User:Ncaggiano8/Boston Massacre

Lead: Editing the Article.
=== Actual Article body: On the evening of March 5, Private Hugh White stood on guard duty outside the Boston Custom House on King Street (today known as State Street). A wigmaker's apprentice, approximately 13 years old, named Edward Garrick called out to Captain-Lieutenant John Goldfinch, accusing him of refusing to pay a bill due to Garrick's master. Goldfinch had settled the account the previous day, and ignored the insult. Private White called out to Garrick that he should be more respectful of the officer, and the two men exchanged insults. Garrick then started poking Goldfinch in the chest with his finger; White left his post, challenged the boy, and struck him on the side of the head with his musket. Garrick cried out in pain, and his companion Bartholomew Broaders began to argue with White which attracted a larger crowd. Henry Knox was a 19-year old bookseller who later served as a general in the revolution; he came upon the scene and warned White that, "if he fired, he must die for it." ===

Edit Body: Late afternoon on March 5th, Private Hugh White stood on guard duty outside the Boston Custom House on King Street (which is known as State Street today). A 13 year old wigmaker's apprentice, named Edward Garrick called out to Captain-Lieutenant John Goldfinch, accusing him of refusing to pay a bill due to Garrick's master. He had not paid for the services that he had asked for. Garrick was not happy about the idea of Goldfinch trying to leave without giving his payment. Goldfinch had settled the account the previous day, and ignored the insult. Private White called out to Garrick that he should be more respectful of the officer, and the two men exchanged insults. Garrick did not feel that what he had said came off as disrespectful. Garrick then started poking Goldfinch in the chest with his finger; White left his post, challenged the boy, and struck him on the side of the head with his musket. White got tired of the disrespect and called Garrick out to a manly fight, which essentially was a 1 on 1. Garrick cried out in pain, and his companion Bartholomew Broaders began to argue with White which attracted a larger crowd. Henry Knox was a 19-year old bookseller who later served as a general in the revolution; he came upon the scene and warned White that, "if he fired, he must die for it." With that statement being made, the events of the massacre where thrown into place. Knox did not want White to fire his weapon, although the crowd that brewed were egging them on to pull the trigger. Actual Article Body: In the days and weeks following the incident, a propaganda battle was waged between Boston's Patriots and Loyalists. Both sides published pamphlets that told strikingly different stories, which were principally published in London in a bid to influence opinion there. The Boston Gazette 's version of events, for example, characterized the massacre as part of an ongoing scheme to "quell a Spirit of Liberty", and harped on the negative consequences of quartering troops in the city Edited Article Body: In the time following the incident, lots of battle propaganda was put out for the people to see. This was between the Patriots and the Loyalists, which both sides would publish pamphlets that told very different stories in regards to the incident. In London however, it was published in a attempt to influence the opinion of the people. The Boston Gazette had a version of the story where the massacre was characterized as a part of a scheme that was called "The Quell a Spirit of Liberty", and it really harped on the negatives of troops in the city. Addition Body: There was a pretty big prelude to the massacre. In the sense that tensions began to run very high in the early 1770s. There was more than 2,000 British soldiers occupying the city. In the city there was only 16,000 colonists. They were trying to enforce new taxes in which the people did not agree with, let alone did they want to pay for these ridiculously high tax prices. In a point in February, there was a disagreement that led to shots being fired and a poor 11 year old kid was killed, which enraged the people. A few days later, a fight broke out between a patriot and a loyalist, which led to bloodshed. This story would play a role as it would be just the beginning of what is to come when it comes to the massacre. In a way this set up the massacre, with many minor events like this occurring leading up to the Boston massacre.