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Legal Brief: The Boston Massacre

Assignment: As a lawyer assisting in the defense or the prosecution of the British soldiers accused of murder in the Boston Massacre, you must write a legal brief to explain why you think the soldiers are guilty or innocent of murder. Instructions:

1. Your brief should be 4 to 5 paragraphs long. 2. Your brief should present evidence to explain why you blame the colonists or the soldiers

for the Boston Massacre. 3. Your brief should include opponents’ claims and counter arguments. 4. Your brief should be persuasive and convincing. Use facts, statistics, and at least two

witnesses’ accounts. Cite your sources within the text. 5. Use your reading and websites on the Boston Massacre.

The Brief:

1. Create a T-Chart. Use the provided handout. You can use your own paper if it’s easier for you.

2. Create paragraphs from your T-Chart. Remember to use the Green-Yellow-Red paragraph structure.

3. Make sure you have topic sentences and facts to explain your decision, and use transition words within your paragraph.

4. Your audience is the jury and the community of Boston. 5. Use the third person, past tense. 6. Your brief should be free of grammatical and spelling errors. 7. Your brief should be written in blue or black pen, or printed. (front side only) 8. Include a work cited page.

The Cover

1. Create a cover for your brief. The cover should have a. A heading b. A title c. A propaganda style persuasive cover that illustrates your point of view with an

explanation

Grade 1. T-Chart (attached) – 20 2. Essay – 50 3. Cover – 10

Total = 80 points

Heading:__________________________________

__________________________________

__________________________________

Title_____________________________________________________________________

IntroductoryParagraphGuide(Green:Go!)

Trytoanswerthefollowingquestionsinyourintroduction:

• Createahook.• BrieflyexplainwhathappenedinthetragicBostonMassacre(2–3sentences)

o UseyourtextbookandLinks:BostonMassacreHistoricalSocietyo When?Where?o Whywasthereacrowd?Whofiredonthecrowd?o Howmanydead,wounded?o OtherFacts?

• ThesisStatement:WhodoyoublamefortheBostonMassacre:theBritishSoldiersortheColonists?List2reasons.

Par.1IntroductoryParagraph:

BodyParagraphsT-Chart

StarIdea–Paragraph2

First,____________________

________________________

________________________

________________________

________________________

________________________

________________________

________________________

(Yellow:Slowdown!Give

onereasontoblameagroup

fortheBostonMassacre)

QuoteReminder:

Thewitness,(name),said,“I

sawgunsandinjuries”

(Linder).Thistestimony

showed...

Red:Stop!(includefacts,statistics,1witnessquote.Besure

togiveanexample,evidence,explanation)

(dots,dashes)

Example:

Evidence:

Explanation:


StarIdea–Paragraph3(a

secondreasontoblame)

Optional

*Next,_______________

______________________

______________________

______________________

______________________

______________________

(Yellow:Slowdown!Give

onereasontoblameagroup

fortheBostonMassacre)

QuoteReminder:



(Linder).Thistestimony

showed...



(dots,dashes)

Example:

Evidence:

Explanation:


StarIdea–Paragraph4

OpposingClaimsandCounter

Arguments,Includea

transition!

*Theopposinglawyerargued

______________________

______________________

______________________

______________________

______________________

(Yellow:Slowdown!)

QuoteReminder:



(LInder).Thistestimony

showed...



(dots,dashes)

Example:

Evidence:

Explanation:

GuidingQuestions:Par.5Conclusion(Green)

* RestateThesisStatement:Whodoyoublame,theSoldiersortheColonists,for

theBostonMassacre?

* EndStrong:Summarizeyourcorroboratingandconclusivefacts!

TheColonistsweretoblamefortheBostonMassacre

T-ChartGuide:

YELLOWSTARIDEAS:Usethefollowingideasifneeded.(Youcanalsothinkofyourownor

combineideasindifferentways).

*StartwithIe:Onereason...,etc.

*TheColonistsofBostonprovokedtheBritishsoldiers

• RedDetails:Usefactsandstatisticstobackupyourargument!Makesureyouexplain!

o Explain:Crowdoutnumberedthesoldiers

o Explain:Crowdwasarmed,dangerous

o Explain:Soldiersfiredinself-defense

o Trytouseonequotefromthewitnessstatementstobackupdetails.

* CaptainPrestondidnotorderhismentofireonthecrowd.


o Explain:Captain’slocation

o Explain:Thecrowdyelledfireandinsultedatsoldiers

o ExplainCaptainPrestontoldhismennottofire

o Trytouseonequotefromthewitnessstatementstobackupdetails

*Thecrowdcausedthefirstshottobefired.


o Explain:Thefirstshotwasaccidental,asoldierwasstruckwithaclub

o Explain:Thefirstshotwasself-defense:


*Thecolonistsstartedtheconfrontationwithasoldierearlierintheday.


o Explain:Earlier,acolonistconfrontedaBritishsoldierattheCustomHouse

o Explain:ThesoldiercouldnotleavehispostanddefendedtheCustomHouse


TheSoldiersweretoblamefortheBostonMassacre

T-ChartGuide:

YELLOWSTARIDEAS:Usethefollowingideasifneeded.(Youcanalsothinkofyourownor

combineideasindifferentways).

*StartwithIe:Onereason...,etc.

*TheSoldiersfiredonaninnocentcrowd


o Explain:Thecolonistswereangry,butunarmed

o Explain:Thesoldierspanickedandfired.

o Explain:Couldhavefiredwarningshots,retreated

o Trytouseonequotefromthewitnessstatementstobackupdetails.

* CaptainPrestonorderedhismentofireonthecrowd.


o Explain:Captain’slocation

o Explain:MembersofthecrowdheardtheCaptainsayfire


*Thefirstshotwasnotanaccident


o AmemberofthecrowdstruckaBritishsoldier.

o Soldierfiredinretaliation.


*Thesoldiersstartedtheconfrontationwiththecolonistsearlierintheday.


o Explain:Earlier,afteraconfrontation,asoldierstruckacolonist.Sentryshould

haveretreated.(http://www.bostonmassacre.net/players/Hugh-White.htm)

o Explain:Thecrowdwouldnothaveformediftherewasnoconfrontation.


Rough Draft Work Cited Cite works alphabetically using the first word in the entry. (Don’t use The). Don’t forget to indent after the first line. You can use easy.bib.

Textbook:Author.BookTitle.City:Publisher,yearpublished.Appleby, Joyce, et al. United States History and Geography: __________________________. _______________, OH: McGraw Hill _____________________________, 2019.

Boston Gazette article from internet source: “Name of article,” name of website, date you accessed (day month year), web address. “Boston Massacre as reported in the _____________________________________________” Boston Massacre Historical _______________________, ___________________ _____________, <http://www.bostonmassacre.net>.

Facts, timeline, and witnesses from the Boston Massacre Historical Society website: Name of website. Website address. Date you accessed. (day month year) The Boston Massacre Historical _________________________________________. http://www.bostonmassacre.net/contact.htm. Accessed

Witness testimony for Boston Massacre from Famous Trials website: Name of editor, name of webpage. Name of sponsor, date of publication, website address. Date you accessed. (day month year) Linder, _______________________, ed. The Trial of Captain Preston: Key Evidence. UMKC School of _________, 2018, http://www.famous-trials.com. Accessed __________ __________________________.

In text citations:

• Typically, use the first entry of the citation.

Using Textbook: United States History and Geography: Growth and Conflict

(Appleby page number).

Using the Boston Gazette article:

(Boston Massacre reported in Boston Gazette).

Using the witness statements from the website Famous Trials (Trial of Captain Preston):

(Linder).

Using the witness statements or facts from the website Boston Massacre Historical Society:

(The Boston Massacre Historical Society).

Quote example: Captain Preston stated, “On this a general attack was made on the men by a great number of

heavy clubs and snowballs being thrown at them, by which all our lives were in imminent

danger . . .” (Linder).

Rough Draft: Body Paragraph

RoughDraft:BodyParagraph

Name ______________________________________________________Per. ____________

Brief Great Good Fair/Needed Work Persuasive

• used strong language • clearly described the

sequence of events. • used details to show

guilt/innocence • excellent, strong

explanations • used interesting, creative

language

• some strong language • sequence not always

clear, parts arts a little confusing

• could have used more creative words and stronger explanations.

• needed to use details better to explain guilt/innocence

• needed work on strong language and the description of events.

• some parts confusing, unexplained, or unconvincing. Did not have a good sequence of events

• did not really explain guilt or innocence

• unconvincing

Facts and witness accounts

• used appropriate, detailed facts, witnesses, and statistics to back up your opinion.

• excellent use of quotes • explained the importance

of your facts/quotes • had strong and

convincing conclusions based on facts

• Strong counter-arguments

• clear and easy to follow • all accurate information

• Used some facts/statistics and one or two witness accounts

• needed to explain the importance of the witnesses and facts/quotes better in a few places

• needed more details • had conclusions -– could

have explained more • Good counter-arguments • a few inaccuracies or

unsupported claims

• needed more information or facts to back up your opinion/ lacked details and supporting evidence,

• needed to use witness accounts/quotes/statistics in many places

• needed better explanations of the facts and evidence

• Needed better or missing counter-arguments

• disorganized, unclear • inaccurate in areas,

unsupported claims

Paragraph Structure

• intro. had clear, organized background information

• Had a creative, strong thesis statement, listed reasons

• well-organized, included topic sentences, facts, and explanations.

• went beyond the provided format, more creative and original

• (Green,Yellow,Red) • proper Work Cited

• Intro had background information, could have used a little more, been more organized

• Had a thesis statement – needed to use stronger language

• used topic sentences and followed the basic guidelines of the provided format. (Green,Yellow,Red)

• Work Cited OK

• intro needed more background information, organization, unclear

• needed a thesis statement – unclear who is to blame

• needed more organization and to follow the guidelines of the provided format (Green, Yellow, Red), hard to follow

• Work Cited incorrect/missing

Transition words

• used interesting and appropriate transitions

• used simple transitions • needed to use transitions

Spell/Gram. • Error Free • A few mistakes • Some Mistakes Brief Cover

• creative and original. • appropriate pictures and

thoughtful explanations

• Good pictures • needed more

explanation, thought, effort

• needed work on explanations and pictures, effort

Points _________________/_________________ Grade_____________________________

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