Objectives:

Students will

• visually analyze the engraving of the Boston Massacre by Paul Revere.
• critically approach textual and visual primary source documents to begin asking questions about point-of-view and subjective history.
• approach issues surrounding the exclusion of minority groups in historical accounts.
• conduct independent research on the roles of African-Americans before and during the American Revolution.

Lesson times:

If you attend the About Face exhibit at the Memorial Art Gallery, this lesson consists of suggested visit, and post-visit activities.

Vocabulary:

engraving - image made by taking the impression from an engraved and inked metal or wood block.

Patriot - a colonial who believed that America should not be ruled by England.

point-of-view - the place from which, or way in which, something is viewed or considered; standpoint; the viewpoint from which a story is narrated.

silversmith - one whose occupation is making and repairing articles of silver.

subjective - determined by and emphasizing the ideas, thoughts, feelings, etc. of the artist or writer, not just rigidly transcribing or reflecting reality.

Townshend Act - (1767) laws passed by Parliament that taxed goods such as glass, paper, silk, lead, and tea.

Prior Knowledge:

Students should have begun study of colonial America, with some basic background in pre-Revolutionary Boston, at least up to and including the Boston Massacre.

Materials:

1. Image

Image #10

Paul Revere
American
Engraving of the Boston Massacre, 1770

American Antiquarian Society

Image #11

John Singleton Copley
American, 1737-1815
Paul Revere, 1768
Oil on canvas, 35 x 28 ½"

Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

2. Photocopy of the engraving of Boston Massacre (attached in teacher's packet)
3. What is this visual document? worksheet (HTML or Word)
4. Internet access for follow-up lessons (optional)
5. Captain Thomas Preston's Account of the Boston Massacre
6. Anonymous Account of the Boston Massacre
7. Verse accompanying Paul Revere's engraving of the Boston Massacre (HTML or Word)

Lesson:

1. Divide class into groups of three students each. Give each group of students a photocopy of the Boston Massacre engraving and the What is this visual document? worksheet.
2. Observe the broadside engraving in the "About Face" exhibit or project slides #10 & 11, the engraving of Boston Massacre by Paul Revere and the portrait of Paul Revere by John Singleton Copley.
3. Each group can take about 15-20 minutes to complete their worksheet based on their observation of the slides. The worksheet involves the students visually analyzing the engraving of the Boston Massacre by Paul Revere. It asks:

• What is going on here? What makes you say that?
• Where does this appear to be taking place? What visual clues tell you this?
• When does this appear to be taking place? What visual clues tell you this?
• What does this image tell us about the event that occurred on March 5, 1770?
• How is this image structured?
• How many figures are there on each side of the picture?
• On which side are the American Patriots, and on which side are the British soldiers? How can you tell?
• What colors do you see? Where are they?
• Trace the color red through the image. What visual connections are made here?
• What side is the artist on? What visual details make that evident to you?

4. When that part of the lesson is complete, the class will reconvene and discuss each group's findings.
5. Emphasize the students' abilities to 'read' a visual image. Try to get the students to articulate the way in which they interpreted meaning through combining their 'reading' of visual clues and their own historical knowledge.
6. Encourage students to try a similar exercise with the images they will encounter on their visit to the Memorial Art Gallery.

Follow-up (Option 1):

A discussion of this representation of the Boston Massacre by Paul Revere leads to questions about the role of African Americans in the American Revolution. Although Crispus Attucks (ca. 1723-1770) was commonly known to be the first man to die at the Boston Massacre, Paul Revere has failed to portray him in this engraving. Why might Paul Revere have excluded the role of Crispus Attucks as one of the primary figures of the patriotic cause in the Boston Massacre? After the visit to the Memorial Art Gallery, students can research the experiences of African Americans leading up to the Revolution. Addressing such questions as:

• How could patriotic colonials who were calling for their rights to freedom keep men and women enslaved?
• What were the roles of African American men and women in the Northeast prior to the Revolution?
• Did African-Americans participate in the war against England? If so, for what side did they fight?

Helpful websites for research:

http://www.coloradocollege.edu/dept/hy/hy243ruiz/research/military.html
"African Americans in Early American Military History"

This site contains a good basic introduction to the participation of African Americans in the military in colonial America. This site also contains a useful bibliography and internet links to relevant archive sources.

http://www.rit.edu/~nrcgsh/bx.html
"The Black Experience in America"

This is the text of a book written by Norman Coombs called The Black Experience in America written as a part of The Immigrant Heritage of America for Twayne Press, 1972. The most pertinent chapter being Chapter 4, 'All Men are Created Equal'.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part2/2h3147b.html
"Engraving showing the death of Crispus Attucks"

Follow-up (Option 2):

This exercise is intended to get the students thinking about 'point of view' and the problems inherent in taking historical accounts as fact. Students will read the verse accompanying Paul Revere's engraving of the Boston Massacre (attached). Or, for younger students, extract some of the most powerful words from the Boston Massacre verse for classroom consideration. What kind of messages do these words convey to readers?

Then direct your students to the "Internet Modern History Sourcebook" (these materials are also provided in the teaching packet). This site is great for primary source documents. In the 'American Independence' page, go to the 'American Revolution' list. There are two entirely different first hand accounts of the Boston Massacre. An anonymous colonist wrote one version of the event and the British military leader present at the event, Captain Thomas Preston, wrote the other account. How do we know which version of the event is accurate? After reading both versions (or a segment chosen from both), have the students write a verse about the Boston Massacre from the point of view of a British soldier. Or for more visually minded students, have them draw a version of the Boston Massacre from the point of view of Captain Prescott.

Evaluation:

Students should be evaluated on their participation in the pre-visit looking exercise, their attempt to question the point of view of unfamiliar works they encounter on the Gallery visit, their ability to research and report on the roles of African Americans in the American Revolution, and/or view historical events from the point of view of the 'other side'.

Summary:

Students will participate in a looking exercise of Paul Revere's engraving of the Boston Massacre that will introduce issues of point of view and subjective history. The analytical looking skills gained in this pre-visit exercise will be practiced on unfamiliar images while at the Memorial Art Gallery. Post-visit research on the roles of African Americans in the American Revolution will be conducted in response to the frequent exclusion of minorities in historical accounts. Creating an account of the Boston Massacre from the point of view of a British soldier will provide the students with personal insight into subjective history.