Revolutionary War Primary Sources

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Recommended: Essay on the boston massacre

When you perform research for your class assignments, you will encounter many types of resources: books, popular magazines, scholarly articles and websites. Not everything you find on a topic will be useful to research, or meet the criteria given for writing college-level papers. There are three different types of sources first is a primary source. A primary source is evidence of a period and place that was studied that was produced by eyewitnesses to or participants in the historical moment being taught or talked about. original; not derived but rather a firsthand account, original data, etc., or based on direct knowledge,A secondary source are interpretations often generated by someone that was not there but heard it from someone that was …show more content…

Three persons were killed immediately and two died later of their wounds; among the victims was Crispus Attucks, a man of black or native decent. Capt. Thomas Preston, the british officer in charge was arrested for manslaughter, along with eight of his men. The massacre was a street fight that signaled events leading to the Revolutionary War. It led directly to the Royal Governor evacuating the occupying army from the town of Boston.The presence of British troops in Boston had long been a sore point among Boston's radical colonist like Paul Revere wasted no time on the Massacre to highlight the British tyranny and stir up anti-British feelings among fellow colonists. To demonstrate the impartialness of colonial courts, two Patriot leaders, James Adams and Josiah Quincy. They defended Captain Preston and his men. The prosecution had very little evidence, and Preston and six soldiers were acquitted; two others were found guilty of manslaughter, had their hands branded and were released. Although many colonist criticized the verdicts, the removal of troops from Boston and the repeal of all but one of the contested import duties resulted in a lowering of tension in the years following the incident. Before the American Revolution started the Sons of Liberty, a Patriot group formed to fight against the Stamp Act advertised the "Boston Massacre"

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    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.

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  • Why Is Preston Justified In The Boston Trial

    612 Words  | 2 Pages

    In Thomas Preston’s account of what happened that night, he claimed that he did not order anyone to fire. He said that the residents of Boston were obnoxious and pugnacious. Many other people have claimed that Boston

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  • Over Here: How the G.I. Bill Transformed the American Dream, by Edward Humes

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    When it comes to learning about events and people in history, nothing beats a primary source. There is information directly from the event and there are no worries about incorrect data because the author was there to witness said event. But the main problem with primary sources is the fact that it only covers part of the story. So if a book is written about, say, the concentration camps of World War II, then all that it would be about would be that persons view of the camps, not what was happening during the actually war. This is where secondary sources come in. Secondary sources are written by authors who were not involved in the event, but rather did research on said event and wrote a novel covering what they believe to be all important aspects. Secondary sources are helpful when wanting to know more than just one aspect of an event, for example, you can know what was happening with the ally powers and axis powers, rather than just one or the other. Despite not being involved in the events, secondary sources still tend to contain bias. This essay will cover the bias of the novel Over Here: How the G.I. Bill Transformed the American Dream, by Edward Humes and how this either helped to prove or disprove his thesis.

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  • How Did The Boston Tea Party Lead To The American Revolution

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    The soldiers were trialed for murdered but were found innocent. Afterwards, a group of men formed named The Sons of Liberty. The Sons of Liberty lead protest in Boston. A key event leading to the revolution was the Boston Tea Party. The Boston Tea Party was a protest lead by the Sons of Liberty. The group of men dumped the imported tea and further eroded the relations with Britain. After the Boston Tea Party, the colonist refused to drink British tea. As stated in Tom Gage’s Proclamation, “Whereas the rebels hereabout, Are stubborn still, and still hold out; Refusing yet to drink their tea, In spite of Parliament and me” Furthermore, the British were becoming annoyed by the colonists actions. Therefore, the British passed the Intolerable Acts. The Intolerable Acts, as the name predicts, made the colonists furious. The British had passed the Intolerable Acts precisely to punish the Massachusetts colonist. The Acts consisted of the Massachusetts Bay closing, until tea was paid for, and a new Quartering Act, The new Quartering Act allowed British Troops to be stationed in private homes if necessary. Also, it gave power to the crown to elect all officials in

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  • What Really Happened in the Boston Massacre?

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    Before the Boston Massacre even occurred, tensions were high in the city of Boston between the Bostonians and the British. At this time people were just getting over the Stamp Act and were now angered by the new taxes also known as the Townshend Duties. This new tax caused Bostonians to become more aggressive causing the British to send more soldiers to impose the laws of Parliament and to restore order among the people. The arrival of more soldiers only caused more of an uproar between the people of Boston and the red coats. Bostonians went out of their way to harass British soldiers whenever they got the chance, but on March 5, 1770 both sides acted unacceptably resulting in the Boston Massacre (84-85).

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  • Examining Whether or not the Boston Massacre was a True Massacre

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    The Merriam-Webster online dictionary defines massacre as “the act or an instance of killing a number of usually helpless or unresisting human beings under circumstances of atrocity or cruelty” or “a cruel or wanton murder” (m-w.com). Essentially a massacre results in either the death of many people or death by cruel means. The Boston Massacre occurred on March 5, 1770, in Boston, Massachusetts and involved American colonists and British troops. The colonists, upset by recent laws enacted by the British, taunted a smaller group of British soldiers by throwing snowballs at them (Boston Massacre Historical Society). In response, the soldiers fired upon the unarmed colonists leaving five people dead and six wounded (Phelan, 131). Even though the event in Boston on March 5, 1770, in which blood was shed, and called the Boston Massacre, the actions which took place on that day did not constitute a massacre. Since only five people were killed and six wounded and there was no evidence of cruelty, the name Boston Massacre was likely a propaganda ploy by Samuel Adams to rally the colonists against the British instead of a true massacre.

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  • Revolutionary War Dbq

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    During the War for American Independence, 78 men were commissioned as general officers into the Continental Army by the Continental Congress. Many of these generals commanded troops with differing levels of competence and success. George Washington is typically seen as most important general, however throughout the war a number of his subordinates were able to distinguish themselves amongst their peers. One such general was Nathanael Greene. At the end of the Revolutionary War, Greene would become Washington’s most important subordinate, as demonstrated by Edward Lengel’s assessment of Greene as “the youngest and most capable of Washington’s generals.” Washington and Greene developed a strong, positive and close relationship between themselves. Greene began his life in the military after having been raised a Quaker. With limited access to literature and knowledge in his younger years, Greene became an avid reader which equipped him with the knowledge necessary to excel as a general during the war. Through his devoted study of military operations, firsthand experience and natural abilities as a soldier, Greene became an excellent military commander. He would become known for his successful southern campaign, during which, he loosened British control of the South and helped lead the war to its climax at Yorktown. Throughout the war, he was involved in a number high profile battles where he built a reputation of being an elite strategist who also understood unconventional warfare, logistics, and the importance of military-civil affairs and had a natural political/social acumen. The thesis of this paper is that Greene’s proven reputation of being a soldier, strategist and statesman would cause him to become the second greates...

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  • Why Was The British To Blame For The Boston Massacre

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    The British were to fault for the Boston massacre making it a great historical tragedy in our country. A reason why the Boston Massacre was the fault of the British is because they killed the colonists by firing their weapons in the crowd of 30-40 colonists. In the text it says (Boston massacre 2). "30-40 persons, mostly lads…the soldiers pushing their bayonets into people...the Captain

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  • Analyzing the American Revolution: A Report on 1776

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    However, the Americans argued against the constitutionality of the act because its purpose was to raise revenue and not regulate trade, so the colonists organized boycotts of British goods. One of the boycotts involved the circulation of a letter to other colonies urging them to coordinate a resistance. However, the government quickly dissolved this assembly to organize a resistance by reactivating a statute which permitted subjects outside the realm to face trials in England for treason. This caused an outrage and on March 5, 1770 a large mob gathered around a group of British soldiers. The mob grew more and more threatening, throwing snowballs, rocks and debris at the soldiers. One soldier was even clubbed and fell. As a result, the soldiers fired into the crowd killing five civilians, giving the event the name the Boston Massacre. As a result of this event, Parliament withdrew all taxes except the tax on tea, giving up its efforts to raise revenue. This temporarily resolved the crisis and the boycott of British goods largely ceased. However, this resolve was only temporary because in June of 1772 American patriots burned a British warship that had been vigorously enforcing unpopular trade regulations. These events eventually forced the thirteen colonies to create the Committee of

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  • The Revolutionary War A-Z

    1646 Words  | 4 Pages

    A- John Adams- A Massachusetts lawyer and politician, John Adams was the one that defended the British shooters at the Boston Massacre. He went on to join the meeting at the First Continental Congress in Philadelphia in 1774. Adams and the rest of the Congress wanted there to be an end to the Intolerable acts that were put on the Colonies by the British, and they wanted to have their own government, instead of the British governing them. This lead to the start of the Revolutionary War. John Adams was one of the delegates from Massachusetts to sign the Declaration of Independence.

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  • Essay On The Boston Massacre

    970 Words  | 2 Pages

    The events of March 5, 1770 should and have been remembered as momentous and predictable. Perhaps not the night or city specifically, but the state of affairs in Boston, if not throughout The English Colonies, had declined to the point that British troops found themselves frequently assaulted with stones, dirt, and human feces. The opinions and sentiments of either side were certainly not clandestine. Even though two spectators express clear culpability for the opposing side, they do so only in alteration of detail. The particulars of the event unfold the same nonetheless. The happening at the Custom House off King Street was a catastrophic inevitability. Documents from the Boston Massacre trial, which aid us in observing from totally different perceptions. The depositions of witnesses of the event prove to be useful; an English officer Captain Preston and a colonial Robert Goddard give relatively dissimilar details. In spite of these differences, they still both describe the same state of affairs.

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  • Was The Boston Massacre Really a Massacre?

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    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.

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  • Essay On The Boston Massacre

    1004 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the 1760s, Boston was full of disorder. With each new British law came protest from American colonists. The people of Boston believed that Britain did not have the right to tax them because they did not elect their representatives in Parliament. Only the Massachusetts Assembly, whose members were elected every year, had the right to tax its citizens. The Stamp Act of 1765 and the Townshend Acts of 1767 led to boycotts and unrest, steered by a group known as the Sons of Liberty. As a result, the British government sent troops to Boston to keep order. Instead of staying in a fort on an island in the Boston harbor, the British troops stayed on the commons and were living in buildings in the middle of town. The British troops’ presence in Boston was not welcome and Bostonians viewed them as a threat. Because they did not like the English army in their city, fights between the American colonists and the British troops were common.

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  • The Boston Massacre

    1417 Words  | 3 Pages

    Throughout history, events are sparked by something, which causes emotions to rise and tensions to come to a breaking point. The Boston Massacre was no exception; America was feeling the pressure of the British and was ready to break away from the rule. However, this separation between these two parties would not come without bloodshed on both sides. The British did not feel the American had the right to separate them from under British rule, but the Americans were tired of their taxes and rules being placed upon them and wanted to succeed from their political tyrants. The Boston Massacre would be the vocal point in what would be recognized, as the Revolutionary War in American history and the first place lives would be lost for the cost of liberty. Even though the lives were lost that day, eight British soldiers were mendaciously accused of murder when it was clearly self-defense. People who are placed in a situation where their lives are threatened have the right to defend themselves. History does not have the right to accuse any one event those history may have considered the enemy guilty when they are fighting for their lives.

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  • The Boston Massacre Was The Cause Of The American Revolution

    938 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Boston Massacre didn't just happen for no reason. Tensions in Boston, Massachusetts between the British soldiers and Bostonians were very high due to all the acts that had been passed in the colonies by the British parliament. Sugar act 1764 which passed tax on sugar, coffee, and molasses. Stamp act 1765 which made colonist pay for a stamp for newspapers, playing cards, dice, and various legal documents. Declaratory act 1766 which repealed the stamp act but still let the British have the right to make decisions for the colonies without

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