American History - LGs 61-62 Boston Massacre/Tea Party

Why did Parliament send two regiments of British troops to Boston in 1768?

• To get rid of the Massachusetts governor who supported the rebel colonists

• To punish the Bostonians for the Boston Tea Party

• British customs officers thought the colonies were about to rebel and asked Parliament for help

• To punish them for their attacks at the Boston Massacre

When did the Boston Massacre take place?

• February 10, 1763

• March 5, 1770

• December 16, 1773

• July 4, 1776

• September 3, 1783

What was the Boston Massacre and when did it happen?

• A crowd of Boston Colonists attacked a few British soldiers who eventually fired, killing 5 Colonists

• A regiment of redcoats attacked a peaceful crowd of Colonists and the Colonists defended themselves by killing 5 of the redcoats

• The redcoats burned down a town hall meeting with the Colonists trapped inside, killing around 200 colonists

• The Sons of Liberty burned down the redcoats’ barracks with the soldiers trapped inside which killed all but a few of them

How did colonial leaders use the Boston Massacre as propaganda?

• Paul Revere made sure that all sides of the story were given as the news spread around the colonies

• They asked all of the colonists to begin a revolution against the British immediately

• Samuel Adams put up posters describing it as a slaughter of innocent Americans by bloodthirsty redcoats

• They used it to get more people to support geese

How did the Boston Massacre help the colonists’ cause?

• Parliament recalled the British troops back to Britain, put them on trial and ended by executing 10 of the soldiers

• Colonists gave up trying fight the British and began paying their taxes

• Parliament stopped taxing the colonies completely

• Colonists called for more boycotts of British goods and Parliament repealed all of the Townshend Acts taxes except the one on tea

What did the Tea Act of 1773 do?

• Made it illegal for anyone but the British East India Company to sell tea in the colonies

• Gave the colonial legislatures the right to decide how much the new tax on tea would be

• The British East India Company didn’t have to pay the tea tax, which made its tea cheaper than the colonial merchants’ tea

• It finally convinced the colonists that they couldn’t win against Britain

When did the Boston Tea Party take place?

• February 10, 1763

• March 5, 1770

• December 16, 1773

• July 4, 1776

• September 3, 1783

What happened at the Boston Tea Party?

• Colonists, led by Samuel Adams, stole British East India Company tea and threw it into Boston Harbor

• The Boston colonists invited the British troops to a tea party to try and settle their differences

• British troops bought the cheap, British East India Company tea and threw a big party to celebrate all the money they saved

• Colonists stole the British East India Company tea and sold it at a higher price than the colonial merchants’ tea

What were the Coercive Acts?

• Forced all Colonists to buy tea from the British East India Company which was heavily taxed making it much more expensive than tea sold by Colonial Merchants

• Laws passed by Parliament to punish Boston by closing the harbor and ending town hall meetings until the Colonists paid for the tea.

• Forced all Colonists to leave Boston who would not help pay for the stolen British East India Company tea

• Ended all taxes on tea

The brutal killing of a large number of (usually innocent) people

• Massacre

• Harbor

• Propaganda

• Bias

• Customs