Who Were Killed By A Snowball Justified Murder?

Does getting hit by a snowball justify murdering someone? On March 5th, 1770 five Boston colonists were shot. Three died at the scene and two died later from the gunshot wounds. The British soldiers, the Redcoats, shot the colonists. Some people think the soldiers shot in self-defense because the colonists were throwing snowballs and clubs at the soldiers. However, when a man named Samuel Atwood asked the soldiers if they intended to murder the colonists all along, they answered, “Yes,” and struck and wounded Atwood. The British soldiers shot and murdered the colonists because getting hit with a snowball does not make it okay to kill someone.

There are three main reasons that show the British intended to murder the colonists all along. The first reason is the soldiers were attacking unarmed colonists in the streets before the massacre happened. George Sanderlin walking around in the streets before the massacre started. Sanderlin states that, “...they attacked single and unarmed persons till they raised much clamor.” The soldiers wouldn’t attack defenseless colonists in the streets if they were trying to protect themselves. Sanderlin explained that Samuel

Atwood “asked [the British soldiers] if they intended to murder people? They answered ‘Yes, [we do],’ [and struck and wounded Atwood].” Soon after, according to Sanderlin, the same soldiers “attack[ed] single and unarmed persons.” George Sanderlin was a Boston colonist, he had been in the town with the soldiers. He had seen how the soldiers had mistreated people for a while. Striking colonists who are unarmed in the streets of Boston before the massacre happened, shows the soldiers were proceeding to murder the colonists.
Another reason the soldiers decided to kill the colonists is the Captain told the soldiers to fire. William Wyatt said he heard the Captain say, “...fire be the consequence what it will.” If the colonists were attacking the soldiers and the British reacted on the spur of the moment, then why would the Captain be concerned about the consequences? This suggests that the Captain thought the shooting might not be justified. Captain Preston stated, “ They asked me if I intended to order the men to fire. I answered no.” However, Richard Palmes said, “I said to Preston are your soldiers’ guns loaded. He answered with powder and ball. Sir I hope you don’t intend the Soldiers shall fire on the Inhabitants. He said by no means.” The Captain could have been trying to cover up because he actually said the word, “Fire!” Also, Richard Palmes is someone who supported the British soldiers so what he said was most likely biased. The Captain’s comment about “be the consequence what they will” suggest that the soldiers’ firing on the colonists was not an act of self-defense.
Finally, the soldiers had bayonets on the ends of their guns so they did not have to shoot at the whole crowd.

In Paul Revere’s engraving, the Captain is holding a sword up and the soldiers have bayonets on the ends of their guns. Since only a few colonists were attacking the soldiers, they could have just used their bayonets to engage them. Some other pictures of the event shows a few of the colonists fighting back at the soldiers, but all pictures show bayonets on the end of the soldiers guns. The soldiers didn’t have to shoot at the big crowd of colonists, risking the lives of innocent bystanders. Instead, they could have used their bayonets to engage the ones causing the ruckus. Paul Revere’s visual portrayal of the event shows that the British soldiers had another option besides firing on the

colonists.
The British soldiers intended to fire at the colonists because the Redcoats were harming other colonists before the massacre happened. Three of the people at the event said they saw the colonists throwing snowballs and clubs at the soldiers and they didn’t see the Captain say fire. However, the other three stated that they saw soldiers shoot people in the streets of Boston and the Captain say fire. Also many of the drawings and Paul Revere’s engraving show the soldiers executing the colonists in the streets with the Captain holding up a sword. In conclusion, the evidence affirms that the Redcoats fired at the people with the intent to murder.