Boston Massacre Essay

During the 1760's the town of Boston was more and more affected by migration, change and maturation. Protests against the Stamp Act had been very bitter, so in 1768 the British government ordered soldiers to got to Boston to restore order and enforce laws. Instead their plan backfired. The soldiers only increased tensions and incidents between the redcoats and Bostonians became common. On February 22, 1770 a British man named Ebenezer Richardson tried to tear down and anti -British sign and was followed to his house by an upset crowd. They teased him and broke his windows with stones, one of which struck his wife. Very angry about what had happened, he grabbed his musket and fired into the crowd. He accidently shot an eleven year old boy who died eight hours later. Richardson was dragged from his house and to jail. Destruction of property and burning of effigies also became common. On August 1765 in Boston, crowds protesting the Stamp Act destroyed the homes of stamp distributors Andrew Oliver and Thomas Hutchinson. On March 5th, 1770 the crowd and the soldiers acted even more unlike themselves. A group of boys were taunting a British Sentry in front of the Custom House. Then one of the soldiers struck a Bostonian with his musket which only made things worse. No one could calm the crowd, so one of the soldiers fired and others followed, leaving five dead and six wounded. This became known as the Boston Massacre.

I find the Bostonians guilty. If they had shown some respect and not gotten so out of hand, none of this would have ever happened. There is no excuse for them to treat the British soldiers, who were trying to help, the way they did. If you were being disrespected and taunted in such a manner, what would you have done? If your wife was hurt or you were being surrounded, with no escape, by an angry mob, what would you resort to? I feel that the British were only doing what needed to be done for their own safety.

I do not think that the British should go unpunished but neither should the Bostonians. It is not for me to decide how they get punished but they both need to learn how to act in a mature and respectful manner. As for the Bostonians, their actions were unacceptable and if they had not acted in such a way none of this would have happened.