Andrew Garnett-Cook
Heath School – Brookline
Grade Level: Middle – High School
Boston Massacre Lesson #2: Propaganda and the Boston Massacre
Massachusetts Curriculum Frameworks:
USI.4 Analyze how Americans resisted British policies before 1775 and analyze the rea­
sons for the American victory and the British defeat during the Revolutionary war. (H)
USI.5 Explain the role of Massachusetts in the Revolution, including important events that
took place in Massachusetts and important leaders from Massachusetts. (H)
A. the Boston Massacre B. the Boston Tea Party C. the Battles of Lexington and
Concord and Bunker Hill D. Sam Adams, John Adams, and John Hancock
Duration: One Hour
Description:
This lesson will take lessons learned from the previous class on techniques of propaganda
and apply them to the reaction to the Boston Massacre. Students will have come in after
reading Capt. Preston’s version of events. The lesson also assumes some prior
knowledge of the events associated with the Boston Massacre.
Goals:
1) Students will understand how, through examination of propaganda, colonists told
the story of the Boston Massacre
2) Students will understand the different perspectives on what happened in the
Boston Massacre
3) Students will reflect on the use of propaganda to accomplish a goal
Objectives:
1) Students will analyze two anti-British versions of the Boston Massacre and be
able to identify and explain techniques of propaganda in each
2) Students will compare and contrast pro-British and anti-British perspectives on
the Massacre
3) Through journal writing, students will evaluate the use of propaganda to influence
people’s opinions of the British
Activity:
1) Word Splash: (5-10 min)
a. Place the following six words on either a white board or powerpoint slide
(Preston, colonists, soldiers, fire, killed, British). Ask students to create a
two sentence statement in which all six words are used.. The directions
are that the statement must be true and related to the previous night’s
homework. The goal is to initiate a discussion about Preston’s version of
events related to the Boston Massacre.
2) Whole class discussion: (5 min.)
a. Review the facts of the Boston Massacre. It might help to watch a couple
of minutes of a clip on the Massacre. A decent retelling of the story can
be found on the History Channel’s website at
http://www.history.com/shows/america-the-story-of-us/videos/bostonmassacre#boston-massacre
3) Class Activity: Analyzing propaganda: (min. 20 min)
a. Break the class into groups of 2-3
b. Hand out one copy of the Boston Gazette’s account of the Boston
Massacre and one color copy of Paul Revere’s engraving to each student
c. Boston Gazette:
i. You may want to read this out loud to the students. Hearing tone
of voice may help more challenged readers cut through some of the
difficult vocabulary. As you read, have students highlight phrases
or words they read that they connect to techniques of propaganda.
ii. Give them a couple of minutes to discuss in their groups phrases
they chose and why
iii. For 2-3 minutes, have groups report back to the whole class
d. Revere’s Engraving:
i. Have groups analyze the color copies of the engraving
ii. Each group should identify at least three techniques of propaganda
used in Revere’s engraving.
e. As a follow-up to the propaganda analysis, it might be interesting to
engage students in a short discussion about the difference between written
and visual sources of propaganda, in terms of how effective each is versus
the other.
4) Charting different versions of the Massacre.
a. As a whole class, brainstorm the different version of the Massacre using
the following chart on a white board or powerpoint.
Preston
Gazette
Revere
Facts included
Details emphasized
Details overlooked
b. Once you finish the chart, ask students to respond in writing to the
following question: Why are the versions of the Massacre so different?
Homework:
In a journal or reflective writing section of their notebooks, have students write a good,
solid paragraph response to the following question:
How does the story of the Boston Massacre connect the colonists’ struggle for
liberty in the years before the Revolution? Was skewing the facts of the Massacre
the right way to bring more people over to their side in the struggle for liberty?
Why or why not?