Analysis Of Paul Revere's Depiction Of The Boston Massacre: A Historical Perspective

The Bostin Massacre by the British colonizers in late eighteenth-century America is marked as one of the tragic historical events (MacNiven). The research aims to critically analyze the motive behind Paul Revere's depiction of the event from a historian’s point of view.

Figure 1: Paul Revere’s “The Bloody Massacre in King-Street, March 5, 1770”

(Source: Williams)

As a historian, I would explain this version of the conflict as remarkable war propaganda in the history of American colonialism.  Paul revere delivered the work after three weeks of the real event. It cannot be considered as an accurate depiction of the real event. The image portrays the British soldiers firing on the American crowd in an orderly line. The British soldiers have been protected to be enjoying the violence through facial expressions (Williams). The facial features also play an important role in striking the political views of the citizens. The faces of the soldiers have been painted as sharp and angular whereas the Americans have a softer and innocent which portrays the British to be menacing. On the other hand, the outfits of the colonists have been upgraded. The real event accounts for the shootout of civilians of the working class including laborers (McCorkle). However, dressing them as gentlemen can be considered to be an attempt to influence the emotions of the civilians. Most importantly the image has been a political inflammation from a biased revelation. The manipulation can be identified from the lining of the soldiers which implies them as the aggressors. On the contrary, facts suggest that it was the colonists who attacked the soldiers (MacNiven).

From the above analysis, it can be concluded that the inscription of the event of the mass murder at King Street by Paul Revere is regarded as the most effective war propaganda piece.

References 

MacNiven, Robert Donald. "Slaughter was commenced: a study of American Revolutionary War massacres." (2021).

McCorkle, William. "Applying a critical and peace education lens to the American Revolution in the social studies classroom." The Social Studies 111.3 (2020): 143-154.

Williams, Emma. "Portraiture, Patriotism, and Politicking: The Political Effect of Visual Histories." (2021).