Courtney Beavers

MWF 10:00
Spring 2015

Who Was To Blame For The Boston Massacre?

There are two different documents on what really happened the day of The
Boston Massacre. Who's fault was it for yelling "fire" when it didn't need to be said.
British troops had been stationed in Boston, capital of the Province of Massachusetts
Bay, since 1768 in order to protect and support crown-appointed colonial officials
attempting to enforce unpopular Parliamentary legislation. Eight British soldiers and
a captain stood between a crowd of angry civilians and the capital.
Document one Deposition of Captain Thomas Preston, March 12, 1770, the
captain claims he was between the soldiers and one of his soldiers thought he over
heard the captain say fire so he shot into the crowd, the captain then declared,
stop firing "and then the rest of the of them heard fire and shot into the crowd.
One was dead, three other in extreme danger, and four slightly wounded. When
asking the soldier why they fired they said they heard the word fire, but the captain
assures he didnt say it and it must have come from the crowd.
In the second document , Deposition of Robert Goddard the story goes the
boys showed up to the Centinel and the captain told them if they dont leave and
that they would be murdered. The Captain told them to fire, one gun went off. A
Sailor or townsman struck the Captain and the Captain told them to fire again.
Robert Goddard then went into the Grand Jury and pointed out the captain who said
the word fire.
Both of these documents are not sure exactly sure who said those magic
words of fire that ended up causing the Boston Massacre. One thing is sure those
it is a he said she said kind of things and no one is admitting it. Due to the Boston
Massacre occurring the tension between the Colonies of the United States and
England rose. Even though only a few people died at the Boston Massacre the
newspapers and other media sources blew it out of proportion causing more anger

among the colonies. At this time in history it goes to show how powerful the
newspapers where and how they could get the people to think whatever they
wanted through the illustrations and story they would tell that were a little
farfetched.

The Attack on Pearl Harbor

I read an article about what happened on December 8, 1941. The
article talked about how nobody in the US military believed that the Japanese
would attack the US especially so close to home. Because of this reason Pearl
Harbor was basically undefended, making it an irresistible target for the
Japanese. I thought it was the reasons that in military had for not believing
that Pearl Harbor would very be attack let alone by Japan. The first reason
was the Japan and Hawaii are 4000 miles apart, they thought for sure that
they would attack smaller and closer European countries before they would
even get close to the US.
The attack only lasted about two hours but it was extremely
devastating. About 2,000 Americans were killed, and another 1,000
wounded, and Japan was able to destroy about 20 American naval vessels,
including eight enormous battleships, and almost 200 airplanes. An
interesting fact that was talked about in this article was about the day after
when President Franklin D. Roosevelt asked the Congress to declare war on
Japan. He got the ok to do it but one person did vote against it, her name
was Jeanette Rankin of Montana, Rankin was a pacifist who had also voted

against the American entrance into World War I. "As a woman," she said, "I
cant go to war, and I refuse to send anyone else."
I chose to read and write about this article because of my family
background in the military and I really enjoy learning about Pearl Harbor. I
went on a trip to Hawaii a couple years ago and Pearl Harbor was my
favorite places that I visited there.

The Assassination of John F. Kennedy

The next article I chose to read and write about was The Assassination of JFK.
JFK was the 35th president of the United States of America. President Kennedy
always wanted to be able to have the Nation really know who he was so the planned
route through Dallas was to give the people max exposure to him and he wasn't
going to hide behind the Secret Service. There were three cars used for the Secret
Service and police protection. The President, and the First Lady were in the second
car a 1961 Lincoln Continental convertible.
The cars had reached Dealey Plaza about 10 minutes behind schedule due to
huge crowds and two unplanned stops the JFK wanted, the plaza was only five
minutes away from the destination. The cars turned onto Elm street and passes in
front of the Texas School Board Depository, shots were fired at the President as the
continued down Elm Street, there was said to three shots fired. When President
Kennedy was waving to the crowd with his right arm upraised on the side of the car,

the shot entered his upper back, through his neck and damaged the spinal vertebra
slightly and the top of his right lung and exited his throat. He then was shot in the
head, his blood and skull fragments landed inside the car, also on the car in front
and the two motorcycles riding on both sided on the car.
I decided to read about this article because of how in depth it went into what
happened inside the car and how the people reacted. I ready knew a lot about this
subject but this article gave me more in depth things to read into.

Jackie Robinson and Brach Rickey

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/124570-the-most-important-people-in-sportshistory/page/11
This article was about Jackie Robinson and Branch Rickey. Jackie Robinson
was America's first civil right icon long before Dr. King or Malcolm X. However, as
great as Robinson's struggle was, it would not have been possible without the help
of the puritanical Dodgers GM who also happened to be perhaps the greatest
executive in baseball history. Branch Rickey was always ahead of his time in
formulating what he would call "The Dodger Way," which included building a strong
farm system, trading player before their skills deteriorated and while they still had
value, and stocking the Dodgers with the best talent available. If that talent
happened to be African-American, then that was fine as well.
Rickey brought Robinson in from a Negro League into Brooklyn to try and
break the color barrier in 1946 when he petitioned the owners to allow AfricanAmericans to become of the MLB, they voted against it 1-11, however the

commissioner at the time Happy Chandler overruled the owners and said "If the
Negro can make it at Guadalcanal, the can make it in baseball." Rickey found
Robinson and he was the type of person Rickey had in mind to break the color
barrier. Jackie was educated, well-spoken, and non-threatening. What Robinson
endured from opposing teammates, fans, and some of his own players amounted as
some of the most vicious and hate-filled racism imaginable, yet Robinson, as Rickey
demanded, turned the other cheek. Robinson didn't simply endure the racism he
experienced on a daily basis, but delivered the goods on the field as well. Hitting a .
311 for his Major League career, he was named the 1949 MVP, and was widely
considered to be the best fielding second baseman in the game.
Robinson became an icon who paved the way for not only all African-American
baseball players, but all African-American athletes in the United States.

How Did Spaniards and Aztecs Remember First Contact?

These two documents are about what some people think the first encounter
was like between the Spaniards and Aztecs in 1519. Nobody really knows what
really happened during the meeting, but two sources wrote what Spanish and
Mexican remember of that event. The first one was written in 1560's by one of the
Corts's lieutenants, the conquistador Bernal Diaz. The second one was for the
missionary Bernardino de Sahagun in 1540's.
In Diaz journal he made it sound like that both parties were very respectful of
one another and quite kind. The Aztecs sent gifts for the Spaniards, and wanted to
paint them so that their chief can see what type of men they were. The Spaniards

seemed to be fine with this based on Diazs description. But Diaz never went into
detail about what types of gifts the Aztecs brought the Spaniards.
The second journal from Sahagun, he went into more detail about the types
of things he received. They gave him clothing, armor, shoes, and jewelry. He also
talks about how respectful the Aztecs were to the Spaniards. Also something
different between the journals was that Diazs journal was that Sahagun made the
Spaniards out to be cruel people. He said that the Spaniards tied up the Aztec
messengers to scare them.
The two journals were both different sides to each story and both believe that
their side is right. Diaz was trying to portray both parties as being respectful and
the meeting had went very smooth between the two of them, then you have
Sahagun write his side about Spaniards being mean and trying to scare the
respectful Aztec messengers. Not really knowing who is right probably means you
could find the truth somewhere in between these two stories.