Making History: A Guided Exploration of Historical Inquiry

Addressing the Essential Question:  Written Documents and First-Person Accounts

How does this source answer my essential question? 

To put this evidence to work, I need to think about how these first-person accounts help me answer my essential question: 

Why would British soldiers shoot and kill American colonists at the Boston Massacre? 

These first-person accounts help me fill in some of the information that I felt was missing when I looked at just the poster.  The poster showed the Boston Massacre, but did not include any of the events or feelings that led up to the event.  These first-person documents help explain different motivations for the actions of the British soldiers.

• Captain Preston’s deposition describes how the soldiers stationed at Boston felt threatened and abused by the people of Boston. 
  How does it answer my essential question?   The British shot the Bostonians because the soldiers had been and were being threatened by the townspeople.

• Wilme’s deposition makes the soldiers look ‘bloodthirsty’ and ready for a fight.
  How does it answer my essential question?   The British shot and killed the people of Boston because they were bloodthirsty and looking forward to seeing American blood flowing in the streets.

• Richardson’s deposition says that the soldiers were the aggressors.
  How does it answer my essential question?  The British shot and killed the people of Boston because it was part of a long series of fights between the soldiers and the townspeople. 

•  John Gray’s deposition says that both sides were ready for a fight. 
  How does it answer my essential question?  The British shot and killed the people of Boston because they did not stay away from each other.  The massacre, it seems, was part of a lager, ongoing grudge between the two sides

• Bridgham's deposition is an eye-witness account of the Massacre and describes the crowd around the soldiers as small, but provoking the soldiers.
  How does it answer my essential question?   The British shot and killed the people of Boston because they were protecting themselves from the threatening crowd.   

My thoughts:

The picture that these depositions paint, no matter which 'side' they take, is of a city that is full of tension.  Many townspeople in Boston hated the British soldiers. The British soldiers hated the townspeople as well.  This mutual hatred had bubbled up in the past-- in fights and other confrontations.  The shooting into the crowd at the Boston Massacre seems like it was just another fight in this ongoing story of the hatred between the two groups.

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Take Action:
Use the evidence to address your essential question