“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 put taxes on paint and glass and wine. (BostonMassacre.net) While King George was putting taxes on items he also sent 4,000 British troops over to the colonies and an amount of warships. The colonist started to get angered with the high taxes and the soldiers quartered in the colonies. (Gilderham.org) There were also the Townshend Acts, which tries to raise revenue of the colonies so the English government can give income increases to Governors and judges, so they may stay loyal to the crown. These taxes infuriated the colonist and slowly started a hatred for the British. Before the Townshend acts was the quartering act, this also gave more hatred to the British crown. (Bostonmassacre.net)“The Quartering Acts were two British Laws, passed by the Parliament of Great Britain 1765 and 1774, that were designed to force local colonial governments to provide provisions and housing to British soldiers stationed in the 13 Colonies of America.”(Landofthebrave.info) “The Boston Massacre was a pre-revolutionary incident that occurred on March 5, 1770.”(landofthebrave.info). The Boston massacre was on the night of March 5th, 1770. The Boston Massacre started when Captain Goldfinch was being taunted by an amount of citizens. Private White went to aid him. Private White then hit a demonstrator with his weapon infuriating the crowd even more. This led to a riot of about 50 people. The two British soldiers, Private White and Captain Goldfinch, saw the situation was out of their hands and called for support. Then, eight British soldiers came to help them. The demonstrators of about 50 or more started to throw rocks at the soldiers. The riot quickly grew to about 200 people. The Riot started to throw ice and coal at the soldiers. A piece of rock hit Private Montgomery and shot into the crowd killing the first Victim of the Boston Massacre, Crispus Attucks. After Private Montgomery’s shot others followed. A few days after the people in the Boston Massacre were tried for manslaughter, where John Adams was the defendant. (Bostonmassacre.net) Crispus Attucks was the first victim of the Boston massacre. Crispus Attucks was 47 years old. Crispus Attucks is ”often referred to as the first martyr of the American Revolution.”(Landofthebrave.info). Crispus Attucks was an African American who escaped his slaveship and became merchant seamen. While being a Merchant seamen Crispus Attucks also was a whaler. Crispus Attucks was mentioned in Martin Luther King Jr.’s book Why we can’t wait.” The Boston massacre was overly exaggerated. It was mainly over exaggerated by the famous Paul Revere Engraving named The Bloody Massacre in King-Street, March 5,1770. The engraving shows a line of British soldiers being ordered to fire at the riot. “Revere's historic engraving is long on political propaganda and short on accuracy or aesthetics.” (bostonmassacre.net) The Paul Revere engraving had many mistakes on it. For example there was no snow or ice on the ground while in the actual event there was ice and snow on the ground. The propaganda poster Paul Revere made was used to press the war. The Sons of Liberty heavily used the propaganda poster. The Sons of Liberty was a group that protected the rights of colonists. The Boston Massacre led to the Creation of the Committee of Correspondence. The Committee of Correspondence objective was to “ warn each other about British actions and future plans that were detrimental to colonial America and to plan colonial resistance and counter measures. “ (landofthebrave.info).

C. Evaluation of sources Created in 2008 www.Bostonmassacre.net was created by the Boston Massacre Historical Society, a society dedicated to telling the people about the truth behind the Boston Massacre. This website contains many different views on the Boston Massacre including the view of the colonists on this subject and how the British saw this incident. While the website is looking at both sides of things It seems to be more in depth with the colonist side. This source is especially valuable for telling the people both sides of the argument and gives detailed accounts of what happened and tells us the misconceptions or the theories about the Boston Massacre. While doing this it also provides essays about the Boston Massacre. The website also includes many primary sources about the trial of the Boston Massacre including some testimonies and some accounts and the speech for defense by John Adams. While being in depth about the Boston Massacre it doesn’t talk about the effect of it. The website talks in great depth about the cause of the Boston Massacre and also talks about the actual event in great depth. The website doesn’t talk about the effect of the Boston Massacre. The purpose for this website is to give the general public a factual insight and giving many different perspectives to the Boston Massacre. In General bostonmassacre.net is a source that gives us basic information about the Boston Massacre and also gives us in depth information about the Boston massacre. The trial “No.64. Rex v. Wemms “ by John Adams at the Boston Massacre trial was an important part of this paper to understand the different views, of the trial. While John Adams is a huge part of America he was very passionate about his work. While John Adams hates the British he decides to defend them in the Boston Massacre and with his outgoing attitude he creates a very intensive argument. This statement by John Adams was very showing of the British perspective and how the British were feeling during the Boston Massacre. While being a very valuable resource for understanding of the Boston Massacre it is very one-sided towards the British due to the fact John Adams was defending them in the Boston Massacre.
D. Analysis Colonists were getting angered at the British government and the many acts in play during the rule of the Government such as the Townshend Act. In general acts that raised taxes or put more troops in the colonies. The colonies were fine when they were self governing with little to no amount of British troops in the colonies. When the Governors and the Mayors had a higher paycheck to become loyal to the king, almost like a bribe of some sort, this is when the colonist had some tension to the crown. During this time was when Colonist really had a hatred for the British. The Sons of Liberty got real big during pre-Boston Massacre; the Sons of Liberty forced people not to buy British goods and organized Boycott’s. If they didn’t oblige by these rules violence came into play. Big and small groups were working together to take down Britain and there attempt to have a strict control of the colonies. There are many theories on how the Boston Massacre started the biggest one being a soldier didn’t pay his bill causing the owner to yell at him and calling the soldier, whose name was Captain Goldfinch, crude names. This caused other people yelling at this soldier. Captain Goldfinch noticed he needed backup and quickly called for it. Eight people came to his aid to support the in help Captain Goldfinch. The crowd quickly went to 200 people rioting at these British officers. With, the confusion going on around them Private Montgomery shot into the crowd killing Atticus Finch. After Private Montgomery’s shots were fired, the rest of the soldiers soon followed to shoot. The immediate effect of the Boston Massacre was the six deaths including Atticus Finch, who was the first death. This immediately led to the trial where John Adams was the defendant of the British Officers. The trial given by John Adams made him popular and a leader in the independence movement. While the Boston Massacre Trial gave popularity of the famous John Adams it also created the Committee of Correspondence, which tells people about the British plans. While the Boston Massacre had great effects then, it is still part of today’s history, teachers in history class still teach the Boston Massacre. The Boston Massacre effect goes over the killings of Crispus Attucks and the Committee of Correspondence, it retains to the people’s education today.
E. Conclusion
In conclusion the Boston Massacre was and is an important event. With the six deaths involved in the Boston Massacre and the Committee of Correspondence created and the popularity of John Adams made the Boston Massacre very important. The effect of the Boston Massacre affected the future of that moment in many ways such as, creating frustration throughout the colonies. It creates the popularity of Paul Revere and John Adams. The cause of the Boston Massacre cannot be pointed to one point but to many. The Riot was started because of an unpaid dinner bill but, the frustration of the British was due to Townshend acts and the quartering acts that raised taxes and allowed British soldiers to live in the civilian’s houses. This slow build up of rage and anger towards the British army is the general reason for the Boston Massacre.

Works Cited
Boston Massacre Historical Society. Boston Massacre. Boston Massacre Historical Society 23 Jan 2015 <http://www.bostonmassacre.net>.

"Key Figures in the Boston Massacre Trial." Key Figures in the Boston Massacre Trial. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Nov. 2014.

"Revolutionary War Timeline." Ushistory.org. Independence Hall Association, n.d. Web. 08 Nov. 2014.

Paul Revere's Engraving of the Boston Massacre, 1770." The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Nov. 2014.

"The Boston Massacre." Boston Massacre of 1770 ***. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Nov. 2014.

No.64. Rex v. Wemms. Pp.260-260. Boston Court. N.d. Print.

“The Legal Papers of John Adams No. 64 Rex v. Wemms, pp. 260-270.” Boston Massacre Historical Society. Available at: http://www.bostonmassacre.net/trial/acct-adams1.htm. Nov, 10 2014.
Alchin, Linda. "Colonial America." For Kids ***. Siteseen Ltd, n.d. Web. 23 Jan. 2015.