Neither the Revolutionaries nor Loyalists were particularly innocent in the Revolutionary War. The war, however, was only a facade. Only a small portion of the population of the Thirteen Colonies truly supported independence. Most colonists merely supported better representation in Parliament, were Loyalist, or simply refrained from opinion. The real reasons why the colonies seceded were because of the Boston Massacre, new taxes, and the Proclamation of 1763. The Boston Massacre was in no way a massacre. A massacre involves dozens of people that were killed or wounded. In the Boston Massacre, only five colonists died, and it was not deliberate. British soldiers were backed into a corner by a mob, pelted with rocks, taunted, cursed at, and practically being attacked. Not to mention that the colonists were demanding the British soldiers to fire. The Boston Massacre was nothing more than a street fight between a seemingly “patriot” mob and a squad of British soldiers that was blown out of proportion by the media. The involved …show more content…
In order to compensate for the enormous debt, Britain issued taxes on the colonies. However, contrary to what the colonists believed, Britain wasn’t singling America out. British citizens were being taxed as well, in fact even more so. The tax ratio between the British and the Colonists was 30-1 (American). Although the British didn’t have the Stamp Act, or the Sugar Act, or other inflammatory tariffs, their purpose was not to overtax the Americans. Though the Colonists had the stamp act, most of them never had the need to use stamps. Yet, they still revolted against the act only four months after it was established (1765). The British had just finished funding a huge war the colonists started, so it’s completely justifiable that they simply enacted minor taxes in order make up for the chaos that was created by colonists’ unsatisfiable need for land
The boston massacre was somewhat of an accident given the fact that there were several reasons for the incident. The massacre was not all the britishes fault for an example the bostonians were hitting the british troops with sticks and throwing snowballs at them. The article states that the british are not to open fire on the bostonians, but they still open fired and killed five bostonians. Witnesses that were interviewed then say that youngsters were throwing snowballs but were doing no real harm to the soldiers and therefore they should not have shot fire.
Was the Boston Massacre Really a Massacre? One of the most common things talked about in the history of the U.S.A. is the Boston Massacre, but was this historical event commonly looked at as a massacre really a massacre. I believe that the Boston Massacre was not a massacre at all instead it was just the act of self defense of a few british soldiers that were being attacked by upset colonists. One of the most said things about the Boston Massacre is that the british soldiers fired into a crowd of innocent people, but there is many pieces of proof that says otherwise.
The Boston Massacres was a terrible event that has faults on both the colonists and the British soldier's shoulders. However, no part of this event would have happened if the colonists had not formed a riot right in front of the British soldiers. The colonists have the right to complain about their feeling on how they are treated by the king. They do not have the right harass and or threaten these British soldiers because these soldiers had done the colonists no fault. By complaining, cursing and or threatening these British soldiers is not going to change the way in which the colonies are treated.
The Boston Massacre is an event that will continue to live in infamy for many years to come. The events surrounding the shot heard ‘round the world will forever be clouded in mystery, however; the examination of these events is critical to a larger understanding of the British and Colonial relationship. Unfortunately, like many historical events, there is no unified story on which historians agree. The documents integrated into this essay are a brief snapshot in time that can never represent a perfect history. For the purposes of this essay, I will focus on three major historical disagreements and attempt draw a conclusion on each aspect to hopefully provide an unbiased analysis of the Boston Massacre.
There was not a massacre on March 5, 1770 in Boston because according to Captain Preston and John Bufford, the colonist and the troops were both armed and attacked each other. This means that what happened in Boston was not a massacre. The first reason the event was not a massacre is because the event in Boston 1770 was a war. As stated by Captain Preston “The colonists were assembling to attack the troops… they surrounded the guard and threatened to execute… after a soldier was attacked he fired…”. This supports my claim because it proves that, both the troops and colonists were attacking each other, and the troops attacking the colonists was not a random decision.
During the first years of the English settlements of North America the people who immigrated from England they formed colonies that with the support of the British government. The colonist didn 't pay a lot of taxes on their trading benefits to the government. Through the years, the King and the parliament started raising taxes on almost everything that the colonist was producing in the colonies. The colonists weren 't happy with the new taxation that the king was charging to the colonies, and it led the colonist to protest at British empire. There are several reasons why the colonists revolted against the British government.
The American Revolution was, to date, the best event to happen on American soil, providing freedom and representation in government to the individuals who fought so hard for it. France and Spain aided our cause, helping this group of brave colonists to defeat the strongest army in the world. But, there is a question still not answered; were the colonists justified in breaking away from Britain? The American colonists were justified in breaking away from the British because there was taxation without representation, they had no freedom, and the British government violated their individual British rights. I believe the American colonists were justified for breaking away from Britain because there was taxation without representation.
The British government was not looking for the best of the people. They were only thinking about what they wanted; the government was not interested in what the people wanted so they decided to make decisions on their own, which resulted in changes that form the United States today. Because of this, they were justified in rebelling and declaring independence. One reason why the colonists decided to rebel and declare independence was because of taxation.
During the Colonial Era (1492-1763), colonists were justified in waging war against Great Britain; due to the inequitable Stamp Act, the insufferable British oppression, and the perceived tyranny of King George III, the king of Great Britain, however, the colonists were unjustified in some of their actions. In Colonial America, colonists were justified in waging war against Great Britain, because the Stamp Act was unfair and viewed as punishment. Because of the war, Britain had no other choice but to tax the colonists to pay for the debt. For example, according to document 2, the author states that the act was not only for trade but for “the single purpose of levying money.”
I think that the British soldiers acted in self defense during the Boston Massacre. The colonists were threatening and provoking the soldiers by shouting vulgarly, beating people with clubs, and throwing rocks covered in snow, so I believe that the soldiers had a right to fight for their lives. Just take a moment to imagine the Boston massacre, it’s late at night and people are tired and confused. The colonists are shouting “Fire and be damned, who cares! Damn you, you dare not fire,” (Exhibit B) and the British soldiers are ready to defend but don’t know what’s going on.
After the French and Indian War the British were had a gargantuan debt! In order to pay off such a huge debt they imposed new taxes and enforced old ones. Great Britain thought that it was allowed to pass laws like these, because Britain had protected the colonists therefore the colonists have to give obedience. Laws like the Stamp Act, Sugar Act, Tea Act, and along with the British being oblivious to colonists’ pleas to change the harsh laws (Document 2) allowed
Arguably, these taxes were only placed by Britain to “milk” the colonies for profit. Ben Franklin responded to the Stamp Act, writing a letter to John Hughs to discuss efforts to get it repealed (Document G). . In a way, the series of taxes applied by Parliament would spark a fire within the colonists and begin the American Revolution, where Americans finally say enough is enough. The time had come for political and ideological change, where the colonies would break from their motherland, Great Britain. In conclusion, the French Indian War would kick off a series of political, economic, and ideological events that changed the relationship between Britain and its colonies forever.
The Boston Massacre was a street fight that occurred on March 5, 1770, between a “patriot”. They were throwing sticks, snowballs, and trash at a group of British troops. The loyalists got very annoyed with the patriots so they shot into the mob killing five. The riot began when around 50 colonists attacked a British sentinel. A British officer called in for additional troops
The French and Indian War was important to the American Revolution because the debt from the war was the reason that Parliament started taxing the colonists. Also, the French and Indian War made Britain very weak, making the colonists’ actions work a whole lot better. Since France was not happy with the outcome of their war with Britain this was a main reasons for France’s interest in helping the now Americans throughout the Revolutionary War, which was very important to the colonies’ victory. The reason why Britain started to tax the colonists was because of the debt resulting from the French and Indian War. The first tax was the the tax on sugar, which was put on the colonists to help pay off the war debt.
The Boston Massacre is an event most Americans and British students learn about over the course of their education. In America, we learn that British soldiers fired upon innocent civilians, although this may not have been the case. British historians have referred to the Boston Massacre as the "Incident on King Street". After looking over the "Captain Thomas Preston 's Account of the Boston Massacre", as well as "Boston Massacre Trial Depositions" I believe that American historians should refer to the "Boston Massacre" as the "Incident on King Street". The definition of a massacre refers to an unnecessary and random killing of a large number of individuals.