Fact, opinion and loaded words in writing about the past

Grade 8 Social Studies Worksheet

Circle the best answer.

1. Read this first

   Use this

   The shooting on King Street, Boston, March 5, 1770. Card A, a print (Paul Revere, a Boston silversmith and Patriot, based on a drawing by Henry Pelham; published within weeks; for Boston and colonial readers; to win sympathy against British troops). Its title: "The Bloody Massacre perpetrated in King-Street Boston on March 5th 1770 by a Party of the 29th Regt." Card B, a summary in our words: Captain Thomas Preston, the officer in charge of the soldiers, wrote from jail in March 1770 that he did not order his men to fire and that the crowd was threatening them. Card C, a summary in our words from the National Park Service and the Massachusetts Historical Society: on March 5, 1770, British soldiers fired into a crowd on King Street in Boston, and five colonists died. A jury found Preston not guilty in October, and in December 1770 six soldiers were found not guilty and two were found guilty of manslaughter.

2. 1.

   Which choice best describes what the loaded title of card A does, Ari asks?

   • State the court's verdict on what happened that night
   • Frame the shooting as a slaughter before any trial
   • Record what the soldiers themselves claimed about the crowd
   • Give a neutral count of the people who lost their lives
3. 2.

   Revere made card A to win sympathy; Preston wrote card B to defend himself. What do the two sources share, Bo asks?

   • Each is false because it shows just one side of events
   • Each was written by a soldier who fired that night
   • Each was written by a neutral person who had no stake
   • Each came from someone with a stake in the verdict
4. 3.

   Preston said he did not order his men to fire. How could Esme check that claim?

   • Compare it with what trial witnesses said they heard
   • Check a weather report for the night of March 5, 1770
   • It is already settled by the title printed on card A
   • It cannot be checked, since it is just his own opinion
5. 4.

   Which statement is best supported by all three cards, Kira asks?

   • The crowd alone was at fault for what happened that night
   • The soldiers alone were at fault for what happened that night
   • The three sources agree about who was to blame that night
   • People described it differently, but five lost their lives
6. 5.

   Which sentence describes the event with the fewest loaded words, Luz asks?

   • A wild mob attacked brave soldiers who were doing their duty
   • Soldiers slaughtered peaceful citizens in the streets of Boston
   • On March 5, 1770, soldiers fired into a Boston crowd
   • A sad accident happened when soldiers were bullied by a gang

7. Use this

   The trial, December 1770. Card D, a speech (John Adams, a Patriot lawyer who agreed to defend the soldiers, speaking to the jury in December 1770; spelling modernized): "Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passion, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence." Card E, a summary in our words: at the trial, witnesses did not agree about the crowd. Some said people threw snowballs, ice and sticks at the soldiers. Others said the crowd was not violent.

8. 6.

   What does 'Facts are stubborn things' mean in card D, Milo asks?

   • Facts are hard to find, so juries should simply guess
   • Facts change as people's feelings and wishes change
   • Evidence stays as it is, whatever people feel
   • Facts tend to favor the side with the better courtroom lawyer
9. 7.

   Adams was a Patriot defending British soldiers. Why is that useful to a historian reading card D, Noah asks?

   • It shows that the soldiers were innocent on each of the counts
   • It shows Patriots agreed as a group on the soldiers' innocence
   • He argued against local anger, so his plea carries weight
   • It makes him worthless as a source, being on the soldiers' side
10. 8.

    Card E says witnesses did not agree. What should a historian do, Pia asks?

    • Throw out the conflicting testimony as useless to history
    • Compare accounts and find where they overlap
    • Pick the account that matches the historian's guess
    • Use just the account that blames the soldiers for it
11. 9.

    Which statement fits cards D and E together, Ren asks?

    • Adams proved to the jury that the crowd had been violent
    • Witnesses agreed on each detail of what happened that night
    • Despite a call for facts, witnesses gave different accounts
    • The trial ended the dispute about the event for good in 1770
12. 10.

    Some people called the crowd a 'mob' and others called it 'citizens.' What does the choice of word do, Tala asks?

    • It tilts the reader toward one side or the other
    • It gives the exact number of people who were in the crowd
    • It settles whether the crowd threw objects at the soldiers
    • It shows the date and hour on which the crowd had formed