angry with Parliament. The colonists protested which lead to the Boston Massacre, and after that the colonists caused an incident caused the Boston Tea Party where Britain replied with the intolerable acts. The Boston Massacre caused the colonists to be scared and angry with Parliament. “In 1770 Boston crackled with tension, a group of angry colonists confronted twelve red coats and threw objects and dares to shoot at them. One soldier was knocked over by a block of ice and yelled fire and killed five” (Boyer 144). Boston civilians were shot and killed by British soldiers and they were already not getting along. Boston and other colonies became scared of the British soldiers and...

Words: 637 - Pages: 3

Premium Essay

Boston Massacre Research Paper

...Did you know that the Boston Massacre was one of the events that led to the Revolutionary War ? The Boston Massacre occurred on March 5, 1770 when British troops fired on a group of colonists killing five of them. The Boston Massacre was caused by the king taxing English products and as a result the colonists started a mob. The Patriotic mob. According to “Boston Massacre Historical Society” there was a mob. The colonists were getting angry at the king for taxing them so they started a mob out of anger. According to “us.history” the colonists threw several kinds of objects at the British troops. The colonists started a mob and began to throw snowballs, stones, and sticks at the soldiers. Therefore these are the reasons why there was a patriotic...

Words: 337 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

The Livingston Massacre: The Boston Massacre

...The Boston Massacre took place on March 5,1770 on King Street in Boston, Massachusetts. During the Massacre, British soldiers killed five protesting colonists and injured six others. There were also two separate Boston Massacre trials. The first trial, otherwise known as The Trial of Captain Preston, occurred eight months after the incident and lasted for a week. The second trial was for the soldiers and it started on November 27, 1770 and ended on December 14, 1770. (Where is your thesis statement?) The colonist who called themselves the patriots, protested the British because of the Townshend Acts. The Townshend Acts were acts that were passed in 1767 which put taxes on glass, lead, paints, paper and tea that was imported into the colony....

Words: 415 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

What Caused The Boston Massacre

...The Boston Massacre is known as the murdering of five American colonists by British soldiers. The exact cause of the Boston Massacre is unknown. Most commonly, it is said that the colonists were tormenting the soldiers that were simply trying to do their job.The colonists were said to be unarmed but they still had sticks and snowballs they were using as weapons. They were also yelling rude comments and daring the soldiers to fire. The colonists provoked the British soldiers to open fire on them. The colonists were basically asking to be shot at by yelling fire in a midst of a large group of soldiers with loaded guns, who were just waiting to hear that word come from their captain. Colonists also provoked the soldiers by hitting them with sticks and...

Words: 561 - Pages: 3

Premium Essay

Boston Teah Partty

...Twelves Hewes and the American Revolution In the years leading up to the American Revolution, the city of Boston became a hot bed of colonist rebellion against the British Government. The citizens in Boston, of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, had become fed up with unjustified taxation levied against them by the British. The colonists of Boston also saw it to be problematic that the colonies were subject to British rule, but were not represented in Parliament. In the half-decade prior to the Revolutionary War, the city of Boston hosted two monumental events that rallied the colonists into the direction of independence; the Boston Massacre and the Boston Tea Party. A man named George Roberts Twelve Hewes had the honor of being able to witness and take direct involvement in both the Massacre and the Tea Party. George Roberts Twelve Hewes was born and raised in Massachusetts and saw the development of the Revolution from the perspective of an “everyday” colonist. He was born on August 25th, 1742. Hewes was a shoemaker by trade and was never able to amount an impressive net worth. If anything, it can be argued that Hewes was very much more poverty stricken than anything else. Money never seemed to influence Hewes’s actions; instead George Roberts Twelve Hewes was a man of principal and integrity. Prior to the Revolutionary War, Hewes participated in both the Boston Massacre and Boston Tea Party. During the Revolutionary War, Hewes served as a Privateer and a member of the militia for...

Words: 3612 - Pages: 15

Premium Essay

Argument Analysis: The Boston Massacre

...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....

Words: 1531 - Pages: 7

Premium Essay

Boston Massacre Essay

...The Boston Massacre occurred on March 5, 1770. The event took place on King Street, Massachusetts. During this event, the British soldiers ruthlessly murdered five innocent civilians and injured six others. The growing tension between the colonists and the British soldiers was a direct result of the Townshend Acts of 1768. The continuous rivalry between the two progressed into a violent memory in American history. The British soldiers that participated in the Boston Massacre should have been sent to prison because they took it upon themselves to open fire against civilians rather than reason with the defenseless colonists. Therefore the soldiers’ barbaric actions cannot be justified. The British soldiers that took arms against the civilians...

Words: 1171 - Pages: 5