...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
...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
...John Adams was defending the British soldiers in the trial. The trial lasted for 7 days with 80 witnesses testifying. Witnesses described the insults and objects that they were throwing at the soldiers. According to the video that we watched in class the first witness that was brought up was Mr. Goddard. He said that Captain Preston was standing behind his men and ordered them to fire. Goddard also mentioned that they were throwing snowball when the lawyer of the colonists asked what were they throwing. Later came the testimony of Mr. Palms. He said that he was close to Preston and exchanged words with him. Palm asked Preston if he had any intention to fire. Preston said no because that would be idiotic since he was standing in front of his...
Words: 389 - Pages: 2
...In 1770, British soldiers shot and killed 5 people in Boston one night, and all of the colonists were furious at Britain and its army. But were they mad because of what actually happened, or was it because they were persuaded by someone’s depiction of what happened? Paul Revere’s Engraving was propaganda seen all throughout the colonies. Propaganda is ideas or statements that are often false, exaggerated, or biased in order to help a cause. It was propaganda because it was bias, exaggerated and false, and promoted furthering a cause or idea of starting the Revolution. Paul Revere’s Engraving was biased because it was altered in favor of the colonists. In the engraving, it showed that the British were bad with cruel intentions and that the colonists were innocent and had done nothing wrong. In the real story, many colonists had clubs and ice that they were using to provoke the British. But in the engraving, the colonists looked as though they were the ones being attacked, not the ones attacking. Also in the engraving, the British soldiers were looking mean and heartless. But rather they were...
Words: 532 - Pages: 3
...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
...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
...During the event of the Boston Massacre, over two hundred colonists had cornered British troops, throwing snowballs with rocks and wielding clubs. They shouted at the troops to fire. Five colonists were killed and six others were injured. To a certain extent, many call this an accident, but with most of the facts given, the colonists deserved what had happened to them. In the Boston Massacre, two hundred colonists had cornered a few British soldiers. With weapons in hand, they threw snowballs, rocks, sticks, and they wielded clubs. Private Montgomery was struck in the head, falling to the ground. When he rose, he was the first to fire back, causing the other troops to fire as well. With the colonists shouting for the troops to fire at them, he could have easily mistaken the command to have came from his commanding officer. This was an act of self-defense. The troops had been...
Words: 471 - Pages: 2
...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
...Colonists being injured, killed, or merely living in fear of the Redcoats, general bloodshed everywhere: these are but a few results of the Boston Massacre. A failed rebellion in which only five of our fellow colonists were killed. You may think five is too small a number to take this as a definite defeat but will we just wait until more of our own have been murdered? If we had such a dramatic loss in something not even considered a battle, then imagine how many lives will be lost in a war. Even Patriots themselves recognize the defeat Britain took over us that day but what they don’t like to point out is that it will repeat itself yet in a more lethal manner. I ,Edward Rutledge;member of the 2nd Continental Congress and representative for the colony of Southern Carolina, am here as a Loyalist and ready to argue in favor of what I believe in: that we colonists are to remain loyal to the Crown as was once intended upon by our founding fathers. An absolute monarchy, as supported by Thomas Hobbes, is the only proper thing man needs. Man is naturally selfish and unprosperous which is why we take benefit from having an absolute monarchy like Britains’....
Words: 878 - Pages: 4
...On March 5, 1770, in the city of Boston, Massachusetts, an angry mob of Americans gathered in front of the town's Customs Office and began harassing the British soldiers that were on guard duty. “British Captain Thomas Preston, the commanding officer at the Customs House, ordered his men to fix their bayonets and join the guard outside the building.” Rather than backing down, the livid patriots reacted violently and began throwing snowballs and other objects at the British regulars. Private Hugh Montgomery was struck by one of these projectiles, raised his rifle, and fired the first shot of what came to be known as the Boston Massacre. The other soldiers soon followed and fired into the unarmed crowd. “When the smoke cleared, five colonist...
Words: 845 - Pages: 4
...Thomas Preston mentioned upon arrival of the immense uproar, his attempt to intervene and persuade both groups to retreat peacefully had been ignored. Various colonist questioned his intentions of using such artillery upon them alongside with his troops. He followed up with stating, “No,by no means...I was advanced before the muzzles of the men’s pieces, and must fall a sacrifice if they fired (91).” From his account, Thomas Peterson took the initative to surrender himself to the sheriff when hearing about warrants being issued upon him and his men for the Boston Massacre. Unlike most men Thomas Peterson refused to runaway from his faults, but instaed he chose to face them head on. His noble demeanor demonstrated his desire to avoid any further conflict or bloodshed between the colonist and British troops at any cost...
Words: 499 - Pages: 2
...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
...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...
Words: 519 - Pages: 3
...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
...Throughout history many mistakes have occurred and the goal is to make sure we keep our mistakes in the past but it never works out that way. The Boston Massacre was one of the first events that sparked the American Revolution. It set the colonies into anarchy and forced them to rebel against The British. A man named George Zimmerman made a fatal mistake when he shot an unarmed 17-year-old African American named Trayvon Martin. Even though the situations are many years apart, they have the same outcomes and have more in common then you believe. On the night of March 5, 1770, a mob of colonists met at the Customs House in Boston and begins harassing the British soldiers that were guarding the building. The protesters called Patriots were...
Words: 841 - Pages: 4
