Essay On The Boston Massacre

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The engraving depicts the famous Boston Massacre, the skirmish that occurred between Boston citizens and British soldiers on the evening of March 5, 1770, however, it does not represent an actual even accurately. It is well known that Boston citizens threw snowballs and ice among other weapons at the British soldiers, but the engraving does not show any signs of snow or ice. Also, the Boston Massacre occurred after 9 pm, but the depicted sky is quite light, and the only indication that the scene takes place during the night is a little moon in the upper left hand corner. Crispus Attucks, the first victim of the skirmish, is not pictured as African American. The engraving represents the tragic event in favor of the colonists, portraying them…show more content…
American colonists were especially belligerent toward the British after the Massacre took place.The published articles accompanied by a vivid depiction of the unjust violence from the British soldiers greatly fuled the anger of Boston inhabitants along with their desire to start a revolution. Paul Revere intended to sell his engraving to the American colonists, so he depicted the scene favoring their point of view. His another purpose was to manipulate public opinion of the colonists into despising the British even more emphasizing their tyranny and portraying them as evil. Paul Revere used his talent to produce one of the most famous pieces of propaganda of pre-revolutionary period that advocated the independence from the British Crown. Both sides claimed they were the true victims of the Massacre. The British soldiers claimed that they felt theretened and were scared for their lives, so they had no choice other than to open fire. They stated that Bostonians harassed the soldiers by shouting insults and throwing stones, snowballs, chunks of ice, and litter at them. Captain Preston claimed in his testimony that he did not order his soldiers to open fire, conversely, he tried to negotiate peace, but the wrathful crowd was getting out of

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