Was the Boston massacre really a massacre? Or was it something else? Consider if the soldiers were justified or not in firing into the crowd? Did they have sufficient cause to fire into the crowd? Before we answer these questions, we need to know what set the stage for this bloodshed or as history calls it “Boston Massacre.” It is important as human beings, we need to look at it objectively, instead of taking sides which is a natural tendency. Especially when we look at history, which happened 245 years ago. It did not happen, all of a sudden one night on March 5 of 1770, when some Colonist and the British who got into fight that killed 5 colonist! What was going on in America and especially in Boston to lead to this night?
After the French-Indian …show more content…
That cold night, a British guard called Private White, was guarding Custom House on King Street, he was alone. How did it started? It started, when a colonist named Edward Garrick insulted the soldier’s commanding officer and with him other colonist harassed the guard. Private White, got angry, left the sentry box, came over and hit Garrick in the face with his rifle. This enraged the crowd even further, started to throw snowballs, sticks, rocks so on at the guard, which was the common occurrence during this period in history. Now, Private White being alone, outnumbered by the angry colonist some of whom were drunk and whatever they had in their hands started throw them at the guard. Private White started calling for help, as the colonist surrounded him and crowd got louder and louder. In a few minutes, Captain Thomas Preston arrived at the scene, with 7 more soldiers and tried to take control of the situation. Then the church bell rang and which drew many colonist to the scene. There were a lot of noisy, screaming and provoking at the soldiers. 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 …show more content…
When we look at the situation, both the sides were wrong. Colonist provoked the soldiers and soldiers got angry and things got out of control which caused five unarmed citizens to die. Can we call it a massacre, it depends whose side we are on. If I were the colonist I would call it a massacre, after all, British soldiers fired the shots into the crowd, killing five unarmed people and wounded six others. The colonist only had snowballs and sticks, how much harm can one cause from them. So, firing a shot into the crowd was a big mistake by a British solider, yes it is a massacre.
On the other hand, if I were with the British solider I would defend them, because of the angry, drunken colonist mob, who outnumbered the soldiers with rocks, sticks, and snowball it was a scary situation. When that kind of crowd stands against you anything could happen! British soldiers’ lives were at danger. So, they would do anything to protect themselves from the crowd, so they had all the right to fire the shots into the crowd for self-defense. Whoever side we are on, it was a sad situation, which took place on that cold night in Boston. I am sure neither one thought nor planned or premeditated the outcome. It just happened, one lead to the other and the outcome was
After the French-Indian …show more content…
That cold night, a British guard called Private White, was guarding Custom House on King Street, he was alone. How did it started? It started, when a colonist named Edward Garrick insulted the soldier’s commanding officer and with him other colonist harassed the guard. Private White, got angry, left the sentry box, came over and hit Garrick in the face with his rifle. This enraged the crowd even further, started to throw snowballs, sticks, rocks so on at the guard, which was the common occurrence during this period in history. Now, Private White being alone, outnumbered by the angry colonist some of whom were drunk and whatever they had in their hands started throw them at the guard. Private White started calling for help, as the colonist surrounded him and crowd got louder and louder. In a few minutes, Captain Thomas Preston arrived at the scene, with 7 more soldiers and tried to take control of the situation. Then the church bell rang and which drew many colonist to the scene. There were a lot of noisy, screaming and provoking at the soldiers. 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 …show more content…
When we look at the situation, both the sides were wrong. Colonist provoked the soldiers and soldiers got angry and things got out of control which caused five unarmed citizens to die. Can we call it a massacre, it depends whose side we are on. If I were the colonist I would call it a massacre, after all, British soldiers fired the shots into the crowd, killing five unarmed people and wounded six others. The colonist only had snowballs and sticks, how much harm can one cause from them. So, firing a shot into the crowd was a big mistake by a British solider, yes it is a massacre.
On the other hand, if I were with the British solider I would defend them, because of the angry, drunken colonist mob, who outnumbered the soldiers with rocks, sticks, and snowball it was a scary situation. When that kind of crowd stands against you anything could happen! British soldiers’ lives were at danger. So, they would do anything to protect themselves from the crowd, so they had all the right to fire the shots into the crowd for self-defense. Whoever side we are on, it was a sad situation, which took place on that cold night in Boston. I am sure neither one thought nor planned or premeditated the outcome. It just happened, one lead to the other and the outcome was