Transcript Trouble in Boston

Trouble
in
Boston
 Boston had become the
center of protest.
 The Boston Massacre was a
street fight—a snow ball
fight gone wrong that
occurred on March 5, 1770,
between a "patriot" mob,
throwing snowballs,
stones, and sticks, and a
squad of British soldiers.
Five colonists were
killed, the first of
which was a sailor by
the name of Crispus
Attucks, a mullato
(African American and
Native American mix)
who took two bullets
to the chest.
This led to a campaign by
speech-writers to rouse
the anger of the citizenry.
Dubbed the Boston
Massacre in effort to stir
anti-British sentiment
(mmm the smell of
propaganda!).
Why is this a form of
propaganda?
Painting by Alonzo Chappel
• During the uneasy calm that followed
Samuel Adams (yes, the beer guy)
established committees of
correspondence where the colonial
assemblies—representatives from the
13 colonies—would maintain a flow of
communication about threats to
American liberties and inform one
another of the activities/events
occurring throughout the colonies.
• Remember, no telephone, no
computers just pen, paper, and horses.
Their main goal was to help unify the
colonies by expressing their grievances
with the British government.
In 1773, Parliament passed the Tea Act granting the British East India
Company a monopoly of the colonial tea market, and actually
lowered the price of tea, making it cheaper than smuggled tea. The
British had a stupid amount of tea to get rid of, nearly 15 million
pounds in warehouses in Britain. However, the colonists boycotted
British tea on principle.