Boston Massacre Research Paper

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Pages: 3

Mach 5, 1770 is a day most American school children learn about. The event that occurred on that day was the Boston massacre. The Boston Massacre is “remembered as a key event in helping to galvanize the colonial public to the Patriot cause” (Boston Massacre). There were many events that lead up to the event, the event itself, and it had a major effect in the following years.
There were three things that lead up to the Boston Massacre. The first factor was the mistrust that was created by the British soldiers and the colonist. Before the Boston Massacre, there were many other events that had happened between the two groups. For example, “Individual soldiers were beaten on street corners and soldiers abused unarmed civilians” (Boston Massacre
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The colonists responded by throwing snowballs...at the British regulars, and Private Hugh Montgomery... discharged his rifle at the crowd.” (The Boston Massacre). According to the British troops, the event occurred because “ A crowd of as many as 400 howling, wailing citizens confronted the thirteen-man squad of British soldiers sent to defend the Customs House. Standing before the mob with fixed-bayonets, the soldiers were pelted with angry epithets, stones, and snowballs. The crowd advanced to within inches of the besieged soldiers, daring them to fire their muskets. Suddenly, a member of the squad fired, prompting his colleagues to fire as well” (The Boston Massacre, 1770, British Perspective). There is no way to know what account of the event is the accurate telling. The Boston Massacre was the first event that leads to the colonist fight for independence. The event itself only lasted for approximately twenty minutes. But, those twenty minutes would be five men last twenty minutes alive. Three men were also wounded in the gunfire but would survive the