THE BOSTON MASSACRE A Murder Investigation…

Do Now: Why is PERSPECTIVE so important? Provide at least one example supporting your position.

THIS IS THE CRIME SCENE. 5 MEN ARE DEAD, 6 WOUNDED AT THE HANDS OF BRITISH SOLDIERS STATIONED IN BOSTON. MURDER BUT…ARE THEY GUILTY OF MURDER ? YOU DECIDE. YOU WILL READ AND DECIPHER EVIDENCE THAT WE AS HISTORIANS HAVE GATHERED TO DETERMINE WHO, IF ANYONE, SHOULD PAY FOR THE CASUALTIES OF 11 COLONISTS.

DO NOW: Take out your HSI Investigation sheets. – With the person sitting next to you, compare your answers to question #5. both Then, write 4 bullets detailing what you both can assume actually happened on that day. We will review the differences in your timelines with the rest of the class, and then discuss THE TRUTH!

TAKE NOTES ON THINGS ONLY IN RED FONT.

What really happened on that day? MARTIAL LAW- MARTIAL LAW- In March 1770, there was a heavy presence of British soldiers in Boston. – Remember: John Hancock Riots—4,000 troops stationed in Boston (1:4) as a result of the Townshend Acts Soldiers competed with locals for employment. British soldiers usually treated colonists with contempt, and the situation became aggravated. Boston: scene of hostile colonists and off-duty British soldiers.

What really happened on that day? Rumors that a small British troop had beaten a local merchant at the Custom House, an angry crowd of colonists erupted. They began taunting the soldiers and throwing rocks, sticks, and ice/snow balls. – This was injuring and wounding soldiers; cutting, scraping, pounding, etc. British ordered reinforcements.

What really happened on that day? Reinforcements arrived, and the crowd continued to taunt, knowing that the soldiers were not allowed to use their weapons unless ordered to do so. Someone in the crowd threw an object which knocked down a few soldiers. No one knows for sure whether Captain Preston ordered the soldiers to NOT fire or whether he said “FIRE!,” but a few soldiers began shooting into the small angry mob. When the smoke cleared, two men were dead, three were mortally wounded, and six were injured.

What really happened on that day? The first man to die: – CRISPUS ATTUCKS An African American (possibly Native American) sailor.

The Aftermath As “massacres” are usually assumed, there were definitely fewer casualties; however, the severity of the incident in the colonists’ eyes labeled it as such. Became a symbol of the growing resentment of British rule. The dead became instant “martyrs” – Their funerals became great patriotic demonstrations. A martyr is somebody who suffers persecution and death for refusing to renounce, or accept, a belief or cause, usually religious.

Patriot Propaganda

The Old State House Today

Too Soon?!

The Aftermath The incident radicalized colonists’ views and increased resentment of British control and authority. Paul Revere’s engravings helped to gain colonial support of the Patriot cause. – Since many people only saw his picture, they were convinced that it was indeed a “massacre”