Story of America Cards

The Boston Massacre

When Revolutions start there is a reason and with the american revolution from what has been talked about in this series; multiple taxes put on the colonists by the British, the Boston Tea Party....and here is The Boston Massacre which despite having the world Massacre was not really like one....it was just a riot and only like 5 people died but this became one of the reasons the Revolution in america started...so let's learn about here you did click this video so yeah....here's The Boston Massacre from Story of America Cards; The Revolution Category.

(What is The Boston Massacre?)

The Boston Massacre also known in Great Britain as "The Incident on King Street". Was a confrontation that occurred on March 5th 1770 where 9 british soldiers had shot a crowd of about three to four hundred people who were harassing them verbally and throwing various projectiles.

The event became heavily referred to as "Massacre" by leading Patriots such as Paul Revere and Samual Adams to spread it as such.

(Prelude to a Revolution)

A chill filled the air and the rawness of winter still bit into the bones. The date was March 5th 1770, and the scene was Boston, Massachusetts, where American colonists felt increasing resettlement over heavy taxes being levied against them by the English king, George III.

British soldiers, who had been sent to Boston in 1768 to keep the fragile peace, nervously patrolled the city. Resentment had boiled over into small skirmishes between citizenry and the soldiers and the first serious clash had been barely averted in October 1769, when British soldiers fired warning shots into the air.

Because some of the soldiers had taken jobs to supplement their meager pay, it didn't take much for the already angry American workers to collide with their fellow workers from England. The first incident took place on the morning of March 5th 1770.

No one knows exactly why, but a soldier and colonist worker became involved in a fist fight at Grey's Ropewalk. Some bystanders jumped into the fight and soon the melee turned into a small riot. Tension grew all that afternoon and into the evening, as crowds gathered around the British sentires.

Then, at about 9 P.M, a British sentry called the main guard for help. The guard soldiers were backing up in an effort to get away from the menacing crowd, which had begun pleting them with snowballs, stones, and insults. (Honestly it can get annoying with snowballs and insults being thrown at you but stones.....yeah I don't think I need to put my option on that, but we know violence is not the answer whatever the reason is, but even if I say this it's not gonna change anything obviously we're only human now let's get back).

Suddenly, the soldiers reacted no one knows whether they did so with or without orders and opened fire on the crowd of colonists, killing five persons and wounding several others.

The Incident quickly swelled into reports of a "massacre". The fiery patriot Paul Revere dashed off an engraving entitled "The Bloody Massacre Perpetrated in King Street, Boston", and adorned it with a florid, emotional poem. Although regrettable, the incident was hardly a "Massacre" as advertised by Revere.

Of the nine British soldiers who were tried for murder in October 1770, and defended by patriot lawyers, John Adams and Josiah Quincy, seven were acquitted and two were convicted of manslaughter and given light sentences (a branding on the hand, at the time). Nevertheless the disturbance did provide Bostonians who wanted the British to leave town with considerable ammunition to back up their demands.

Largely through the instance of Samuel Adams, one of Boston's radical leaders, the British royal governor, Thomas Hutchinson, ordered the troops to withdraw to new quarters in Castle William in Boston Harbor.

(Massacre riot to Revolution)

The Boston Massacre is considered one of the most significant events that turned colonial sentiment against King George III and British Parliamentary authority. John Adams wrote that the "foundation of American independence was laid" on March 5, 1770, and Samuel Adams and other Patriots used annual commemorations (Massacre Day) to encourage public sentiment toward independence. Christopher Monk was the boy who was wounded in the attack and died in 1780, and his memory was honored as a reminder of British hostility.

Later events such as the Gaspee Affair and the Boston Tea Party further illustrated the crumbling relationship between Britain and its colonies. Five years passed between the massacre and outright war, and Neil York suggests that there is only a tenuous connection between the two. It is widely perceived as a significant event leading to the violent rebellion that followed. Howard Zinn argues that Boston was full of "class anger". He reports that the Boston Gazette published in 1763 that "a few persons in power" were promoting political projects "for keeping the people poor in order to make them humble."

(Ending)

And that's all I'll say about the Boston Massacre....for now as I'll have a separate card on the trails that came from the Massacre as you know by now....it wasn't really a massacre at all. Anyways that's and I'll see you around next time.