On March 5th, 1770 a clash between a rioting Boston mob and British soldiers left 5 American civilians dead. The Boston Massacre was not only a major incident between the British Government, specifically those enforcing that government, and the American colonists, but also a key moment in the history of America’s creation and of its revolution. To better understand the impact of this encounter, it’s important to know the events leading to this incident. Americans of the time were becoming more and more restless, resisting against the what they believed to be the injustices of Britain 's colonial rule, specifically taxation and lack of representation. During this time Britain wanted to remind the American colonies that they were exactly that,
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They were protesting the occupation of their city and the ever-increasing British regulation over the colonies. Captain Thomas Preston ordered his men to fix bayonets and join the guards outside of the building to aid in their support. After snowballs and rocks were thrown at the soldiers, a shot rang out, and then many more, until five colonists were laying on the street dying, while five others were injured. This deaths are considered by some to be the first deaths of the Revolutionary War. A trial was, where surprisingly, two patriots defended two of the British soldiers involved as their lawyers, and the soldiers were found guilty of manslaughter, and sent back to Britain. The coverage of this incident was extremely important. In many papers in America the British were made out to look as though they were completely at fault. One clear example of this is the name given to the event, which is the name still used to describe the event today; “Massacre”, even though it is now known that it was more of a conflict on both sides. Actual descriptions of the event from those not directly involved have many discrepancies usually favoring the colonists, which may show the animosity that citizens in Boston had towards the British at the time. During the time however, what was available to the people of the American Colonies was what the papers published, and what they published riled the colonists. After the Boston Massacre, patriot groups gained more power and made their resistance more known with later actions, such as the Boston Tea Party in reaction to the Tea Act in 1773, and eventually the First Continental Congress in response to the “Intolerable Acts” of 1774. These tensions continue to rise as trade is prohibited between the Britain and the colonies by colonial leaders in 1774, and
They were protesting the occupation of their city and the ever-increasing British regulation over the colonies. Captain Thomas Preston ordered his men to fix bayonets and join the guards outside of the building to aid in their support. After snowballs and rocks were thrown at the soldiers, a shot rang out, and then many more, until five colonists were laying on the street dying, while five others were injured. This deaths are considered by some to be the first deaths of the Revolutionary War. A trial was, where surprisingly, two patriots defended two of the British soldiers involved as their lawyers, and the soldiers were found guilty of manslaughter, and sent back to Britain. The coverage of this incident was extremely important. In many papers in America the British were made out to look as though they were completely at fault. One clear example of this is the name given to the event, which is the name still used to describe the event today; “Massacre”, even though it is now known that it was more of a conflict on both sides. Actual descriptions of the event from those not directly involved have many discrepancies usually favoring the colonists, which may show the animosity that citizens in Boston had towards the British at the time. During the time however, what was available to the people of the American Colonies was what the papers published, and what they published riled the colonists. After the Boston Massacre, patriot groups gained more power and made their resistance more known with later actions, such as the Boston Tea Party in reaction to the Tea Act in 1773, and eventually the First Continental Congress in response to the “Intolerable Acts” of 1774. These tensions continue to rise as trade is prohibited between the Britain and the colonies by colonial leaders in 1774, and