Assessment Quiz

Boston's Road to Revolution

Boston, MA

Grades 6-8

Name: Date: Period:

Boston's Road to Revolution

Answer all questions based on our study of Boston in the American Revolution. For short answer questions, use specific evidence from sources we studied.

1. What was the significance of Crispus Attucks in the Boston Massacre?
AHe was a man of African and Wampanoag descent who was the first person killed in the Massacre, making him one of the first casualties of the revolutionary eraBHe was the British officer who ordered the soldiers to fire on the crowdCHe was the colonial governor who tried to negotiate peace between the soldiers and the crowdDHe was the lawyer who prosecuted the British soldiers after the Massacre
2. How did Paul Revere's engraving of the Boston Massacre differ from what trial evidence suggests actually happened?
AThe engraving showed British soldiers firing an organized volley on a peaceful crowd, while trial testimony described a chaotic confrontation where the crowd had provoked the soldiersBThe engraving showed the colonists attacking the soldiers, while the soldiers claimed they fired firstCThe engraving accurately depicted events as described in all eyewitness accountsDThe engraving showed fewer casualties than actually occurred
3. What role did Samuel Adams play in Boston's revolutionary movement?
AHe was a political organizer who helped build the committees of correspondence, organized opposition to British policies, and was instrumental in orchestrating events like the Tea PartyBHe was the military commander of colonial forces during the Siege of BostonCHe served as the royal governor of Massachusetts and tried to enforce British lawDHe was a British spy who infiltrated the Sons of Liberty
4. During the Boston Tea Party, participants took care to destroy only the tea and left all other cargo aboard the ships untouched.
True False
5. Explain how the Siege of Boston (April 1775 – March 1776) transformed the conflict between the colonies and Britain from a political dispute into an armed military confrontation. What were its key developments and outcome?
Answer:
6. George Robert Twelves Hewes was an ordinary Boston shoemaker who participated in the Tea Party. Why is his account historically significant, and what challenges does it present as a source?
Answer:
7. What was the primary purpose of the Intolerable Acts (Coercive Acts) passed by Parliament in 1774?
ATo punish Boston for the Tea Party by closing the port and restricting Massachusetts self-government, thereby deterring other colonies from similar resistanceBTo grant independence to the American coloniesCTo lower taxes on tea and other imported goodsDTo withdraw British troops from all colonial cities

Boston's Road to Revolution

Boston: Cradle of Revolution — Boston, MA

1.What was the significance of Crispus Attucks in the Boston Massacre?
Answer:A
Crispus Attucks, a man of African and Wampanoag descent who had escaped slavery and worked as a sailor and rope maker, was the first person killed when British soldiers fired on a crowd in King Street on March 5, 1770. His death has made him a symbol of the Revolution, though his prominence also raises questions about whose sacrifices are remembered and how.
2.How did Paul Revere's engraving of the Boston Massacre differ from what trial evidence suggests actually happened?
Answer:A
Revere's engraving was effective propaganda but a misleading depiction. It showed disciplined soldiers firing on command into a peaceful crowd, omitting evidence that the crowd pelted soldiers with snowballs and debris. Captain Preston was shown with arm raised as if ordering fire, which he denied. The image was designed to inflame public opinion, not to document the event accurately.
3.What role did Samuel Adams play in Boston's revolutionary movement?
Answer:A
Samuel Adams was one of the most important organizers of the revolutionary movement in Boston. He helped establish the committees of correspondence that linked colonial resistance across towns, used the Massacre and other events to build opposition to British rule, and played a leading role in the political organizing that led to the Tea Party. He was a master of political mobilization and propaganda.
4.During the Boston Tea Party, participants took care to destroy only the tea and left all other cargo aboard the ships untouched.
Answer:True
Multiple accounts, including George Robert Twelves Hewes's memoir, describe how participants were careful to destroy only the tea. One man who tried to pocket some tea for himself was reportedly disciplined by fellow participants. This deliberate restraint was important to the organizers, who wanted the action to be understood as a principled protest against the Tea Act, not as lawless theft or rioting.
5.Explain how the Siege of Boston (April 1775 – March 1776) transformed the conflict between the colonies and Britain from a political dispute into an armed military confrontation. What were its key developments and outcome?
Answer:[Accept answers that address the transition from political resistance to military conflict, the role of the Continental Army under Washington, the fortification of Dorchester Heights, and the British evacuation]
Strong answers will note that after Lexington and Concord, thousands of New England militia surrounded Boston, trapping the British garrison. The Continental Congress appointed George Washington to command this force, transforming a regional militia action into a continental military effort. The siege lasted nearly a year until Henry Knox brought artillery captured at Fort Ticonderoga, which Washington placed on Dorchester Heights overlooking the city. Faced with bombardment, General Howe evacuated British forces by sea on March 17, 1776. The siege marked the moment when the political crisis became an irreversible military conflict.
6.George Robert Twelves Hewes was an ordinary Boston shoemaker who participated in the Tea Party. Why is his account historically significant, and what challenges does it present as a source?
Answer:[Accept answers that address the rarity of working-class perspectives, the value of firsthand detail, and the problem of memory recorded decades after the event]
Strong answers will recognize that Hewes's account is one of very few working-class perspectives on the Revolution, providing details about the physical experience of the Tea Party that elite sources miss. However, his account was recorded in the 1830s, roughly sixty years after the event. Students should note that memory changes over time and that the political climate of the 1830s — with its renewed interest in revolutionary heritage — may have shaped how Hewes told his story.
7.What was the primary purpose of the Intolerable Acts (Coercive Acts) passed by Parliament in 1774?
Answer:A
The Intolerable Acts (called the Coercive Acts in Britain) were designed to punish Boston specifically and deter other colonies from resisting. The Boston Port Act closed the harbor. The Massachusetts Government Act stripped away much of the colony's self-governance. Instead of isolating Boston, however, these harsh measures generated sympathy across the colonies and helped push reluctant colonists toward united resistance.