Propaganda In The American Revolution

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The American Revolution is one of the most famous and widely studied examples of revolution in human history and one of the main reasons that it occurred was the use of propaganda in creating public anger amongst the colonists. It was the first revolution in the series of Atlantic Constitutional Revolutions and revolved around the idea that government should derive its power from the consent of the governed rather than a faraway king (Goldstone 2014). The revolution lasted from 1775 to 1783, but conflict between the American colonists and the British took place long before the official declaration of war in 1775 (Davidson 1941). The most famous example of conflict before the actual start of the war was the Boston Massacre on March 5, 1770 (Caspar …show more content…
He did this by manipulating and exaggerating the events of the actual event in Boston to paint the British in the most unsavory light possible. Revere used several stylistic choices to make this point known, such as drawing the British soldier's faces differently from the American civilians who Revere wants the viewer to sympathize with (Caspar 2008). The British faces are much more angular with long sharp noses and one soldier is seen smirking, as if he is enjoying the violent scene (Caspar 2008). Their faces are also shaded darker as if they are completely covered by the gunfire smoke, which makes them appear almost as menacing demons sent to slaughter the gathered colonists (Caspar 2008). Paul Revere also frames the picture so that the soldiers are lined up in front of a shop that has a sign that reads "Butcher's House" in order to make help the audience make the connection that these men are butchers slaughtering innocents (Caspar 2008). Revere makes sure to include the Custom House sign to remind the viewer that the conflict was caused by the colonists having to pay high taxes to the British without any equal representation in the governing body overseas (Caspar 2008). Revere also takes liberty with the weather portrayed in the engraving by casting the dark shadow of a snow cloud over the British even though there was no snow that day in order to make them seem more menacing (Caspar
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