Document 5.5 Deposition of William Wyatt, March 7, 1770
Document 5.6 Account of Boston Massacre Funeral Procession, March 12, 1770
Document 5.7 Paul Revere, Etching of the Boston Massacre, 1770
Document 5.8 Account of Captain Thomas Preston, June 25, 1770
Document 5.9 John Adams, Defense of the British Soldiers at Trial, October 1770
Interpret the Evidence
What are the major similarities and differences between the testimonies of William Wyatt and Captain Preston (Documents 5.5 and 5.8)?
How does Revere’s portrayal (Document 5.7) compare with the testimonies of Wyatt (Document 5.5) and Preston (Document 5.8)? Why does he show only white men being shot?
How might the funeral procession (described in Document 5.6) have incited popular sentiment against the British before March 5?
Why does John Adams challenge the eyewitness accounts of the event (Document 5.9)?
What explains the Boston jury’s decision to acquit most of the British soldiers?
Put It in Context
How might the deaths of the five colonists and the outcome of the trial have changed the way patriots and ordinary colonists viewed the British authorities?
What events occurred between March 1770 and March 1774 that heightened the meaning of the Boston Massacre for colonial patriots?
Exploring American HistoriesPrinted Page 170
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