Boston Massacre CSI Project

This middle-school level DBQ is a CSI-style investigation using 5 primary source documents and a case overview. You can complete the activity using only the primary source documents, or you can collect a few props to create an actual crime scene in your classroom.

Students are required to analyze evidence from the primary sources, which include newspapers from the time period and witness statements, and complete a chart to help them in comparing the descriptions of the Boston Massacre from various perspectives. Students then need to determine what really happened by comparing statements and judging whether or not each source is biased.

If you choose to set up an actual crime scene (with "snow balls," a bat, sticks, a "musket ball," "blood," and a body outline, there is an additional chart for students to sketch the physical evidence and document their inferences.

Finally students will write a brief summary of what they believe occurred, judge whether or not the British soldiers are guilty of murder, and cite and explain the evidence they have gathered to support their argument.