2-1a Activity- The Boston Massacre: Propaganda & Perspective

This whole-class interactive activity can also be purchased as part of the 2-1 Lesson Bundle: British Reforms & Colonial Resistance.

Help students discover why different sources can tell different stories about the same event by:

-comparing 3 depictions of the Boston Massacre,

-examining Paul Revere’s engraving as propaganda,

-and participating in an eyewitness demonstration that shows how limited perspectives can lead to conflicting accounts.

Students then evaluate differing accounts of the massacre and discuss the trial’s outcome, with an optional extension on John Adams’s defense of the soldiers and the importance of a fair trial.

Through independent image analysis, a response chart, an interactive demonstration, and whole-class discussion, students practice identifying bias and author’s purpose, comparing and corroborating sources, and supporting conclusions with historical evidence.

Why teachers like this: It's an engaging way to move students beyond asking “What happened?” toward the historian’s question: “How do we know?”