Boston Massacre Research Paper

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Jake Drechsler Mr. Decker Dual Credit US History 26 September 2015 The Boson Massacre The Boston Massacre was street fight between British Regulars and a group of colonists. The colonists were throwing snowballs and other various objects at the soldiers. The soldiers acted upon this by firing on the group of colonists. The British Regulars had been sent to Boston in 1768 after the colonists started calling themselves patriots and rebelling against the British parliament because of the taxation in the Colonies. The Regulars that had been sent to the Colonies were commanded by British Captain Thomas Preston. Preston was the commanding officer at the Customs House, ordered his men to take up their muskets and fix their bayonets and post outside…show more content…
The colonists threw snowballs, rocks, and other various things at the British Regulars. Preston sent one of his Privates to ring for back up. The Private returned with about twelve more Regulars. Preston gave the orders not to fire upon the colonists, but the colonists were fired upon and killing three on the spot and wounding eight, two of which died later (Lancaster 1). The deceased consisted of Crispus Attacks, Samuel Gray, and James Cadwell. The two who died later are Samuel Maverick and Patrick Carr (The Boston Massacre). Some of the eyewitness accounts said that there were more British Regulars shooting from the windows of the Customs House (Boston Massacre Historical Society). The Boston Massacre had not always been called the Boston Massacre. Paul Revere had given the little quarrel the name of The Bloody Massacre in King Street. Later named in the 1800s The State Street Massacre (Boston Massacre Historical Society). Crispus Attacks was born somewhere around 1723 in Framingham, Massachusetts. His father is assumed to be a slave and his mother to be a Natick Indian. His father was Prince Yonger, a slave from Africa, and his mother was Nancy Attucks. Crispus was believed to have run away from slavery at twenty seven years of age and had a reward out for his return of ten pounds (Crispus Attacks…show more content…
With the acquittal of Captain Thomas Preston, their plan of defense was complicated, since the jurors would be inclined to believe that the soldiers were responsible for the Boston Massacre. The defense, as a result of this, focused their plea on the actions of the mob of colonists, rather than who shouted “fire.” Adams argued that the Regulars were attacked by “a motley, rabble of saucy boys, negroes, and molattoes, Irish teagues and outlandish jacktars,” with this they were only defending themselves. Adams made it very clear that the Regulars felt endangered and they had the right to fire in self-defense and that they were guilty of manslaughter and not of murder (The Boston Massacre
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