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Boston Massacre by Kecia Butlinm, a grade 5 student
Summary: Interestingly, in this essay the young author is sympathetic to the soldier and takes close to the heart the fact that the British soldiers were called offensive names by the rioting youth. Even though some “facts” put forth in the essay can be described as speculative, the paper provides an easy to understand account of the famous events.
The Boston Massacre happened on March 5, 1770. A soldier, Captain Hugh White, was being hit with rocks, snowballs, and wood by a few colonist boys. The boys were calling the soldiers names like lobster, lobsterback, and bloodyback! As soon as the boys started calling the soldiers these names, more angry colonists filled the square. So the soldier ran to the State House door and cried for help and to be let in. But there was no one to let him in. Luckily, seven other soldiers heard Captain Hugh White and came running to his aid.
In a few minutes, the soldiers had their muskets ready to fire. The colonists were making the soldiers very angry because they thought that they couldn't get hurt. The reason the colonists thought this was because only the government could order the soldiers to fire. But as the colonists grew nearer, the soldiers had to fire. Captain Thomas Preston heard these shots and came running out. Captain Thomas Preston started running up and down the line of soldiers telling them not to fire! But all that the soldiers heard was the word "fire". So they kept firing. Finally, Captain Thomas Preston stopped the soldiers from firing, and after the smoke cleared, three colonists were dead and two were wounded. The first person to die was Crispus Attucks. The others that were wounded or dead were Samuel Maverick, Patrick Carr, James Caldwell, and Samuel Gray.
Soon, Lieutenant Governor Thomas Hutchinson pushed his way through the crowd and quieted everyone down. Also, he said that the matter would be taken seriously and that they would be tried in court. It didn't look good for the soldiers because it was a Boston jury. John Adams, Samuel Adams' cousin, defended the soldiers and Captain Thomas Preston. They were found not guilty because they fired in self defense. The newspapers named the incident the "Boston Massacre" to stir up hate against Britain.
The reason the colonists were so angry was because the British made a law that had the colonists pay a duty for paint, tea, glass, and other imports and during that time British troops were sent to Boston to try and make the colonists obey the order.
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