The Boston Massacre

     I believe that this engraving by Paul Revere portrays the British soldiers as cruel, heartless, and murderous; I can see why it was used in Patriot propaganda. It makes it look as though the redcoats are firing murderously into a crowd of completely innocent colonists (even though this was not really the case; the Americans were yelling insults at the troops and chucking oysters and ice chunks at them.) If I were a colonist who had not witnessed the Boston Massacre, seeing this picture would make me hate the redcoats with a passion, more so than I would've if I'd seen the actual killing. 
     When the Boston Massacre first occurred it was called either the "King Street Massacre" or the "Bloody Massacre." If I were a colonist at the time who didn't reside in Boston, and heard the name "King Street Massacre", I would first wonder where the heck King Street was. I would then look at the word "massacre" and think that it was a horrible, bloody event where a huge number of people were murdered (but in reality, only five died.) I would feel the same if I heard of the "Bloody Massacre" (though the word "bloody" makes the Boston Massacre sound all the more terrible.) I think the Patriots used the word "massacre" in their propaganda in order to make the British soldiers look horribly cruel, and make the whole event sound worse, so that people would take notice of this event and look at it as an example of British tyrrany.