EduHam Online March 2022 Newsletter: The Boston Massacre and Mandy Gonzalez
Posted by Gilder Lehrman Staff on Thursday, 03/24/2022
Welcome to the official newsletter for the Hamilton Education Program Online, the program whose goal is to help students in grades 6–12 see the relevance of the Founding Era by using primary sources to create a performance piece (e.g., a song, rap, poem, or scene) following the model used by Lin-Manuel Miranda to create the musical Hamilton.
Finding Inspiration from the Boston Massacre for EduHam Online Pieces
In 1768, British soldiers were sent to Boston to stop the riots resulting from the Townshend Acts. Eventually, 2,000 soldiers occupied Boston, a city with a population of about 16,000. Fistfights and angry confrontations occurred frequently. A violent clash on March 5, 1770, began when Private White struck Edward Garrick with his musket for insulting White’s commanding officer. White was soon surrounded by an angry mob of Bostonians who hurled taunts and snowballs at him. The situation escalated, and the British troops fired into the crowd. Three colonists, including Crispus Attucks, who had escaped slavery, were killed immediately, and two others died later of their wounds. The event became known as the Boston Massacre, and its significance to the escalation of protests against British colonization leading to the American Revolution is a wellspring of inspiration for EduHam Online exploration.
For an example, enjoy this Chicago performance by students participating in the Hamilton Education Program:
Primary Sources to Investigate
Learn more and consider different perspectives that may inspire your own:
- Explore Paul Revere’s depiction of the Boston Massacre in what many consider one of the most effective examples of war propaganda.
- Read British Captain Thomas Preston’s account, which proved useful in none other than John Adams’s efforts to defend him as his lawyer, and prosecution witness Theodore Bliss’s testimony, which was crucial to determining whether or not Preston had ordered the Redcoats to fire on a Boston crowd.
Watch Hamilton star Mandy Gonzalez delve into the deeper meanings of Paul Revere’s famous artwork:
Ham 4 Progress
The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History is proud to partner with Hamilton on the Ham4Progress Award for Educational Advancement. The award supports college-bound high school juniors from communities that directly experience the consequences of social injustice and/or discrimination. This award will provide up to ten students $3,500 each for educational purposes in 2022. The $3,500 award must be used toward educational purposes, which may include
- Test preparation courses
- Tutoring
- College visits
- Technology, including laptops, tablets, or other electronic devices used for learning
For eligibility and application information, click here. The submission deadline is June 15, 2022.