the boston massacre of march 5, 1770 ~ using...

Bostonian Society ~ Using Images Pg. 1

IntroductionThis teaching kit was designed to provide primarysources about the Boston Massacre that can be in-corporated into the classroom in a variety of waysand for a wide range of grade levels. These sourcescan be used, individually and collectively, to ex-plore this important event leading to the AmericanRevolution as well as the event’s far-reaching legacy.This kit offers a multidisciplinary approach toteaching; it can be used to fulfill requirements inthe (1) History and Social Science, (2) EnglishLanguage Arts and (3) Visual Arts.

The teaching kit can help teachers and studentsstudying: the American Revolution; famousAmerican people such as Paul Revere and CrispusAttucks; issues of bias, propaganda and point ofview in historical documents; art and artists; andBoston and Massachusetts local history.

The Kit includes:VocabularyThe Boston Massacre ~Event and AftermathSelected Teacher BibliographySelected Student BibliographyC l a s s room Activities using the Images and Ti m e l i n e sImage and Background Information

1. The Bloody Massacre, engraving by Paul Revere,1770 (on display in the Old State House)

2. Illustration from William C. Nell’s Colored Patriots of the American Revolution, 1855

3. The Boston Massacre, March 5, 1770, John Bufford’s 1857 chromolithograph of William L. Champney’s 1856 drawing (on displayinthe Old State House)

4. Howard Pyle’s illustration from Harper’sMagazine, 1883

Timelines1. American Revolution: 1765-17762. Abolition of Slavery: 1808-1896

OverviewThe occurrences on King Street the night of March5, 1770 have had a profound influence onAmerican history, politics, and mythology. The les-sons and symbols, as well as the images, of theBloody Massacre were used to foster other impor-tant movements and ideals. The event was echoedin the Declaration of Independence, the UnitedStates Constitution, and the Bill of Rights. It wasmirrored in events such as the shooting of studentsby the National Guard at Kent State. Paul Revere’s1770 engraving of the Boston Massacre visuallyrecords this great historical event. But through thequestions it raises, it also challenges historicaltruths and provides insight into erroneous ideasand propaganda. Images of the Boston Massacrewere created and recreated in the 19th and 20thcenturies. When studied carefully, they reveal cluesabout changing social ideas and ideals in America.

The Boston Massacre of March 5, 1770 ~ Using Images

Vocabulary

Apprentice: a person bound by a legal agreement towork for someone in return for learning a trade orjob

Barracks: buildings used to house soldiers

Bayonet: a knife made to fit the open end of a rifle

Breeches: pants reaching to or just below the knees

Broadside: a large sheet of paper printed with amessage to be publicly posted

Citizen: a person who owes loyalty to and whoreceives protection from a country

C o l o n y : a territory subject to a parent country

Engraving: an image made by cutting or carving apicture into a piece of metal or wood which is thenused with ink to print

Jury: people sworn to listen to evidence and give adecision at a trial

Manslaughter: the killing of a person by anotherwithout intending to cause injury or death

Massacre: the killing of a group of people at onetime

Musket: a long gun, like a rifle, held to the shoul-der when fired

Propaganda: information presented to convincepeople of one point of view

Regiment: a military grouping of soldiers

Sentry: a guard posted in one area to prevent unauthorized people from passing

Symbolism: the use of an object to represent some-thing (i.e. a person, an idea) other than itself

Taunt: to make fun of someone in a disrespectfulway

Taxes: regularly collected money paid to a govern-ment by its people

Tow n h o u s e: the headquarters of Massachusetts colonial government, including the court, and laterthe first Massachusetts State House. It is now theOld State House.

Warrant: a written order allowing someone tomake a search or arrest

Witness: a person who tells at a trial what he has seen or heard about an event


The Boston Massacre was a major event on theroad to the American Colonies’ violent break withthe British government. John Adams, futurePresident of the United States, said of it, “On thatnight the foundation of American independencewas laid.” Echoes of the Boston Massacre are evi-dent in the Declaration of Independence (1776),the Constitution of the United States (1787), andthe Bill of Rights (1791). Its memory has shapedAmerican history and mythology for over two hundred years. Its legacy can be felt even today.

On October 1, 1768, two regiments of Britishtroops — the 14th and 29th — disembarked atLong Wharf, at the foot of King Street (what isnow State Street). Many Bostonians, British citi-zens, were no longer content to pay taxes to acountry that did not allow them a say in theapproval of those taxes. The troops had been sentto Boston to maintain an increasingly threatenedorder. The troops marched up King Street andonto the Common, “as if taking possession of aconquered town.” Close to 2,000 troops would beabsorbed into a town of about 15,000 inhabitants.With soldiers encamped and posted throughoutthe town, disputes and fights broke out almost

immediately.

Two such outbreaks occurred in the weeks prior tothe Boston Massacre, and increasingly strained therelationship between the soldiers and Boston’sinhabitants. On February 22, 1770 a rowdy andviolent crowd gathered around the home ofEbenezer Richardson, a known loyalist andinformer. When the townspeople starting throwingrocks and damaging his property, Richardson firedhis gun into the crowd and killed Christopher

Seider, a 11 year old boy who was in the crowd.Radical patriots turned the tragedy into a politicalrally, and over 2,000 people attended the boy’sfuneral. On March 2, 1770, a fight broke out atthe ropewalks between a soldier looking for workand the ropewalkers. Forty soldiers joined the fight,but the ropewalkers ultimately drove them off.The next day, soldiers and ropewalkers engaged in another scuffle, further escalating the alreadyheightened tension in Boston.

Boston in 1770 had no street lamps. Monday,March 5th, was a cold and moonlit night. Up toa foot of frozen snow lay on the ground. Private

Hugh White was the lone sentry on guard at theCustom House on King Street. What began astaunting between White and several young appren-tices soon escalated to violence. After striking oneof the young boys on the head with his musket,White found himself surrounded, pelted with curs-es, snowballs and chunks of ice.

At about the same time, bells began to ringthroughout the town. Bells at night meant fire,a disaster for the wooden-built town. Men andboys poured into the streets as shouts of “Fire”were heard. As more colonists gathered on KingStreet, taunting the sentry and daring him to fight,White began to fear for his life. He fixed his bayo-net, loaded his musket, and called for the mainguard in the barracks beside the Town House (Old State House). Although the troops could notforcefully disperse the gathered townspeople with-out civilian authority, they could defend them-selves. Captain Thomas Preston marched out a rescue party of seven Grenadiers, the biggest menin the Regiment.

Preston, Corporal William Wemms, and six pri-vates – Carroll, Kilroy, Warren, Montgo-mery,Hartigan, and McCauley – marched to the sentrybox with empty muskets but fixed bayonets. Whitethen joined the ranks. Preston was unable to marchthe eight soldiers back to the barracks because ofthe threatening crowd, armed with sticks, swords,rocks, ice and snow. The troops formed a defensivesemi-circle in front of the Custom House stairs.While some among the crowd pleaded withCaptain Preston to keep his soldiers calm and notto fire, others dared the soldiers to fire. Sticks andbayonets dueled. The taunting colonists thoughtthe soldiers would not fire.

Crispus Attucks, a tall sailor and former slave ofmixed African and Native American descent, triedto wrench a gun out of one of the soldier’s hands.Private Hugh Montgomery was hit with a stickand fell; on rising he fired his musket. Someone

shouted, “Fire,” and more shots rang out in anuncontrolled volley. Private Kilroy fired withoutaiming and hit ropemaker Samuel Gray in thehead. Two bullets struck Attucks in the chest.Sailor James Caldwell was shot in the middle ofKing Street. Samuel Maverick, an apprentice to an ivory turner, was at the top of King Street nearthe Town House when he caught a bouncing bulletin the chest; he would die several hours later.Patrick Carr, a maker of leather breeches, was shotin the hip. He would die on March 14th, the fifthand final person to die as a result of the Massacre.Six other colonists were wounded.

Rushing from his No rth End home, Acting Gove r n o rThomas Hutchinson arrived and addressed thecrowds from the balcony of the Town House. He


The Boston Massacre ~ The Event and Aftermath

urged everyone to go home, stating, “The law shallhave its course; I will live and die by the law.” Awarrant was issued for Captain Preston, who wasimmediately taken into custody. The eight soldierssurrendered the next morning and were sent to jail.Preston and the eight accused soldiers stayed in jailfor almost nine months before their trials. Publicopinion was against them and they could find noone to represent them. John Adams, who finallyaccepted the case, said that “Council ought to bethe very last thing an accused Person should want[lack] in a free country.”

The soldiers were tried before the Superior Courtof Judicature, the highest court in Massachusetts.The trials, one for Preston and one for his men,were two of the longest in colonial times. Amongthe “firsts” in the trials were the allowance ofdeath-bed testimony (that of Patrick Carr) and theuse of the phrase “reasonable doubt.” The judgealso allowed the jury to find either for murder orthe lesser offense of manslaughter. When PrivatesMontgomery and Kilroy were found guilty ofmanslaughter, they escaped the death penalty butwere branded on the thumb. The other soldierswere found not guilty.In the immediate aftermath of the trials, passionscooled considerably. Colonial newspapers, broad-sides, and public speeches, however, continued toreflect the opinion that the soldiers were to blamefor the fatal events of March 5. From the firstanniversary of the Massacre, it was rememberedthroughout the colonies with speeches, declara-tions, and public displays. A simplistic and prima-rily erroneous view of the Massacre as an assaultupon innocent citizens by wicked soldiers was usedagain and again. Today, the many questions raisedby the Boston Massacre are as relevant as they werein 1770.


Selected Teacher Bibliography

Allison, Robert J. The Boston Massacre Beverly, MA:Commonwealth Editions, 2006.

Bourne, Russell. Cradle of Violence: How Boston'sWaterfront Mobs Ignited the Ameri-can Revolution.Hoboken, NJ: Wiley and Sons, Inc., 2006.

Butterfield, L.H., Marc Friedlaender, and Mary-JoKline, eds. The Book of Abigail and John: SelectedLetters of the Adams Family, 1762-1784. Cambridge,MA: Harvard University Press, 1975.

Chinard, Gilbert. Honest John Adams. Magnolia,MA: Peter Smith, 1990.

Ellis, Joseph J. Passionate Sage: The Charac-ter andLegacy of John Adams. New York: Norton, 1993.

Ferling, John E. John Adams: A Life. Knoxville, TN:University of Tennessee Press, 1992.

Fischer, David Hackett. Paul Revere’s Ride. NewYork: Oxford University Press, 1994.

Forbes, Esther. Paul Revere and the World He LivedIn. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1942; Reprint1992.

Fowler, William M. Jr., Samuel Adams: RadicalPuritan. New York: Addison-Wesley, 1997.

Langguth, A.J., Patriots: The Men Who Started theAmerican Revolution. Simon & Schuster, 1991

Paul Revere, Artisan, Businessman and Patriot: TheMan Behind the My t h . Boston: Paul Re ve reMemorial Association, 1988. (Available at the PaulRevere House)

Paul Revere in Primary Sources. Boston: Paul RevereMemorial Association, 1997. (Available at the PaulRevere House)

Triber, Jayne. A True Republican: The Life of PaulRevere. Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press,1998.

Young, Alfred F. The Shoemaker and the Tea Party:Me m o ry and the American Re volution. B o s t o n :Beacon Press, 1999.

Zobel, Hiller B. The Boston Massacre. New York:Norton, 1970.

Selected Student Bibliography

Brandt, Keith. Paul Revere: Son of Liberty. TrollAssociates, 1982.*

Brill, Marlene. John Adams: Second President of theUnited States. Children’s Press, 1989.

Dwyer, Frank. John Adams. Chelsea House, 1989.**

Fredmand, Lionel E. and Gerald Kurland. JohnAdams: American Revolutionary Leader and President.SamHar Press, 1973.**

Forbes, Esther. Am e r i c a’s Paul Re ve re. Re - p r i n t .Marshall Cavendish, 1991.**

Gleiter, Jan and Kathleen Thompson. Paul Revere.Raintree Steck-Vaughn, 1995.*

Hakin, Joy. History of US 3: From Colonies toCountry. Oxford University Press, 1993; Revised2007.**

Lukes Bonnie. The Boston Massacre (Famous TrialsSeries). Lucent Books, 1998.**

Millender, Dharathula. Crispus Attucks: Black Leaderof Colonial Patriots. Reprint. Macmil-lan, 1986.*

Phelen, Mary Kay. The Story of the Boston Massacre.Thomas Y. Crowell, 1976.**

Rinaldi, Ann. The Fifth of March: A Story of theBoston Massacre. New York: Harcourt, 1993.**

Santrey Laurence. John Adams, Brave Patriot. TrollCommunications, 1986.*

Stevenson, Augusta. Paul Revere: Boston Patriot.Macmillan, 1986.*

* appropriate for use with younger children** appropriate for use with older children/adults


Classroom Activities

Timeline:1. Remove certain dates and/or events from the time

line. Have your students fill in the time line usingtheir textbook and/or knowledge of the time period

2. Pick one of the four images. Ha ve your students study the timeline that is re l e vant to that image.

Ask them to answer the following questions:a. When was the image cre a t e d ?b. What else was happening in the colonies/

United States around that time? Make a listof these eve n t s .

c. What impact do you think these other e vents had on how the artist chose to depict the Boston Ma s s a c re?

Think about:i. Re ve re’s Engraving: The relationship

b e t ween the colonists and the soldiers as a result of these events; the actions of the British government and the colonists’ re a c -t i o n s .ii. Nell, Bu f f o rd, and Py l e’s Images: The

tension between the No rthern and Southern states; the issue of slave ry and thelaws made re g a rding slaves; the abolitionist m ove m e n t

6

Image:1. The Role of Propaganda:

Break the class into groups and have each group choose one of the four drawings.

a. Write a testimonial about what happened during the Boston Massacre, using only the drawing.

Things to include: i. What actions were taken by the colonists?

The British soldiers? ii. How would you describe these actions (i.e.

aggressive, kind, violent)? iii. The setting (buildings, weather, time of

day) in which the Massacre took place (4) What emotions are depicted on the faces of the colonists? On those of the British soldiers?

iv. How many soldiers are depicted? Howmany colonists?

b. As a class, read the summary of the Boston Massacre included in this packet. Then giveeach group time to re-read their testimonial. Ask them to consider: How does their testi-monial differ from the summary? How is it similar? If differences exist, why do they thinkthat the drawing was not completely accurate?

Think about: Propaganda: what it is and why people create it. What examples of propaganda can they find in the drawing they selected?ii. When was the illustration created? What historical events occurred around that time?

2. Compare/ContrastHave your students choose two of the four images.

a. Using the following chart on page 8, ask themto compare and contrast the two images.

Things to consider: i. the actions of the colonists ii. the actions of the British soldiers iii. the setting; buildings, weather, time of dayiv. the number of soldiers/colonists

b. If differences exist between the two images, why do you think this is so?

Think about:i. Propaganda: what is it and why do people

create itii. Is each image a piece of propaganda? If yes,

how so?iii. When was each illustration created?iv. What historical events occurred around

that time?

4. Persuasive EssayAsk your students to think of an issue that is significant to them (i.e. favorite animal; favorite flavor of ice cream) or of a time where they felt that they were wrongly accused for something they did not do. Have them write a persuasiveessay or speech about this topic.


Image continued:3. Create Your Own

Ask your students to think of an event in their lives that is significant to them. They will draw their own representation of this event so that other people can understand their point of view of this experience. Be f o re they start, provide them with the following questions to help them plan:a. What happened during this event?b. How did you feel at the time? How can you

express these emotions in the drawing (sym-bols, facial expressions)?

c. Who would you like to see this drawing?How do you plan to grab their attention?

d. Do you think other people who were at the event that you are drawing might have a dif=f e rent opinion than you about what happened?Why or why not?

These are all questions that the creators of the piecesyou’ve studied would need to consider. Now you canstart drawing!


Image 1differences

Similarities between Image 1

and image 2

Image 2differences

Compare and Contrast Images


Paul Revere (1734-1818) was a silversmith, en-graver, cartoonist, copper worker, bell caster, dentist,and patriot who spend his whole life in Boston.Before and during the American Revolution he wasa courier for the Massachusetts Committee ofCorrespon-dence. He is perhaps best known for his“midnight ride” of April 18, 1775, to warn colonialpatriots that the British soldiers were marchingtowards Lexington, Massachusetts. Revere lived withhis family in a house in the north end of Boston.The house, circa 1680, still stands and can be visit-ed today.

Revere based his engraving of the Boston Massacreon an image by Henry Pelham (1749-1806), a por-trait and miniature painter, engraver, map maker,and half-brother of artist John Singleton Copley.Pelham was 21 years old when he created his mas-sacre image, “The Fruits of Arbitrary Power,” ofwhich two known copies have survived. His imagedid not go on sale until April 2, 1770, several weeksafter Revere’s version was stirring up the colonies.

Engraving is a printing process in which an image iscut or carved into a wooden block or metal plate.Ink is then applied to the block or plate to create theimage on paper; color is added only after printing.Revere engraved “The Bloody Massacre” on a cop-per plate that was saved and reused to print curren-cy for Massachusetts in 1776. At this time the topand the bottom of the plate were cut off. After theMassachusetts bills were replaced, the plate wasdefaced but saved, as all currency plates were. Theplate survives today, and was used as recently as1970 to create Massacre prints.

Paul Revere’s Massacre print is the image most peo-ple associate with the event; it is often found in text-books and encyclopedias. The Town House (OldState House), adorned with the lion and unicorn,symbols of British authority; is prominently placedat the head of King Street (now State Street).Revere’s inclusion of the Town House, as a symbol oforder and control, provides a sharp contrast to theviolence and chaos that occurred right outside itsdoors. Many aspects of the print coincide with wit-nesses’ statements about that night. Revere shows awoman in the crowd; at least one woman was pres-ent in the street that night. Astronomical calcula-tions have re-vealed that Revere placed the moon inthe correct location and made it approximately theright shape. He even created shadows on the build-ings on the left, consistent with the moon’s location.

Other components of the image are not substantiat-ed by eye witness accounts. The sign “ButchersHall” never adorned the Custom House. Snow, upto a foot and well trampled, should cover theground. A careful examination of the print reveals afiring gun in the second floor window of theCustom House. The only witness to recall seeingthis was later found guilty of perjury. Revere alsoincluded a dog at the center front of his engraving,though why he did is unclear. Some historiansbelieve he used the dog as a symbol to suggest thatdue to the deteriorating relationship between Britainand the colonists in Boston, everything was “goingto the dogs.” Others think that Revere sought toimply the peaceful nature of the colonists by sug-gesting that one victims of the Massacre was outwalking his dog that night.

Central to the image is the confrontation betweenthe soldiers and the colonists. Revere has only eightsoldiers (the captain and seven of his men) involvedin the fracas; nine soldiers were actually in the streetthat night. Even though witnesses recalled CaptainPreston standing in front of his men, Revere depictshim standing behind his men with a raised sword,ordering them to fire. The colonists appear defense-less and unarmed, although witnesses mentionedseeing colon-ists use sticks, clubs, snow, ice and clamshells as weapons that night. The five dead anddying victims are clearly shown, however, CrispusAttucks is missing from the engraving; all of the vic-tims are white.

Revere is responsible for the verses engraved in theimage. His use of certain words betrays his intentionthat the image incite Bostonians, and Americancolonists in general, to rebel against Great Britain.He is not responsible for the copious amounts ofblood in the scene, nor the use of the same red colorfor both the blood and the British soldier’s jackets.Each copy of Revere’s image was hand colored, dif-ferently, by someone else.

The Bloody Massacre Perpetuated in King Street, Boston. Engraving by Paul Revere, 1770.


The Bloody Massacre Perpetuated in King Street, Boston. Engraving by Paul Revere, 1770.

William Cooper Nell, born in Boston in 1816, wasan author, journalist, and historian. He was thefirst African-American to publish a collection ofblack biographies. He was also the first African-American to earn a Federal position: he worked asa clerk in the Boston post office from 1861 untilhis death in 1874. As an abolitionist active in theUnderground Railroad, he worked with bothFrederick Douglass and William Lloyd Garrison.Although he studied law, Nell did not apply to thebar because he refused to take an oath to aConstitution that did not recognize the rights ofslaves. He believed strongly in civil rights and cam-paigned to abolish separate schools inMassachusetts for black children. In 1851 Nellattempted, unsuccessfully, to have a monumentbuilt to Crispus Attucks, whom he considered thefirst martyr to the American Revolution. Nell wassuccessful in convincing the city of Boston to cele-brate an annual Crispus Attucks Day, which startedin 1858, was revived by William Monroe Trotter,and is celebrated each year.

In 1855 William C. Nell published The ColoredPatriots of the American Revolution, in which thisillustration is the frontispiece. The book includesan introduction by noted abolitionist HarrietBeecher Stowe, author of Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Nelltook the stories in his book from personalaccounts, cemetery records, and his own research.

The names of the image’s engravers, Daniel T.Smith and Paul R. B. Pierson, are seen at the bot-tom of the image, below the hat. “Smith-Pierson”were engravers in Boston from 1855-1856.Whether the engravers or another artist drew thispicture of the Boston Massacre is unclear.

Based on the number of bayonets present, the artisthas depicted far more soldiers than the nine thatwere on the street the night of March 5th.Furthermore, the British soldiers are lined up intwo rows, and Preston is shown urging his men tofire; according to witnesses neither of these thingsoccurred. The artist depicts the colonists in defen-sive postures, unarmed, walking sticks on theground and hands raised in protection. Witnesses,however, described seeing colonists taunting thesoldiers, daring them to fire, armed with clubs,snow, ice and clam shells. Though the artist focus-es on the human emotions of the event rather thanthe setting (buildings, weather) in which it tookplace, we can see the top of the Town House (OldState House) in the background, obscured bysmoke. Crispus Attucks is in the forefront, centralto the artist’s illustration and Nell’s story.


Frontispiece Illustration from William C. Nell’s Colored Patriots of the American Revolution, 1855


Frontispiece Illustration from William C. Nell’s Colored Patriots of the American Revolution, 1855

John Henry Bufford was a lithographer, draftsman,and publisher of prints. He was born in Ports-mouth, New Hampshire in 1810. Bufford workedin New York City from 1835-1839, and in Bostonfrom 1840-1870 where he worked both for otherfirms and in his own establishment. He was theforemost lithographic printer in Boston from 1845until his death in 1870, known for works depictingtown views in both New York and New England.An 1867 Boston advertisement lists his firm asowning “the only steam power lithographic pressesin the New England states.” Among the men whoapprenticed with Bufford was painter WinslowHomer.

Lithography is printing technology, invented inGermany in 1798, based on the chemical repel-lence of oil and water. Unlike an engraving, theprinting and non-printing areas of the lithographplate are all at the same level. Designs are drawn or painted with greasy ink or crayon onto the prepared surface (usually limestone; “lith” means“stone”). The stone is moistened with water, whichseeps into the areas of the stone not touched bythe paint or ink. An oily ink, applied with a roller,sticks only to the image and is repelled by the wetareas of the stone. A print is then made by pressingpaper against the inked drawing. To make a colorimage (chromolithography) multiple stones areused, one for each color, and the print goesthrough the press one time for each stone; theprint has to be lined up exactly each time.

This chromolithograph of the Boston Massacre isbased on a drawing by William L. Champney, anillustrator active in the mid-nineteenth century. It

is marked “J.H.BUFFORD LITH 313 WASHIN-TON ST BOSTON” in the bottom right corner.Note the lion and the unicorn, symbols of GreatBritain, clearly depicted on the Town House (OldState House) in the background. There is no snowon the ground, and the sky appears to be one oflate afternoon, rather than a cold moonlit night.Bufford shows people firing into the crowds fromthe balconies, including the one on the rightmarked “Custom House.” The only witness whomentioned firing from this location was later found guilty of perjury. He shows eight soldiers in the street, not the nine that witnesses recalled.Captain Preston is on the ground, caught betweenthe soldiers and the colonists. Bufford also putcolonists on both sides of the soldiers who, accord-ing to witness statements, should be formed intoa semi-circle close to the Custom House stairs.Bufford does however, depict the colonists as clear-ly armed with clubs and sticks, and angrilyresponding to, or instigating, the British attack.He also illustrates the large crowd of colonists

that were present; the faint outline of tricorn hatscontinues behind the gun smoke, all the way tothe Town House. Crispus Attucks takes center

stage in this image, although it is difficult to tellwhether he dying from a bayonet wound or gun-shots. According to the coroner, Attucks (knownthen as Michael Johnson) was killed by two gun-shots to the chest. Bufford’s placement of Attucksas the focal point of the chomolithograph, as wellas his depiction of the colonists, offer clues abouthis reason for creating these print. Rather than seek to victimize the colonists in the viewer’s eyes,as Paul Revere had done so successfully, Buffordaimed to portray Attucks, a run away slave, as a

hero and a martyr in the struggle for Americanindependence. He created this work at the heightof the Abolitionist movement in Boston and theUnited States.


Boston Massacre, March 5, 1770. Chromolithograph by John H. Bufford, 1857, from a drawing by William L. Champney, 1856


Boston Massacre, March 5, 1770. Chromolithograph by John H. Bufford, 1857, from a drawing by William L. Champney, 1856

Howard Pyle was a painter, illustrator, and authorwho was born in Wilmington, Delaware in 1853.He wrote many books, which he also illustrated,for children and young adults, including TheMerry Adventures of Robin Hood and The Storyof King Arthur and His Knights. He also taughtart; among his students was N. C. Wyeth. Electeda member of the National Academy of Design,Pyle died in 1911.

Pyle was interested in pictures as drama, full ofhuman emotions. He had a strong interest inAmericana and American history. His depictions of Revolutionary War and Civil War scenes arefound in many history books today.

Howard Pyle wrote articles and created illustrationsfor several issues of Harper’s Magazine. This imageof the Boston Massacre was included in a generalarticle on the American Revolution. He places thescene in a very rural setting, complete with trees.Consistent with eyewitness accounts, he showssnow on the ground, and a cold winter wind. Hewas concerned with accurately depicting the uni-forms of the soldiers and the clothes of the colonistand sailors in the street. He correctly shows the sol-diers dressed as grenadiers, the biggest men in theregiment, wearing their bearskins (hats). But theversion of the hat he drew is actually from theSeven Years or French and Indian War and wasoutdated by the time of the Boston Massacre.Interestingly, Pyle’s version shows the soldiers onthe left and the colonists on the right, the scene asit would have been seen from the Town House.Most other depictions of the Boston Massacre havethe Town House in the background. His depictionof Crispus Attucks is similar to that of William C.

Nell’s frontispiece illustration; a colonist gentlysupports the dying Attucks, while raising his handin protection. The retreating positions of thecolonists, however, as well as the stoic faces andunmoving stances of the British as they watch thecolonists leave, suggest that Pyle sought to illustratethe dramatic conclusion of the Massacre.Furthermore, the soldier with his gun raised doesnot appear to be firing; it’s as if he making sure acolonist does not turn around and strike, thoughhe could be aiming to kill. Given that Pyle createdthis illustration over one hundred years after theBoston Massacre, and about twenty years after theend of the American Civil War, it seems possiblethat he was driven less by a political agenda than aromantic desire to recreate for Harper’s readers thisdramatic event that by his time was an integral partto the United States’ history.


Howard Pyle’s Illustration from Harper’s Magazine, August 1883


Howard Pyle’s Illustration from Harper’s Magazine, August 1883

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