This broadside was printed from an engraving created by none other than Paul Revere. It depicts the "Boston Massacre", which occurred on March 5th, 1770. The "evil" and "murderous" expressions on the soldiers, as well as Captain Preston (brandishing his sword) were a sharp contrast to what actually happened that night. However, Revere's engraving served just fine as "anti-British" propaganda. It was intended to infuriate the American colonists into thinking that the British soldiers had "joyfully" fired their muskets into an "innocent" crowd; thus fueling the colonial passion toward joining the Patriot cause against England.
In reality, the British soldiers were heckled and harassed by the gathered colonial mob, and were being pelted with rocks, snow, ice, and hit with sticks as well. One of the soldiers was knocked down in this melee, and when he made it to his feet, was said to have fired into the crowd. Although Captain Preston ordered the men to stand down, and even tried to knock the barrels of the muskets safely out of the way, disorder took over, and the line of British soldiers haphazardly fired into the crowd. This was in sharp contrast to the orderly firing of a volley as depicted in the broadside. Unfortunately, the result was five American colonists killed. Samuel Gray, James Caldwell, Crispus Attucks, Samuel Maverick, and Patric Carr were all victims of the "Boston Massacre".
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| Graves of the Boston Massacre victims (as well as Christopher Snider, an earlier casualty of the conflict); interred in the Granary Burial Ground in Boston |
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