1. Jeff Heilman
History 1700
Essay 1 Draft 3
“The Boston Massacre”
The events of March 5, 1770 should be remembered as
significant,foreshadowing, pivotal, and expected. Maybe not that night
orcityspecifically, but the situation in Boston, if not throughout The English
Colonies, had deteriorated to the point that“British troops found themselves
regularly pelted with stones, dirt, and human excrement”. 1 The opinions and
emotions of either side were no secret.Even though two such eyewitness‟
express clear blame for the opposing side, they do so only in difference of
detail. The facts of the event unfold the same regardless. „The Incident of King
Street‟ was a tragic inevitability.
We have documents from the „Boston Massacre‟ trial, which help us to
observe from completely different perspectives. The depositions of Captain
Preston, an English officer, and Robert Goddard, a Colonist,give quite different
details. Despite these differences, they still both describe the same situation. If
we combine them to find and remove differences, we find that both stories are
nothing but two different observations of the same event.
Captain Preston‟s account opens in the middle of a very volatile
situation. His men lined up behind him, bayonets fixed and weapons loaded,
1
Experience History Volume 1, Ch. 6,The Boston Massacre, P. 150, Par. 1
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2. Jeff Heilman
History 1700
Essay 1 Draft 3
the Captain tries to persuade the mob to leave peaceably. Goddard seems to
echo the same situation, with a more negative picture of the Captain who “told
the Boys to go home lest there should be murder done”2. Goddard also recalls a
major detail concerning the Captain. Goddard places the Captainbehind his
men. This directly contradicts the Captains statement that he was in front of
his men. He established his physical position again, when he tried to dissuade
fears in the crowd, explaining that the soldiers couldn‟t fire. “observing to them
that I was advance before the muzzles of the men’s pieces, and must fall
sacrifice if they fired.”3
While they both talk of the snowballs being thrown, Goddard‟s account
has no mentionof clubs, or bludgeons. Regardless, the situation falls apart
more rapidly. Both accounts talk of a single gun being fired. Goddard says it
was on the order of Preston, but Preston states it was without his order. At that
point the crowd became enraged and started to attack by throwing more clubs
and snowballs.
Somewhere in the moments after the first shot, both agree that the
Captain was struck in the arm. That moment is when Goddard claims Preston
gave the order to fire. And The Captain maintains he never gave that order.
Although he does acknowledge that he questioned who fired, and gave orders
2
Experience History, Dueling Documents, Document 2- Deposition of Robert Goddard
3
Experience History, Dueling Documents, Document-1 Deposition of Captain Preston
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3. Jeff Heilman
History 1700
Essay 1 Draft 3
of, “don’t fire”4or “stop firing”5. The only variance of the testimony here is
whether or not they all fired at once or sporadically in groups. What is not
disputed is that the soldiers began firing into the crowd. The crowd then
dispersed.
After reviewing both accounts, Robert Goddard‟s reveals some details
which do not seem to be reasonable. He states, “I was so near the officer when
he gave the word fire, that I could touch him” 6. If Capt. Preston had been behind
his men, as Goddard had earlier stated, how does he touch him from bayonet,
rifle, and soldier‟s length away? Furthermore, he agrees that someone struck
Capt. Preston. Once again it stretches imagination to think a person could get
behind the soldiers to attack Capt. Preston, unless the crowd had rushed the
line, making the whole situation much less benign than the snowball throwing
Goddard described. It must be stated that even with these points being brought
forward, they prove nothing. Two men on opposite sides of anger, hate, fear,
blood and death will not see the same details. From these two documents it
cannot be claimed that either man mislead on purpose.
In his closing argument to the jury, John Adams, serving as defense
council for The British said, "Facts are stubborn things," he concluded, "and
4
Experience History, Dueling Documents, Document-1 Deposition of Captain Preston
5
Experience History, Dueling Documents, Document-1 Deposition of Captain Preston
6
Experience History, Dueling Documents, Document 2- Deposition of Robert Goddard
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4. Jeff Heilman
History 1700
Essay 1 Draft 3
whatever may be our inclinations, or the dictums of our passions, they cannot
alter the state of facts and evidence."7
When we remove passions and individual inclinations, we can draw facts
from the two different versions of the same event. There was an angry gathering
of Colonialists. The British soldiers arrived to disperse the crowd, and some
form of dialogue was had between the Captain and some of the colonists. A
single shot was fired into the crowd, just before an attack on the captain. At
that moment the soldiers opened fire on the crowd.While it seems over
simplified, it does tell how events progressed.
There very well may be lies, omissions, and extra elaborations, in
addition to the fallible human memory. However, we still are able to get agreed
facts of the event. These facts point to a situation that was bound to happen in
The Colonies. Emotionally charged Colonists who felt cheated and bullied by
The Crown of England, and the Soldiers charged by the same Crown to keep
those subjectssuppressed. Two wills collided on King Street in Boston that
night, and the proverbial „powder keg‟ got its spark that evening in Boston. Any
other result would have been to deny destiny.
7
Linder, Douglas. Famous American Trials, Boston Massacre, Key Figures, John Adams
http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/bostonmassacre/keyfigures.html
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5. Jeff Heilman
History 1700
Essay 1 Draft 3
Bibliography
Davidson, James West, et al. Experience History, Interpreting Americas Past, Volume 1. McGraw Hill,
2011.
Linder, Douglas. "Boston Massacre Trial, Depositions." n.d. Famous American Trials. 02 2012.
<http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/bostonmassacre/bostonmassacre.html>.
—. "Boston Massacre Trial, Key figures." n.d. Famous American trials. 02 2012.
<http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/bostonmassacre/keyfigures.html>.
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