The Boston Massacre was a knife to the gut for colonists and a tipping point in the course of American History. In 1770, Boston was occupied by the British Royal Navy and its people were hit hard by taxes on stamps, tea and molasses for rum. Tensions between the colonists and Great Britain were already, but then on the cold night of March 5, 1770 it reached a fever pitch when several angry colonists pelted the redcoats with snowballs. Outraged, the redcoats grabbed their muskets and fired upon the crowd of protestors. This painting, illustrated by Paul Revere, a silversmith and Son of liberty, used it as propaganda to end the bloody mess and tension between the colonies and England.<\/p>\n
This painting is crucial to understanding what times were like in the colonies, especially with England`s grasp on foreign territory. As you can see, it was anything but a mutual relationship because people fled England due to high taxes and taxation without representation. Much to the dismay of the colonists, Great Britain followed the rebels to New England in order to suck every penny out of them to pay off war debt from the French and Indian War of 1756-1763. This was more of an imperialist approach because Great Britain wanted to conquer the globe, even if it moved a little bit too fast. On the other hand, this massacre could have been a scare tactic on the Americans because Kyle Kelsay’s Post <\/a>says it might have been used to demonstrate Great Britain’s power over the colonies. It definitely worked, for America, because civilians were killed and angered them into declaring war.<\/p>\n It is considered by many to be the driving force behind America’s fight for freedom because it was a small nation against the mighty British Empire. It was a call to arms like none other before. So much so, the Boston Massacre is as the straw that broke the camels back and brought Americans together to fight off this dastardly empire from pushing them further and further under the tight grip of imperialism and King George’s thumb.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n