Compare And Contrast The Boston Massacre And Kent State Shooting

There is a common saying, “History repeats itself”, and if one were to disagree on that, then they must concur on the fact there are numerous parallels when looking at history. The Boston Massacre taken place in 1770 and the Kent State shooting, nearly 200 years later, hold many symmetries, from the protests that required authority to intervene to the result of having tragic shootings. Of course, the two events are not absolutely alike as each has their own unique circumstances, but both are well remembered in American History.

On April 30th, 1970, President Nixon announced the need to draft 150,00 more soldiers for the Vietnam war effort. (History.com Staff, 2009). The result of the announcement was social unrest as massive protests broke out on campuses leading to tragic results, specifically speaking of the Kent State Shooting in Ohio. Friday, May 1, outraged students at Kent State began protesting. They painted anti-war slogans on buildings and buried the U.S. Constitution to symbolize it's "murder". The protest began to escalate and became a violent

There were constant fights breaking out between the colonists and the soldiers. On the evening of March 5, 1770, Private Hugh White was harassed by a crowd after defending a British officer. The crowd had White backed against a building and began throwing snowballs and ice at him as well as threatening his life. White called for help, and Captain Thomas Preston arrived with seven other soldiers. Soon there was a crowd of 300-400 colonists around these men, continuing to jeer them and throw things. Someone from the crowd threw a club which struck one of the British soldiers, Private Hugh Montgomery, knocking him down. When he got to his feet, he fired into the crowd. The other soldiers fired as well. Four colonists were killed instantly, one more died a few weeks later from his injuries, six more were injured (Boston Massacre Historical Society,