Boston Massacre Term Paper

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Boston Massacre

The initial cause of the Boston Massacre is a mystery because the testimonies of the witnesses conflict with each other in several areas. The testimonies presented do not seem to support the fact that Thomas Preston was guilty as charged. If anything, these testimonies serve to prove that there is more to eyewitness accounts than meets the eye.

Captain Preston's deposition leads us to believe that the mob was definitely aggressive toward the soldiers. They were, in his opinion, encouraging the soldiers to fire. Preston claims he was in between the mob and the soldiers urging them to resolve the matter peacefully, "but to no purpose" (81). The mob was closing in on the soldiers, striking them and their weapons. At this point, he claims that someone asked him in the mob if he intended to order the soldiers to fire. His reply is a staunch no, and he points out that he could very well become a victim of such action. He also points out that that ordering them to fire would prove him not to be an officer because the soldiers were "upon the half cock" (81). His deposition then states that an officer, who had just been struck with a stick, "instantly fired" (81). In retaliation, the mob attacked the soldiers with clubs and snowballs. The captain stresses that he felt their lives were in "imminent danger" (81). The crowd again urged the soldiers to fire, upon which three or four of them did. He claims that the soldiers told him that they heard the word fire and assumed that he said it. His story is that he was saying "Don't fire" and "Stop firing" (81). Since the captain does not mention a time, we can only gauge by other testimony when this incident occurred.

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Ebeneezer Hinkley's. His testimony completely contradicts Preston's deposition in that someone ordered the soldiers, "Fire upon 'em damn em" (82). He heard the word fire and in fifteen seconds, he (presumably Montgomery) fired. "I am pretty positive the Capt. bid 'em Prime and load" (82). What is significant about his testimony is that he is "pretty sure" about what he heard as opposed to being completely sure about what he heard. He was not especially close to the captain, so his perspective could be skewed. Peter Cunningham also heard the command to "prime and load" (83). He says that Preston ordered this; however, he also admits that Preston's back was to him when he heard these words. Cunningham was relatively close to the captain, so what he heard might be correct. However, his testimony should be viewed with caution in that he could not see Preston's face to be absolutely sure that it was indeed Preston who ordered the command.

William Wyatt's testimony seems critical because he claims he heard the captain order the soldiers to stop firing. He also heard the crowd urging the soldiers to fire. Additionally, he hears an officer, not Captain Preston, say fire. In fact, he says the soldiers "took no notice" of this statement (83). The same officer repeats fire twice more, and on the third repeat, Wyatt heard shots. He then says that the captain "damn'd them for firing and reprimanded them" (83). His testimony is critical because it supports Preston's deposition. However, his testimony loses some of its credibility because he was so far away from the actual….....

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