Analytical Essay: The Boston Massacre

On March 5, 1770, a group of colonists and British Officials met on the street. A fight broke out leaving four colonists dead. This event later became known as the Boston Massacre, as it took place in Boston, arguably the most rebellious of the thirteen colonies. The relation between the colonists and the British was tense, as expected, insults were often passed back and forth between the two parties. But the most violent exchange was the Boston Massacre which left the freed black man Crispus Attucks, and three other men, including Samuel Gray, James Caldwell, and Samuel Maverick dead. Against many of the colonists’ wishes, the British officials were given a fair trial, however, everybody had different opinions on who was the aggressor of …show more content…
Jane Whitehouse said that she saw a man come behind a soldier and encourage to fire, Newtown Prince stated he saw, “The People... calling them Lobsters, daring ‘em to fire saying damn you why don’t you fire,”( ). Prince is saying that the people were encouraging and taunting the soldiers, daring them to fire. Prince later said, “I heard no orders given to fire, only the people in general cried fire,” ( ). The soldiers may have mistaken the colonists saying fire as an order from their captain. Or, they may have acted in self defense from the comments Prince heard the colonists say, or the violence Bliss saw. Therefore, in the Boston Massacre, the aggressors were the colonists for they started the interaction between the two parties by throwing insults at the officers. They later began to harass the soldiers with snowballs and a large stick. Finally, they taunted the soldiers, daring them to fire into the crowd. The colonists began the violence through their words and actions therefore being the aggressors. The soldiers did not act first, and according to 75% of the witnesses had no order to fire from their