The Revolution: Boston, Bloody, Boston (Historical channel)

Introduction

The colonial oppression to the colonies aggravated the formation of rebellion movements to counter the colonial rule and achieve independence. The bloody Boston massacre happened in 1770 as pre-revolutionary incident that grew out of anger against British troops that were sent to maintain law and order and enforce the Townshend Acts. This paper provides a review the events of the bloody Boston and its importance towards the American Revolution.

The main theme of Boston, bloody Boston settles on the beginning of American Revolution towards the fight against British colonialism. In addition to the raw materials for industries in Britain, colonies also acted as markets for the processed products by the England. Besides, the colonies were also taxed for the goods they imported. In America, the Townshend duties placed a tax on goods imported included lead, glass, paint, tea and paper. The money raised from taxes catered for the defense expenses and the cost of running the colonial government. Americans were against the parliamentary Acts that passed laws without their consent such as the Townshend Acts. People expressed their anger and opposition through demonstrations in the Boston streets, a leader of Sons of Liberty, Sam Adams. A series of colonial protests in 1770 persuaded the British government to revoke the Townshend Acts (Allison p.27-29).

Although the duties for tea were not removed, the Americans remained determined to Boycott in Boston until the tea duties were removed. In addition, people rebelled against the British unfair labour rights where the poorly paid British soldiers turned to part-time jobs in the city. Boston laborers often clashed with the troops since they felt that the soldiers were taking away jobs from them.  The climax of the Boston rebellions and the start of American Revolution started when a small riot broke up between a worker and a British soldier on 5th march 1770. Consequently, huge crowds gathered in Boston streets throwing snowballs and rocks at the soldiers. Consequently, Captain Preston led his troops between the crowd and the State House where one soldier fired his gun killing three and mortally injuring two. The street fighting event was referred to as the Boston massacre by the Sons of Liberty (Raum pp.103-107).

After the Boston massacre, the people’s voice led to the arrest of Captain Preston together with six of his troops for murder and held for trial. Although, John Adams won the acquittal of four soldiers and Preston whom he defended, two soldiers were punished as they were found guilty of the killing incident. Consequently, the tension between the Boston civilians and the soldiers eased after trial. Nevertheless, propaganda towards the start of American Revolution began when Paul Revere drew a picture of the scene of the class between the British soldiers and the Boston crowd. Revere’s print demonstrated the British soldiers firing the guns at the raised sword command of Captain Preston towards a group of unarmed civilians. The wounded and the dead were pictured on the ground lying in pools of blood. From the Revere’s drawing, the killing was named as the Boston, bloody, Boston indicating how the bloody massacre was executed (Raum pp.103-107).

Conclusion

The Boston, bloody Boston is a vital documentary to watch in order to understand the event that led to the American history of revolution. Particularly, the Boston massacre led to the emergence of revolutionary propaganda following the Revere’s drawings that spread throughout the American colonies. As a result, this led the British soldiers to be withdrawn from Boston that provided an opportunity for the Americans further to elevate the rebellion and support independence against the British.

Work cited

Allison, Robert J. The Boston Massacre. Beverly, Mass: Commonwealth Editions, 2006. Print.

Raum, Elizabeth. The Boston Massacre: An Interactive History Adventure. Mankato, Minn: Capstone Press, 2009. Print.