HISTORICAL WALKING TOURS | BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS
  • Freedom Trail Tour
    • The Boston Massacre Tour
    • Boston Civil War Tour
    • The Kennedy Tour
    • The Boston Massacre Lesson Plan
    • Paul Revere's Neighborhood
    • Paul Revere's Row to Charlestown 4/18/1775
    • Virtual Tour of the Massachusetts State House
    • The Boston Massacre per the Pennsylvania Gazette
    • Paul Revere Lesson Plan
  • Revere Bells Index
    • The Stickney Revere Bell Listings of 1976
    • Paul Revere Bell of Beverly
    • Revere Bells in Boston >
      • Paul Revere Bell Old South Meeting House
    • California's 2 Paul Revere Bells
    • Paul Revere & Son's Bell Westborough Massachusetts
    • Falmouth, Massachusetts
    • Revere Bell Fredericksburg VA
    • Revere Bell Hampton NH
    • First Parish Church of Kennebunk
    • Revere Bells in Maine
    • Revere Bell in Mansfield
    • Revere Bell of Michigan
    • Revere Salem Mass Bell
    • Roxbury First Unitariarn Universalist Church and their Revere Bell
    • Revere & Son Bell, Savannah Georgia
    • Singapore Revere Bell
    • Tuscaloosa Bell >
      • History of the St John and Leavens Patriarchs
      • Samuel St John Jr Estate Genealogy
      • Authenticating the Revere Tuscaloosa Bell
      • Joshua B Leavens Last Will and Testament
      • 20th Century Tuscaloosa bell
    • Revere Bells Lost in Time
    • Revere Bells Washington DC
    • Revere Bell in Wakefield, Mass
    • Revere Bells Woodstock VT
  • Bostonians
    • Edward F Alexander of The Harvard 20th Civil War Regiment
    • Polly Baker
    • John Wilkes Booth
    • The Mad Hatter, Thomas, Boston Corbett who Killed John Wilkes Booth
    • Richard-Henry-Dana-Jr
    • James Franklin
    • Benjamin Harris of Publick Occurrences
    • Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.
    • William Lloyd Garrison
    • USS Thomas Hudner DDG116
    • Edward Hutchinson Robbins Revere
    • Amos Lincoln
    • King Philip
    • Mayor's of Boston
    • Mum Bett & Theodore Sedgwick
    • James Otis
    • Paul Joseph Revere
    • John Rowe >
      • John Rowe's Diary Entries
      • John Rowe's Dinner Party
      • John Rowe and the Jail Fire
      • Hang John Rowe?????
      • John Rowe the Fisherman
      • Joh Rowe's Tea Ship
    • Be Proud to be Called a Lucy Stoner
    • Rachel Wall , Pirate
    • Paul Revere the Coroner of Boston
    • Deborah Sampson
    • Who was Mrs. Silence Dogood?
    • Dr. Joseph Warren's Dedication
  • History Blog
  • Lilja's of Natick
    • Lilja Brothers Military History
    • Lilja's Family Album
    • Memorials and Tributes to the Five Lilja Brothers
    • Lilja Family Tree
    • Lilja Historical Family Tree Documents
    • Lilja References
  • Collage of Boston
    • 4th of July Parade, Bristol RI
    • Boston Harbor
    • The Customs House
    • Forest Hills Cemetery
    • Georges Island
    • Nonviolent Monument to Peace - Sherborn
    • The Battle Road
    • Skate bike and scooter park
    • Cassin Young & USS Cassin Young
    • MIT
    • Historic Charles River
    • The Roxbury Standpipe on Fort Hill
    • John & Abigail Adams National Park
Picture

The Boston Massacre lesson plan

                                                                      The Boston Massacre March 5, 1770, 9:05 P.M.
                                                                                               
Audience:
Eighth grade or higher
For one group up to 25, two groups simultaneously with two tour guides or back-to-back tours.
1.5-2.0 Hours
Coordinated to your syllabus
 
Objective: 
To actively present the political, emotional and military causes of the Boston Massacre and its subsequent impact in the development of the nation, via a historical walking tour.
 
Materials:
Maps, portraits, copies of original documents provided on tour.  Multiple take home copies upon request. Laminates additional
 
Syllabus:
  • See the 14 tour stops and categories at  http://www.walkbostonhistory.com/the-boston-massacre-tour.html
  • Review acts passed by Parliament specifically to gain control of the Colonies after the French and Indian War
  • The legal systems.  Statutes vs Common Law; how did they differ? 
  • Principles of taxation, subjugation, financial collusion, non-importation, impressment, indenture and servitude
  • Did  billeting  of troops among a civilian population from October 1, 1768 to March 5, 1770, kindle the Massacre?  
  • Was the Massacre a decisive event leading to the American Revolution?
  • Was it the decisive moment that England lost control of its Colonies?
  • The aftermath propels the legal and political careers of individuals that became our Founding Fathers; John and Sam Adams, Robert Tweet Paine, John Hancock and Josiah Quincy, Jr.
  • Post-mortem on the victims and those that survived the legal proceedings
Class  Preparation:
  •  Geography of North America in the early 18th century
  •  Demography of the Thirteen Colonies and the British Empire.
  • Overview a century of war in Europe and England resulting in England's dominance of the seas.
  •  Overview North American and European military history from 1754 to 1770
  •  The French and Indian War; British Soldiers and Colonist successfully fight on the same side, exit with class conflict
  •  An overview of the legal definitions of murder, manslaughter, justifiable homicide and self-defense
      
Lesson Ideas Prior to the Walking Tour for Students:
  • A student can describe, print, draw or make an 18th Century Grenadier uniform & surtout (that  factored in the trial testimony) and describe the Grenadiers specific military application in battle
  • Demonstrate to the class, with a safe device, the military significance and usage of the British bayonet
  • Provide a broad profile of an 18th Century Puritan Bostonian
  • Overview the following servitude practices;
    • Impressment
    • Indenture
    • Apprenticeship                                      
               
Suggested class activity after the Walking Tour
  • If it was not intentional, was it a mistake for the British to send Irish Catholic regiments to Puritan Boston? Answer this question from the viewpoint of an 18th Century Bostonian. Critique it from the 21st Century
  • A biography, post Massacre, on any of the four signers of the Declaration of Independence that participated in the trial of the British soldiers. Provide a brief written or oral report of their future contributions to America​
  • Research and briefly describe the life of the five victims with emphasis on their economic and social status in Colonial Boston
  • Describe the sources used to research all of the above; require several non-internet bibliographies
  • Student(s) provides period newspaper articles, comparing Tory vs Radical press, summarized for the class. Suggest a visit to Edes & Gills Printing Museum; first floor Faneuil Hall. Videos and interviews are possible
  • If you were a member of the jury (in the 18th century) what would be your verdict? Support your conclusion in law or common sense or both  
  • Compare the maturity, from the 18th to the 21st Century, of the laws concerning, murder, manslaughter and justifiable homicide. (for a student interested in law.)
 
Future plans:
  • Reflect on the lessons from the Boston Massacre as you discuss the Tea Party in 1773
  • Compare the mob that ruled Boston on March 5, 1770, with those of the Tea Party
  • Trace the progress of James Otis, Thomas Hutchinson, Samuel Adams, General Thomas Gage or Paul Revere since the Massacre to the beginning of the American Revolution, April 19, 1775.
                

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An association of tour guidES for educators, amateur historians, and the general public looking to walk beyond the Freedom Trail, concentrating on the legal, philosophical, emotional and political events of Boston.

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  • Freedom Trail Tour
    • The Boston Massacre Tour
    • Boston Civil War Tour
    • The Kennedy Tour
    • The Boston Massacre Lesson Plan
    • Paul Revere's Neighborhood
    • Paul Revere's Row to Charlestown 4/18/1775
    • Virtual Tour of the Massachusetts State House
    • The Boston Massacre per the Pennsylvania Gazette
    • Paul Revere Lesson Plan
  • Revere Bells Index
    • The Stickney Revere Bell Listings of 1976
    • Paul Revere Bell of Beverly
    • Revere Bells in Boston >
      • Paul Revere Bell Old South Meeting House
    • California's 2 Paul Revere Bells
    • Paul Revere & Son's Bell Westborough Massachusetts
    • Falmouth, Massachusetts
    • Revere Bell Fredericksburg VA
    • Revere Bell Hampton NH
    • First Parish Church of Kennebunk
    • Revere Bells in Maine
    • Revere Bell in Mansfield
    • Revere Bell of Michigan
    • Revere Salem Mass Bell
    • Roxbury First Unitariarn Universalist Church and their Revere Bell
    • Revere & Son Bell, Savannah Georgia
    • Singapore Revere Bell
    • Tuscaloosa Bell >
      • History of the St John and Leavens Patriarchs
      • Samuel St John Jr Estate Genealogy
      • Authenticating the Revere Tuscaloosa Bell
      • Joshua B Leavens Last Will and Testament
      • 20th Century Tuscaloosa bell
    • Revere Bells Lost in Time
    • Revere Bells Washington DC
    • Revere Bell in Wakefield, Mass
    • Revere Bells Woodstock VT
  • Bostonians
    • Edward F Alexander of The Harvard 20th Civil War Regiment
    • Polly Baker
    • John Wilkes Booth
    • The Mad Hatter, Thomas, Boston Corbett who Killed John Wilkes Booth
    • Richard-Henry-Dana-Jr
    • James Franklin
    • Benjamin Harris of Publick Occurrences
    • Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.
    • William Lloyd Garrison
    • USS Thomas Hudner DDG116
    • Edward Hutchinson Robbins Revere
    • Amos Lincoln
    • King Philip
    • Mayor's of Boston
    • Mum Bett & Theodore Sedgwick
    • James Otis
    • Paul Joseph Revere
    • John Rowe >
      • John Rowe's Diary Entries
      • John Rowe's Dinner Party
      • John Rowe and the Jail Fire
      • Hang John Rowe?????
      • John Rowe the Fisherman
      • Joh Rowe's Tea Ship
    • Be Proud to be Called a Lucy Stoner
    • Rachel Wall , Pirate
    • Paul Revere the Coroner of Boston
    • Deborah Sampson
    • Who was Mrs. Silence Dogood?
    • Dr. Joseph Warren's Dedication
  • History Blog
  • Lilja's of Natick
    • Lilja Brothers Military History
    • Lilja's Family Album
    • Memorials and Tributes to the Five Lilja Brothers
    • Lilja Family Tree
    • Lilja Historical Family Tree Documents
    • Lilja References
  • Collage of Boston
    • 4th of July Parade, Bristol RI
    • Boston Harbor
    • The Customs House
    • Forest Hills Cemetery
    • Georges Island
    • Nonviolent Monument to Peace - Sherborn
    • The Battle Road
    • Skate bike and scooter park
    • Cassin Young & USS Cassin Young
    • MIT
    • Historic Charles River
    • The Roxbury Standpipe on Fort Hill
    • John & Abigail Adams National Park