050

  • The Boston Massacre

  • 1770, 1970 restrike from original
  • Paul Revere (American 1735-1818)
  • Engraving
  • 20.5 x 23.0 cm., 8-1/16 x 9-1/16" image
  • Catherine Carter Goebel, Paul A. Anderson Chair in the Arts Purchase, Paul A. Anderson Art History Collection, Augustana College 2010.45

Essay by Stephen A. Klien, Former Professor of Communication Studies

On March 5, 1770, a mob hurled insults, snowballs and rocks at British troops stationed at the State House in Boston, Massachusetts. Threats came at the soldiers from all sides, including jeers daring them to "Fire!" At some point the troops mistakenly heard an order to fire and shot into the crowd, ultimately killing five persons and injuring eleven more. Captain Thomas Preston and his troops were arrested, but all but two were acquitted after a vigorous defense by none other than John Adams.

This depiction was printed from an original plate by Paul Revere, the silversmith and colonial patriot who became a revolutionary hero for his mythologized "midnight ride" of April 18-19, 1775. Revere copied extensively from a drawing by artist Henry Pelham, The Fruits of Arbitrary Power (Casper 22), without his permission (Kellogg 385-386). Revere's print, colored by Christian Remick, was included with an incendiary pamphlet prepared by Boston's town committee entitled A Short Narrative of the Horrid Massacre in Boston.

The print takes liberties with the historical truth of the event in order to amplify its impact as propaganda. Note how the British troops stand in single-file formation, releasing their fusillade upon the order of Captain Preston, whose sword arm is raised in command. Such an orchestrated attack never took place. The original print also displays the spewing blood of the victims in a vivid red, a sharp contrast to the otherwise muted hues of the colonists but a perfect match with the red coats of the death-dealing British troops. The death of Crispus Attucks, lionized as the first American casualty as well as the African American hero of the revolution, is depicted as the reclined head in the lower-left corner. However, his biracial identity is elided by the white skin tone. In the original pamphlet, the print is accompanied by a poem likely written by Revere. It begins:

Unhappy Boston! See thy Sons deplore. They hallow'd Walks besmear'd with guiltless Gore. While faithless P-------n [Preston] and his savage Bands, With murd'rous Rancour stretch their bloody hands; Like fierce Barbarians grinning o'er their Prey, Approve the Carnage, and enjoy the Day (qtd. in Kellogg 383).

The word "propaganda" derives from the Latin propagare, to spread or disseminate, as one would spread seeds that take root, flower, and produce their own seeds which are propagated in turn. It is important for students of American history to remember that the power of propaganda has been a driving force of American political culture from the very beginning.