Boston Massacre Research Paper

Improved Essays
One significant event that led to the start of the American Revolution was the Boston Massacre. The Boston Massacre took place on March 5th, 1770 in Boston, Massachusetts (“Boston”). During the time of the Boston Massacre, there was a lot of tension between the colonists and Britain which, ultimately, sparked the massacre. This massacre resulted in the death of five people and the injuries of six (Kallen 204, 205). The source of this aggravation was the Townshend Acts as well as the soldiers who were forced upon the colonists. One thousand five hundred troops were sent to America because of the defiance the colonists demonstrated towards the Townshend acts and Britain as a whole. The colonists opposed taxes because they were paying off Britain’s …show more content…
The meeting-house bell was rung because of the threats and egregious behavior that was occurring on King Street. The ringing of this bell brought out a good number of Boston residents who naturally were led to King Street where a group of young men and soldiers shouted profanities at each other. The exchange of vulgar behavior later resulted in the throwing of snowballs. The soldiers had this coming due to their blatant disrespect and disregard of the town’s inhabitants. As snowballs were being thrown at soldiers, more soldiers rushed in for back up, but they went through the crowd by pushing and hitting people with their bayonets. Not only were people being pushed with bayonets, they were also attacked by bayonets. The people who were attacked had their backs to the soldiers and did not provoke them at all. During all of this chaos, Captain Preston, the officer on guard, was said to have been the person who ordered them to fire. 10-12 guns were fired that night resulting in the deaths of five people and injuries of six (Kallen 204, 205). The soldiers should have been imprisoned because they not only killed a person, but they attacked and harassed the colonists when they had nothing to defend themselves with, not only during the massacre, but on a daily basis. During the massacre, an anonymous source saw “soldiers [push] several persons with their bayonets, driving through the people [so roughly]” which caused “some snowballs to be thrown at them” (“Massacre”). Simultaneously Mr.Knox, an inhabitant who was talking to Capt. Preston, saw soldiers “[attack] people with their bayonets and that there was not the least provocation given” (“Massacre”). The people attacked had their backs toward the soldiers during this time (“Massacre”). The soldiers provoked the colonists countless times, and that is what ultimately led to the Boston Massacre. If

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    On March 5, 1770, in Boston, Massachusetts, there was a shooting of five colonists by seven British soldiers and their leader, Captain Preston. The five colonists that were killed were Crispus Attucks, Samuel Gray, James Caldwell, Samuel Maverick, and Patrick Carr. It started when one winter night, a few of Prestons men were getting ice balls and snowballs thrown at them. Colonists were daring those soldiers to shoot and were calling them dirty lobsterbacks. Some colonists were even grabbing at the soldier's uniforms and trying to pull the guns at out of their hands.…

    • 615 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    On March 5, 1770, a group of young colonists confronted a British soldier on guard at the Custom House- supposedly about money that was owed to one of the colonist´s masters. Refusing to pay any money, the soldier got back to work expecting the colonists to do the same and leave. However, they did not. The colonists resorted to throwing snowballs and ice at the guard, in a final attempt to persuade him to give up the money. Soon enough, other colonists joined the rebellion, and the crowd against the one British soldier swelled to a size that was out of control.…

    • 619 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    When he could not, he stood his ground and raised his gun in defense. The mob continued to grow, shouting threats at him. They began to gather anything that could be used as a weapon, including snowballs from the foot of snow that lay on the ground. White cried out for help, which brought Captain Thomas Preston and his seven soldiers. Together, they tried to peaceably keep the crowd under control; but someone in the mob struck a redcoat hard enough to make the soldier drop his gun.…

    • 1939 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    “Fire!” Captain Preston Thomas exclaimed. What was the Boston Massacre, and how did it lead to the Revolutionary War? The Boston Massacre was a mass shooting of American colonists due to them protesting, they were shot by British soldiers on March 5th, 1770.…

    • 334 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    At the end of March 1770, just three weeks after the Boston Massacre, a grand jury indicted Captain Preston and his Soldiers as well as four civilians accused Murder for firing from the window of the Customs House into the crowd. If the soldiers were found guilty, each could face the death penalty. Their trial was delayed eight months before it finally took place. At trial Captain Preston and his soldiers still could not find a legal representative counsel as they approached several lawyers without success. John Adams agreed to head their defense and be their attorney.…

    • 1001 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The citizens of Boston didn't have guns or swords, they had to use rocks in snowballs, and sticks to fight the soldiers back(“The Boston Massacre of March 5, 1770”). In the text, it states that Mr. Samuel Grey was killed on the spot when a snowball entered his head damaging a large portion of his skull. Soldiers showed no mercy and shot an innocent African American citizen causing death to the man(“The Boston Massacre of March 5, 1770”). If that one drunk soldier wouldn't have used his sword on that little boy, it could've prevented a lot of deaths. Otherwise, they were to blame for the incidents just by using a deadly weapon first.…

    • 522 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    His troops were stationed to guard the Custom Houses and colonists accosted them furiously. More soldiers were ordered to be stationed there. Suddenly, one soldier fired his gun and the other soldiers started shooting too, killing five colonists. As a result, Captain Preston and soldiers were charged for murder in the Boston Massacre Trial.…

    • 606 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    British Missteps Analysis

    • 808 Words
    • 4 Pages

    In 1764 the Sugar Act was enacted to raise tax revenue in the colonies for England and it increased the duty on sugar imported from the West Indies. However, the colonists were accustomed to having their own colonial legislatures creating taxes, so they fought back when Britain tried to control them. In 1765 the Stamp Act mandated the use of stamps on certain types of commercial and legal documents. The purpose of this tax was to raise revenue for the new military force, but the colonists did not want to pay for an army they did not ask for. The Townshend Tea Tax placed an import duty on glass, lead, paper, paint, and tea in 1767.…

    • 808 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    When I read this article I was able to learn about the soldiers behavior in Boston, people who were wounded, circumstances of the Massacre and much more. You will discover the different murderous attacks that happened during the Boston Massacre. The description in this article shows the way the people reacted when the attack occurred. The people would stand guard and hold a stick in their hand as their defense. Once the fight started, the colonists were assaulted and injured.…

    • 1114 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    The Boston Massacre became a major turning point during the American Revolutionary War that sparked the idea for the colonists to fight for independence from Britain. The increased tensions in Boston stemmed from taxation without representation leading to the American’s boycott of British goods and the smuggling of goods. Smuggling led to the seizure of John Hancock’s ship, Liberty, which resulted in horrid riots causing the demand for increased British military soldiers. The occupation of British soldiers threatened the townspeople and subdued them for a while until finally, they were provoked into firing into a crowd of civilians. Samuel Gray, James Caldwell, Crispus Attucks, and the other two who died during the massacre became martyrs…

    • 146 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The colonists were shouting cruel and horrifying threats. According to Captain Preston’s account, “their colonists intention was to carry off the soldier from his post and probably murder him.” The colonists had beaten the soldier with clubs and other weapons. They would hit the clubs together, taunting,”Come on you rascals,”, “fire…

    • 269 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    John Adams wrote that the, “foundation of American Independence was laid” on the day of the Boston Massacre17. . The ultimate victory of the Boston Massacre was the eventual removal of the British soldiers from the area, and the escalation of protests and resistance by the colonists towards British rule, such as the 1773 Boston Tea Party18. The Boston Massacre was the significant event that led to the rebellion that followed, the Revolutionary…

    • 921 Words
    • 4 Pages
    • 10 Works Cited
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    To Whom it May Concern at the Boston Gazette: The colonists are to blame for the Boston Massacre, because they have provoked the British to open fire by forming a mob, through taunts, and by the uncertainty of who was saying fire. First, the colonists have attempted to portray an act of violence without any provocation, which got matters complicated. According to the report of Captain Preston, the colonist “[assembled together] to attack the troops, and [they rang] the bells…as the signal for that purpose and not for fire”. Additionally, someone “ [sounded] the alarm bells, [under the normal routine for] fire. This means that the colonists used a normal sign of warning to gather the people to attack the soldiers, for they used an underhanded technique to catch the soldiers off-guard.…

    • 569 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Tensions rose to and explosive level in Boston between the colonists and the British soldiers on March 5, 1770. Shots were fired and in the end five people laid dead. This event became known as the Boston Massacre. As a result of colonists’ protests, Britain removed all taxes except the tax on tea. The Tea Act said that the…

    • 497 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Many colonist were throwing snowballs, rocks, and sticks and daring the soldiers to fire. As per one of the witnesses a sentry named Private Montgomery was struck in the face with a stick, he fired his gun into the crowd. More objects were thrown and more shots were fired. All these things…

    • 1083 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Superior Essays