James Ippolito
October 25, 2017
HIST 405.11
Dr. Batterson
The Boston Massacre
Over the course of America’s history, several iconic events emerge, one of them being The Boston Massacre. It was a cold day in Boston, Massachusetts in the March of 1770. The French and Indian War was over, and colonists were thrilled to have the threat of the French removed from their prospective land. Colonists are clearly feeling good, and they will soon find out that Great Britain is coming to rain on their parade. There are many political, economic, and social dynamic factors that played into the cause of the Boston Massacre. Once the Massacre happened and five colonists died, other colonists started to question the colonies’ relationship with Great Britain. Having spilled blood, British troops became an object of fear due to propaganda and other social issues. The Boston Massacre occurred as a result of colonists’ frustration with Parliament, caused colonists to question Great Britain’s authority, and sparked more rebellions against Great Britain, ultimately leading to the American Revolution.
The French and Indian War was finally over, and unfortunately, Britain started taking advantage of the colonies, which is what led to the tension that caused the start of the Boston Massacre. Colonists were happy to see British troops in the colonies for protection during the French and Indian War. However, when the war ended but troops remained, concerns arose. In Captain Thomas Preston’s account of the Boston Massacre, he states that the “arrival of his Majesty’s troops in Boston was extremely obnoxious to its inhabitants.” It was clear that colonists were not happy to have British troops so close to home, which contributed to tensions arising among the colonists. Things became even worse with the Quartering Act of 1765 which required colonists to accommodate housing for the British troops that they did not even want to be near in the first place. One can easily see the clear issues that this situation would cause on both ends. British troops were probably not given the most ideal living conditions, were away from home, and the people around them did not trust them. Colonists, on the other hand, had to deal with the troops, got space taken away from them, and had nowhere that they could escape the British troops. With the British troops in their backyard, where would they go? It makes sense that colonists would get annoyed from this situation, leading to built up tension and frustration towards not only the British troops, but to Great Britain for these unfavorable rulings. Colonists were not quiet about their displeasures with Great Britain, especially with the taxes that started to be enforced. In fact, an anonymous colonist stated that a “happy union … was interrupted by acts of Parliament for taxing America.” Colonists were upset about these taxes because they once again had no say in any part of the decision-making process for these taxes, but had to pay them anyway. In regard to the actual tax prices, those were low; the actual underlying issue here was that the taxes were being put on the colonies without any representation in Parliament or voice in the matter. The Boston Massacre was a turning point in history which had multiple causes related to built-up tension and aggravation from the colonists.
Due to the implications involved with the impact of the Boston Massacre, there were multiple consequences that led to colonists starting to consider isolating themselves from Great Britain. Following the events of the Boston Massacre, Sam Adams recruited some colonists for a town meeting which called for the removal of all British troops to be exiled from the city. One can imagine that the meeting had a lot of commotion as colonists reacted to the first bloodshed from the British troops. This only led to more acts by colonists against the British. The Boston Tea Party was one of these actions, which led to Parliament enacting the Coercive Acts. The Coercive Acts somewhat backfired for Britain, because ultimately, they ended up uniting the colonies together. As the colonies realized they had strength in numbers, it became more obvious to progress towards uniting together, rather than staying under separated rule by Great Britain. The consequences of the Boston Massacre led to a more widespread opinion towards unification and separation from Great Britain.
The Boston Massacre was one of the most significant events leading to the American Revolution and the union’s progression towards splitting from rule by Great Britain. Although colonists already had some built-up resentment towards the British troops, no significant rebuttals had been made until after the Boston Massacre. Now, since blood had been shed, there were martyr-like figures for colonists to honor. These are powerful motivators in the eyes of the colonists. With powerful motivators come powerful emotions, and the likelihood of propaganda increases. This is where Paul Revere steps in, and creates propaganda to influence the opinions of colonists towards disliking Great Britain. Revere created an image of the Boston Massacre with captain Preston commanding to shoot at the innocent bystander colonists. Revere circulated this image, and it swayed peoples’ opinion. The caption on this circulating image used specific wording that honored the colonists’ lost lives, and antagonized the British troops by saying that they “killed” colonists and “mortally wounded” others. This is significant because the power of propaganda is seen repeatedly in history, and it is clear that this piece of propaganda influenced the ideas of colonists towards being anti-Great Britain at this critical time. The combination of the propaganda with the punishments of the Coercive Acts were enough to sway public opinion at this time towards the idea of unionization. So, with all of these circumstances combined, it was time to start questioning the British power. The Boston Massacre is a significant event leading to the American Revolution because of the outcomes and awakening that it caused, with propaganda emerging as a result, colonists started to realize that they had the ability to cut ties with Britain and start to think about the idea of independence.
The Boston Massacre was a clearly significant event in the history of the creation of the United States, which created motivation for colonists to opt for separation from the rule of Great Britain. Multiple different factors led to the buildup of tension from colonists that proceeded to influence the start of the actual Massacre. When this tension was released, the eyes of colonists opened to see that there were multiple things wrong with the way they were being treated by Great Britain. The colonists were guided in part by Paul Revere, who created anti-British propaganda, and influenced their feelings. The event truly changed things up in the colonies and put more of a perspective towards freedom from the rule of Great Britain. The Boston Massacre sparked a new revolution against Great Britain, and is an extremely significant event in the history of the United States.