The Boston Massacre

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is long on political propaganda and short on accuracy or
aesthetics.

Notice how the British Grenadiers are shown standing in a straight
line shooting their rifles in a regular volley, whereas when the
disturbance actually erupted both sides were belligerent and riotous.

Notice also that Revere's engraving shows a blue sky. Only a wisp of a
moon suggests that the riot occurred after nine o'clock on a cold winter
night.

Notice too the absence of snow and ice on the street, while Crispus
Attacks-- a black man lying on the ground closest to the British soldiers--
is shown to be white. As an aside, it should be noted that as a result of
his death in the Boston Massacre, Crispus Attacks would emerge as the most
famous of all the black men to fight in the cause of the Revolution, and
become its first martyr.

Documentation has come to light over the years indicating that Revere
copied engraver Henry Pelham's drawings of the Massacre, produced his ...

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