The Massacre: 18th and 19th Centuries

The first section of the exhibit studies art that was created right after the events on March 5, 1770, and in the century following. In the days right after the Boston Massacre, depictions were created and printed in newspapers so that people across the colonies would know about what happened. These images were particularly designed to stir up pro-Revolutionary sentiment by vilifying the British soldiers who had been there. It’s also worth noting that portrayals did not cease after the Revolution. Throughout the nineteenth century, artists designed their own representations of the Boston Massacre. This tells us that although the event was long over, people in the United States still cared about it because of principles such as injustice, loss of innocents, and fighting against tyranny that are associated with it.