The Boston Massacre
Table of Contents:
Introduction…………………………….page 1
Events Leading up……………………...page 2
The Boston Massacre…………………..page 3
After life in the Colonies………………….page 4
Conclusion……………………………….page 5
Glossary…………………………………..page 6
Sources………………………………….. page 7
Introduction
Did you know that five men died during the Boston Massacre and six men were badly injured? The history of the Boston Massacre is a very interesting and sad story that still has historians hooked today! All of the events leading up the the Boston Massacre had played a part in history and also lead up to this tragic event still now known as the Boston Massacre. Also a few more important things happened after the Boston Massacre was officially over. Read my book to learn all about the Boston Massacre and its fascinating history!
Chapter 1: Events Leading up
There were several tragic events in history that led up to the boston massacre, it definitely did not happen overnight. In 1760 King George the third became king and colonists became mad. King george kept putting taxes on things without the permission of the colonists.
The Quartering Act
In 1765 there was the event of the quartering act, which is an example of a tax that colonials did not agree on. The quartering act was when parliament put a tax on colonists homes so that the soldiers could have somewhere to live after fighting in the french and indian war. A Lot of people think that the quartering act had something to do with actual quarters, but the quartering act had nothing to do with money. When the soldiers came to America for places to live, some colonists would not provide the soldiers with homes. Since the colonists refused to provide the soldiers with homes, the soldiers then set up tents in the middle of the town square and played their drums at the worst times on purpose.
More Taxes
The same year King George put taxes on almost anything on paper. He put taxes on marriage licenses, letters, and even more things. Almost anything on printed paper there was a tax involved. The king kept putting taxes on things because after the french and indian war, britain was in debt. They also needed to have more money because there were some soldiers who were still in america. The leaders of britain thought that the colonists should pay for the soldiers who were protecting them. After the decision was final, Parliament passed a new tax called the Stamp Act.
The Stamp act made all of the colonists pay a tax on anything on printed paper. To show that the taxv was to be paid, on every piece of printed paper there was a big blue stamp. When this tax was made the colonists were furious with the king. They did not want to pay an extra tax on stuff that they used every day especially since all of the money went to the british government. Also on top of that the tax was made without the permission of the colonists.
Angry Colonists
The colonists showed their anger by not buying anything with a stamp on it. They also protested on the streets and even refused to pay the taxes. Also some colonists broke into the tax collectors houses and attempted an attack.So many people had tried to scare away the tax collectors so they would not have to pay any extra taxes on anything.
Chapter 2: The Boston Massacre
The Boston Massacre occurred on the date of March 5, 1770. Boston is located North of Maine and about south of New York. It was a snowy day in March and some colonists were protesting against the King of Britain and Britain itself. There were some Redcoats standing outside of a tax collecting building when all of a sudden a crowd of angry colonists started to form in front of the redcoats.
More Colonists
Than one man on the colonists side decided to start throwing rocks at the soldiers and calling them names. One of the soldiers hit the man with the butt of his gun across the face, the man left only to come back soon with some more angry colonials. About a minute later all of the angry colonists were throwing snow and rocks calling the redcoats derogatory names.
Minutes Later
A few minutes into this fight the soldiers started to put their guns up, but only as a threat to get the colonists away from them. All of the colonists were taunting the soldiers to shoot. Than out of nowhere, one of the soldiers shot into the crowd telling the other soldiers to shoot as well. The crowd gasped and took a few steps
back only to see three colonists dead on the ground and two mortally wounded. This entire tragic event took approximately 20 minutes for it all to happen. Even though this event only happen for twenty minutes, it still had a huge impact on our nation's history. Only three days after this tragic event, Paul Revere (known for saying the British are coming the British are coming) made an etching on copper that showed the Boston Massacre for the eyes of all. I wonder if the snow was not falling, would this event had even happened?
Life After the Massacre:
Many events led up to the Boston Massacre and many events happened after the massacre.
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| The Boston Tea Party |
The Boston Tea Party
Three years after the Boston Massacre In 1773, an event called the Boston Tea Party occurred in December. Colonists got mad because the king stopped other tea companies from bringing their tea to the harbor. The king only let his favorite tea company sell tea to them the British East India Tea Company. The colonists were furious that they could not even pick the tea that they liked because of the king and his favorite tea company. The colonists decided to get together and talk about the tea and find a way to get the tea they liked back. They then came up with the idea to dress up as Native Americans and dump all of the tea that was on the boat into the water. The colonists dressed up as Native Americans, ended up throwing 900,000 pounds of tea into the water. The weird thing was, when one of the colonists accidentally hit one of the locks on the boxes of tea, he made sure to fix it. This makes me think that they wanted everything to look the same so that they would not get caught dumping tea into the water.
The First Continental Congress
The Continental congress was a big group of over fifty six delegates from all of the colonies except for georgia. The Continental Congress was a group that got together to discuss ways that they could go against Britain and form a resistance against them.With the other colonies following behind, the Massachusetts colony was leading the colonies to resist Britain.The Massachusetts colony was also the first colony to form a militia. A militia is an army made up of citizens.
Conclusion
The Boston Massacre had a huge impact on our Country's history. The Boston Massacre did not just happen, there were many events that happened before the Boston Massacre that affected the colonists behavior and thoughts about britain.I wonder if the colonists who were apart of the Boston Massacre ever new that the event they experienced, would ever be taught in future schools.
Glossary
Redcoats- the name redcoats came from the british soldiers and their bright red coats. (these red coats did not do very well in war because when the soldiers were hiding everyone could see them because of their coats.
Mortally Wounded- being mortally wounded mens to be almost dead, or dying.
Etching- An etching is a piece of art or a sketch made on copper
Parliament-The Lawmaking part of the British government, similar to the Congress in the United States. The American colonists did not have the right to elect representatives to parliament
Colonists- Colonists were people who a settler in or inhabitant of a colony
Sources
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Boston_Tea_Party_Currier_colored.jpg
