'A powerful piece of propaganda': The bloody 1770 image that fuelled the American Revolution

How a gory depiction of the 1770 Boston Massacre by Paul Revere ignited fury against British rule, becoming arguably the most effective example of propaganda in US history.

On the evening of 5 March 1770, in Boston, Massachusetts, icy snow coated the ground, and a lone British sentry stood guarding the Custom House, his breath forming clouds of white mist in the freezing air. Stepping out of the darkness, a teenager began taunting him and pelting him with snow, soon joined by a growing crowd.

Warning: This article contains a graphic image that some readers may find upsetting.

When soldiers were called to the sentry's aid, the confrontation escalated. The crowd hurled oyster shells, coal and hunks of ice at the soldiers, until the disturbance took a devastating turn. The British opened fire, leaving three men killed and two mortally wounded.

In Britain, the event was known euphemistically as "the incident on King Street", but locally it was named "the Boston Massacre". It proved a major catalyst for American Independence, which marks its 250th anniversary on 4 July and is being commemorated by cultural institutions across the US.

Three weeks after the massacre, a copperplate engraving made by the prominent silversmith Paul Revere, appeared for sale in Boston newspapers. It was titled The Bloody Massacre perpetrated in King Street, Boston on March 5, 1770, by a party of the 29th Regiment.

Its gory depiction of felled patriots streaming with blood being fired on by a line of smirking soldiers served to stoke anti-British sentiment and fan the flames of the rebellion.

One of 29 existing prints of the engraving resides at the Wichita Falls Museum of Art in Texas. The museum is marking the anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence with the exhibition Printing the American Revolution, which explores the role print media played in American Independence.

"Revere's rendering of the Boston Massacre was a powerful piece of propaganda, especially in a world where literacy rates ranged across regions and populations," Mary Draper, co-curator of the exhibition and associate professor of History at Midwestern State University, tells the BBC. "By arranging the British soldiers in an orderly line and capturing the chaos of the unarmed colonists, he conveyed a clear message about who was at fault and who were the victims. It rallied colonists to resist British rule." 

The work also contains hidden messages about who is at fault: a "Butcher's Hall" sign hangs over the British soldiers, while a dog, a symbol of loyalty, is prominent among the colonists. "This image is obviously intended to incite in the viewer outrage at what is happening because it's showing defenceless citizens being gunned down by soldiers," Constance McPhee, co-curator of Revolution! at The Met Fifth Avenue, New York, tells the BBC.

The engraving is a highlight of the show, which unites artworks that provide insights into the origins of the American Revolution and the ensuing events. The image........

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