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Primary sourcePainting1770

The Fruits of Arbitrary Power, or the Bloody Massacre

Henry Pelham · 1770

Henry Pelham's original 1770 engraving of the Boston Massacre, which Paul Revere copied for his own famous print.

This original engraving depicts the shooting in which Attucks was fatally wounded, before Revere copied the design.

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Hand-colored engraving titled 'The Bloody Massacre perpetrated in King Street, Boston, on March 5th 1770 by a party of the 29th Regiment.' Red-coated soldiers in a line fire volleys at a crowd before a brick meeting-house with a steeple. Smoke fills the street. Bodies lie on the ground, some in pools of red. Verse appears in columns below, and the caption reads 'Engrav'd Printed & Sold by Paul Revere.'
Henry Pelham, The Fruits of Arbitrary Power, or the Bloody Massacre, 1770. American Antiquarian Society.

About this source

What it is

This engraving was made by Henry Pelham in 1770, depicting the Boston Massacre of March 5. Pelham lent a copy to Paul Revere, who copied the design without crediting him and sold his own version first. The original is held by the American Antiquarian Society.

Why it matters

This image shows British soldiers firing on a crowd of colonists, including Crispus Attucks, who was mortally wounded in the event. Comparing Pelham's original with Revere's better-known copy lets students see how images were reused and changed in the propaganda war following the massacre, and how credit and ownership mattered even in revolutionary politics.

  • How does this version compare to Revere's print of the same scene?
  • Why might Pelham have felt Revere took advantage of him?
  • What does this episode reveal about how images shaped public opinion in the 1770s?

This painting is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Crispus Attucks on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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Hand-colored engraving of the Boston Massacre on King Street: British soldiers in red coats fire volleys through smoke at a crowd of colonists, with people wounded and dead on the ground, a church steeple and Butcher's Hall in the background, and a verse and caption printed below.Painting

Primary source

The Bloody Massacre Perpetrated in King Street

Paul Revere · 1770

Scanned page of the Boston Gazette, March 12, 1770, reporting the funeral of Boston Massacre victims. Four coffin illustrations labeled SG, SM, JC, and CA, each with a skull and crossbones, appear beneath the printed text.Newspaper article

Primary source

Boston Gazette Report on the Boston Massacre Funeral

12 March 1770

A mostly black scanned cover of a book with a white Library of Congress label at bottom left showing a barcode and number 00005705010, and red stamp; top left reads E 215 .4 .B75 in white call number text.Book

Primary source

A Short Narrative of the Horrid Massacre in Boston

James Bowdoin, Samuel Pemberton, Joseph Warren · 1770

Scan of a newspaper column of text with four coffin illustrations in a row, each with initials (SG, SM, JC, CA), a skull and crossbones, and a skull over crossed bones. The coffins are dark with white outlines. Text above and below describes the funerals of victims of the Boston Massacre.Painting

Primary source

Four Coffins of Men Killed in the Boston Massacre

Paul Revere · 12 March 1770

Photograph of a dark gray slate headstone with a rounded top edged with small stones, in a shaded graveyard with grass and other gravestones behind it. The inscription lists the remains of Samuel Gray, Samuel Maverick, James Caldwell, Crispus Attucks and Patrick Carr, victims of the Boston Massacre, March 5th 1770, interred by order of the Town of Boston. It also notes Christopher Snider, aged 12, killed February 22nd 1770, and carries partly worn lines about independence and a 1876 date.Photograph

Secondary source

Boston Massacre Victims Grave

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