The History of the Boston Massacre
I was interested in the Boston Massacre and found many testimonies and other primary resources there. However, as I read through I was intrigued by a comment in my readings about Captain Thomas Preston’s “London Letter”. In Preston’s letter to London, he intended only Londoners to read it and when the article was later published in the Boston Gazette it added annoyance to the already frustrated public in Boston. I was now, intrigued and determined to find Captain Preston’s newspaper article. I, then, asked for help from the research and technology desk. They guided me through the library database to find a website called American Historical Newspapers. They had many articles from 1700-1850 and I was able to find the actual article, with Captain Preston’s recollection of the “unhappy affair” (Preston’s quote), posted in the Boston Gazette from June 25th 1770, as well as, the original letter to London first published, in April 28th, in the London newspaper the Essex Gazette.
Originally this article was a letter sent by Captain Thomas Preston, to London intended for “His Majesty” the king. The letter was delivered to the Essex Gazette, a London newspaper, and printed in April 28th 1770. Captain Preston produced this account of what came to be known as the Boston Massacre, after being jailed and accused of ordering his men to “fire on a crowd of angry townspeople”. Two months later, (the amount of time it takes to get to America from London by ship) the Boston Gazette published Captain Preston’s article under the headline, “A Narrative of the Late Transactions at Boston.”
During the trial of Captain Preston and his soldiers, copies of “A Narrative of the Late Transactions at Boston” began to circulate around Boston and surrounding areas. Captain Preston’s descriptions of the events were biased and unsympathetic to the townspeople, painting a picture of the soldiers trying to do their job and the townspeople not abiding and being “unruly” and “abusive”.
Originally this article was a letter sent by Captain Thomas Preston, to London intended for “His Majesty” the king. The letter was delivered to the Essex Gazette, a London newspaper, and printed in April 28th 1770. Captain Preston produced this account of what came to be known as the Boston Massacre, after being jailed and accused of ordering his men to “fire on a crowd of angry townspeople”. Two months later, (the amount of time it takes to get to America from London by ship) the Boston Gazette published Captain Preston’s article under the headline, “A Narrative of the Late Transactions at Boston.”
During the trial of Captain Preston and his soldiers, copies of “A Narrative of the Late Transactions at Boston” began to circulate around Boston and surrounding areas. Captain Preston’s descriptions of the events were biased and unsympathetic to the townspeople, painting a picture of the soldiers trying to do their job and the townspeople not abiding and being “unruly” and “abusive”.