On March 5th 1770, five people fell dead on Kings Street from shots fired by British soldiers. Weeks after the shooting, more than 90 people of all colonie ranks gave their testimonies. Some say that Captain Preston and his men are guilty of murder and should be hanged, and some say they are a lawful assembly and not guilty of murder, that they were acting in pure self-defense. I will prove Captain Preston and his men are not guilty of murder, through eyewitnesses and testimonies.
Captain Preston and his men are not guilty of committing murder. Teenage boys were harassing a British soldier by calling him names like lobster and making fun of they way they walked. The boys were also throwing snowballs with seashells in them at the British soldier. The soldier never did or said anything until the seventeen year old boy walked up to him and started running his mouth. The soldier then hit the boy in the mouth with the butt of his gun. The boy backed off and went back to the crowd. About 200 people came out of the bars and joined the crowd. They were carrying clubs with them because they
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worked at the docks beating rope. The British soldier then called for help from the other British soldiers. As the other soldiers came out they formed a line in front of the tax building. In a true historical account of John Adams HBO Mini Series, someone from the back of the crowd threw a club and hit British soldier Montgomery in the head, knocking him down to the ground.
When Montgomery fell his musket discharged. The crowd was screaming ¨Fire I dare you fire.¨ After Montgomery´s musket discharged and the people screaming fire, all of the other British soldiers began to shoot. Nobody could tell if Captain Preston ordered his men to fire, but what we do know is that Captain Preston was standing in front of his men talking to Richard Palms. A true historical account in the American Story of Us. In fact they were so close to the soldiers that Richard Palms has a burn and tear in the arm of his jacket from the musket being fired. This proves that Captain Preston was in front of his men, and why would he tell his men to fire when he is standing in front of
him. According to William Sawyer, the people kept daring the British soldiers to fire at them and then a club came flying from the crowd and hit a soldier. The soldier supposedly got back up and shot into the crowd without and order.”. Another eyewitness was Daniel Cornwall. Daniel Cornwall said in his testimony “ Captain Preston was about 2 yards away from me, and I didn’t hear any orders from Captain Preston. I was so close to Captain Preston that if he would have gave his men the order to fire, I would of heard it. Then when gunshots went off I heard “why do you fire, don’t fire,” this time I was sure it was Preston. Through eyewitnesses and testimonies, I believe that the British Soldiers are not guilty of murder. The crowd of men and boys were a mob and were throwing things such as snowballs with seashells in them and even clubs at the soldiers. No matter how many people hate the British from taxes, the soldiers were acting in pure self defense and are not guilty of murder.
Captain Thomas Preston’s vision of the Boston massacre was an incident were a British soldier accidently fired his weapon and his men then followed after resulting in the death of five Bostonians including free black sailor Cripus Attucks. Starting the story Captain Thomas Preston admits that the arrival of the Majesty’s Troops were obnoxious to the inhabitants. Troops have done everything in their power to weaken the regiments by falsely propagating untruths about them. On Monday at 8 o’ clock two soldiers were beaten and townspeople then broke into two meetinghouses and rang the bells. But at 9 o’ clock some troops have informed Captain Thomas Preston that the bell was not ringing to give notice for a fire but to make the troops aware of the attack the towns people were going to bring upon them.
"I shall show you what happens to people who defy the laws of the land! In the tribunal everybody is equal, here there is no regard for rank or position. The great torture shall be applied to you!" (194)
On March 5th, 1770 in Boston, Massachusetts, a soldier rang a town bell that meant there was a fire or that police backup was needed after being approached by Boston residents who were being hostile towards him. In response to the bell being rung, British commanding officer, Thomas Preston, came to the soldier’s aid with armed British troops. Because the bell also meant “fire,” many residents flooded into the area believing a fire was occurring. A mob broke out, and the hostility of the Boston citizens rose. Objects such as ice and rocks were thrown and many citizens were armed with clubs, sticks, and other objects. At one point, an object hit a soldier, causing his gun to go off. Amidst all of the people screaming “fire,” British troops thought that Preston told them to fire.
The article “Why Men Fought in the American Revolution” delves into the reasons why men chose to stay and fight in the American Revolution. The author, Robert Middlekauff, gives his rationale on why he believes men risked their lives in the battles against the British. While Middlekauf explains reasons men had for risking their lives fighting, he is swift to dismiss motivations these American men did not have to fight. Not only does Middlekauff discuss motivations of men, he also draws contrast between the American and British armies; more specifically, differences between the armies’ officers and soldiers.
Accidents do happen, as shown with the Boston Massacre. The crowds were getting rowdy, made then British soldiers panic, and they opened up fire.
... to a miscommunication between the Captain and his soldiers. If the crowd had not been in such an uproar the Boston Massacre never would have happened. With all the testimony and the deposition from the Captain, the jury made the correct decision by determining Preston innocent.
Major Anderson thought that the people of Charleston were about t attempt to seize Fort Sumter. He would not stand for this, so since he was commander of all the defenses of the harbor, and without any orders to disagree with him, he said that he could occupy any one of his choice. Since he was being watched he only told his plan to three or four officers that he knew that he could trust. He first removed the women and children with a supply of provisions. They were sent to Fort Johnson on Dec. 26 in vessels. The firing of tree guns at Moultrie was to be the signal for them to be conveyed to Sumter. In the evening the garrison went to Sumter. The people of Charleston knew that the women and children were at Fort Johnson and thought that Anderson would take his troops there. (www.sonofthesouth.net/leefoundation/battlefort-sumter.html)
The British were responsible for the Boston Massacre that happened on March 5 in 1770. The British had shot and killed many people in this tragedy making it one of the greatest events in the American history. Attacking unarmed boys and firing at a crowd where there was no actual danger involved makes the British wrong for committing these actions. These were the reasons why the Boston massacre was the British soldiers fault for all this to
Learning your brother has passed is sad but watching him be murdered is the most traumatic thing a young boy could be put through. Sam had been accused of cattle theft, but it was his own cattle. Tim tried to explain to general Putnam but he refused to listen saying that the execution would show soldiers that they will be punished for their actions and might save civilians lives. They went on with the execution and “shot him so close that his clothes were on fire.he went on jerking with flames on his chest until another soldier shot him again.then he stopped jerking”(208). The patriots killed on of their own to save others. Sam did not do anything and was totally innocent but he did not have enough telling points to prove that he was. It was unfair that instead of somebody that actually committed a crime was not executed as an example. Tim would not want to choose a side where he was not protected by his own people. Being neutral was the best choice for Tim since he was against war overall and did not want to support either
Whitehouse goes on to saying that a soldier got knocked down by a chunk of wood that a man got it from under his coat. Based on most against Preston and some for Preston testimonies like the Benjamin Burdick against testimony, he said that he saw” stick thrown at the Soldiers” not a big chunk of wood that would knock a soldier out. Whitehouse testimony was most likely to distract the jury from the other strong testimonies that were made against Preston, so they might think that there is something that they are misinterpreted from the other testimonies. These testimonies show evidence that Preston ordered his soldiers to fire at people who some of them were innocents who were just there to fulfill their curiosity of the situation to murder them. The Boston Massacre created a new attitude in people that was not there before. It created more hatred toward the British forces living with them and taking their money from them. It also made us understand that the American Revolution is coming because the people will not wait until another massacre to happen to kill more people of their own, they want the British to
On March 5, 1770, an event occurred in Boston, which consisted of British troops shooting upon colonists. People refer to this as a massacre, but they only look at one side of the story. The Boston Massacre in 1770 was not really a massacre, but a mutual riot (Boston Massacre History Society). British soldiers went to America to keep the people of Boston in order. However, the soldier's presence there was not welcomed by the Bostonians and this made things worse (Boston Massacre History Society). The British had to fire their guns because the Bostonians were antagonizing the soldiers, which caused five people to die. The Bostonians made the soldiers feel threatened so in turn they acted in self-defense. The British soldiers and their Captain had to go through a trial, to prove they were not to blame for what had occurred.
It was so sad for him since the four men who were shot in that night by the British military men were not only his Bostonians but Sergeant Caldwell who one of the four was standing just at his side when he was met with the bullet, and it was Hewes who got hold of him as he fell. Being angered by the nightmare, Hewes equipped himself with a cane, but his mission was not to be since he was immediately threatened by Sergeant Chambers who was a member of the 29th British Regiment along with other eight military men who were armed with cutlasses and massive clubs. Sergeant Chambers took away the cane from him, but as Hewes explained in a legal statement, "I told him I had as good a right to carry a cane as they had to carry clubs" – a statement that went on to explain the brutality of the military men who brutalized and killed
King Philip’s War (1675-76) is an event that has been largely ignored by the American public and popular historians. However, the almost two-year conflict between the colonists and the Native Americans in New England stands as perhaps the most devastating war in this country’s history. One in ten soldiers on both sides were wounded or killed. At its height, hostilities threatened to push the recently arrived English colonists back to the coast. And, it took years for towns and urban centers to recover from the carnage and property damage.
As proclaimed in the “Declaration of the Causes and Necessity of Taking Up Arms,” we agreed that the British government had left the people with only two options, “unconditional submission to the tyranny of irritated ministers or resistance by force.” Thus, in the early months of the dreadfully long year of 1775, we began our resistance. As the war progressed, the Americans, the underdogs, shockingly began winning battles against the greatly superior mother country of England. Actually, as seen in the battle of Bunker Hill, not only were they winning, they were annihilating hundreds of their resilient opponents. Countless questions arose before and during the War of Independence. Problems like: social equality, slavery, women’s rights, and the struggle of land claims against Native Americans were suddenly being presented in new and influencing ways to our pristine leaders. Some historians believe that while the Revolutionary War was crucial for our independence, these causes were not affected; thus, the war was not truly a revolution. Still, being specified in the Background Essay, several see the war as more radical, claiming it produced major changes above and beyond our independence.
In 1843, an Englishman named Daniel M’Naghten killed Secretary British Minister. Daniel thought British minister was conspiring Daniel. The court put him in for Insanity Defense and was put in ...