Document 4
NEXT

DIRECTIONS: Read the historical background and view each document. Answer the questions that follow the document on the Answer Sheet.


BOSTON MASSACRE, 1770

Paul Revere’s print of "The Bloody Massacre perpetrated in King Street" in Boston, March 5, 1770. Three weeks after the occurrence, Revere was advertising his prints for sale in Boston's newspapers. Revere's historic engraving is long on political propaganda and short on accuracy. Patriotic propaganda like this called the incident a massacre to stir up feelings against the British govenment.

Historical Background:
The people of Boston threatened and harmed British customs officials trying to collect taxes. So, the British quartered troops in Boston to protect their officials (Quartering Act). In Boston, as elsewhere, there was bitter feeling between the colonists and the redcoats, the British troops. On one occasion, a riotous crowd of Bostonians shouted insults and threw snowballs at a detachment of soldiers. The redcoats fired into the mob, killing five townspeople and wounding six others. The angry citizens, led by Samuel Adams, demanded the removal of the British troops. To prevent an uprising, the governor withdrew the soldiers from the city. News of the massacre spread throughout the colonies and aroused hatred everywhere.


  1. What does "propaganda" mean?
  2. How did Paul Revere stir up anti-British sentiment among his fellow colonists?
  3. Why isn’t this a true depiction of what happened?  

  4. Why did Revere misrepresent what happened?

  5.  Why is this considered a milestone in America's road to independence?


TITLE DBQ 1 DBQ 2 DBQ  3 DBQ 4 DBQ 5 DBQ 6 DBQ 7 Critical
Thinking
ANSWER SHEET