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 Introductory Paragraph Guide (Green: Go!) Try to answer the following questions in your introduction: Create a hook. Briefly explain what happened in the tragic Boston Massacre (2 3 sentences) o Use your textbook and Links: Boston Massacre Historical Society o When? Where? o Why was there a crowd? Who fired on the crowd? o How many dead, wounded? o Other Facts? Thesis Statement: Who do you blame for the Boston Massacre: the British Soldiers or the Colonists? List 2 reasons. Par. 1 Introductory Paragraph:
Body Paragraphs T-Chart Star Idea Paragraph 2 First, (Yellow: Slow down! Give one reason to blame a group for the Boston Massacre) Red: Stop! (include facts, statistics, 1 witness quote. Be sure to give an example, evidence, explanation) (dots, dashes) Example: Evidence: Quote Reminder: The witness, (name), said, I saw guns and injuries (Linder). This testimony showed... Explanation:
Body Paragraphs T-Chart Star Idea Paragraph 3 (a second reason to blame) Optional *Next, (Yellow: Slow down! Give one reason to blame a group for the Boston Massacre) Red: Stop! (include facts, statistics, 1 witness quote. Be sure to give an example, evidence, explanation) (dots, dashes) Example: Evidence: Quote Reminder: The witness, (name), said, I saw guns and injuries (Linder). This testimony showed... Explanation:
Body Paragraphs T-Chart Star Idea Paragraph 4 Opposing Claims and Counter Arguments, Include a transition! *The opposing lawyer argued (Yellow: Slow down!) Red: Stop! (include facts, statistics, 1 witness quote. Be sure to give an example, evidence, explanation) (dots, dashes) Example: Evidence: Quote Reminder: The witness, (name), said, I saw guns and injuries (LInder). This testimony showed... Explanation:
Guiding Questions: Par. 5 Conclusion (Green) * Restate Thesis Statement: Who do you blame, the Soldiers or the Colonists, for the Boston Massacre? * End Strong: Summarize your corroborating and conclusive facts!
The Colonists were to blame for the Boston Massacre T-Chart Guide: YELLOW STAR IDEAS: Use the following ideas if needed. (You can also think of your own or combine ideas in different ways). * Start with Ie: One reason..., etc. * The Colonists of Boston provoked the British soldiers o Explain: Crowd outnumbered the soldiers o Explain: Crowd was armed, dangerous o Explain: Soldiers fired in self-defense o Try to use one quote from the witness statements to back up details. * Captain Preston did not order his men to fire on the crowd. o Explain: Captain s location o Explain: The crowd yelled fire and insulted at soldiers o Explain Captain Preston told his men not to fire o Try to use one quote from the witness statements to back up details * The crowd caused the first shot to be fired. o Explain: The first shot was accidental, a soldier was struck with a club o Explain: The first shot was self-defense: o Try to use one quote from the witness statements to back up details * The colonists started the confrontation with a soldier earlier in the day. o Explain: Earlier, a colonist confronted a British soldier at the Custom House o Explain: The soldier could not leave his post and defended the Custom House o Try to use one quote from the witness statements to back up details
The Soldiers were to blame for the Boston Massacre T-Chart Guide: YELLOW STAR IDEAS: Use the following ideas if needed. (You can also think of your own or combine ideas in different ways). * Start with Ie: One reason..., etc. * The Soldiers fired on an innocent crowd o Explain: The colonists were angry, but unarmed o Explain: The soldiers panicked and fired. o Explain: Could have fired warning shots, retreated o Try to use one quote from the witness statements to back up details. * Captain Preston ordered his men to fire on the crowd. o Explain: Captain s location o Explain: Members of the crowd heard the Captain say fire o Try to use one quote from the witness statements to back up details * The first shot was not an accident o A member of the crowd struck a British soldier. o Soldier fired in retaliation. o Try to use one quote from the witness statements to back up details * The soldiers started the confrontation with the colonists earlier in the day. o Explain: Earlier, after a confrontation, a soldier struck a colonist. Sentry should have retreated. (http://www.bostonmassacre.net/players/hugh-white.htm) o Explain: The crowd would not have formed if there was no confrontation. o Try to use one quote from the witness statements to back up details
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. Book Title. City: Publisher, year published. 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 In text citations: School of, 2018, http://www.famous-trials.com. Accessed. 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
Rough Draft: Body Paragraph
Rough Draft: Body Paragraph
Name Per. Brief Great Good Fair/Needed Work Persuasive used strong language some strong language needed work on strong clearly described the sequence not always language and the sequence of events. clear, parts arts a little description of events. used details to show confusing some parts confusing, guilt/innocence could have used more unexplained, or excellent, strong explanations creative words and stronger explanations. unconvincing. Did not have a good sequence of used interesting, creative needed to use details events language better to explain did not really explain guilt guilt/innocence 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 counterarguments 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 used interesting and appropriate transitions 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 used simple transitions needed to use transitions words Spell/Gram. Error Free A few mistakes Some Mistakes Brief Cover creative and original. needed work on appropriate pictures and explanations and pictures, thoughtful explanations effort Good pictures needed more explanation, thought, effort Points / Grade