Question

which of the following best describes how boston massacre demonstrated colonial attitudes as of 1770, five years before the outbreak of the revolutionary war?
a. the massacres victims became known in retrospect as the first martyrs of the american revolutionary cause.
b. the massacre created the earliest doubts among colonists that their rights were well protected under the existing imperial system.
c. the massacre was the final straw that pushed even the most hesitant colonists the the conclusion that independence from britain was necessary.
d. the massacre revealed the seriousness of long-simmering tensions between colonists and parliament, but also showed that most americans still saw independence as too radical a step.

Explanation:

• Option a: While the victims were seen as martyrs later, this doesn't fully capture the 1770 colonial attitude.
• Option b: Doubts about rights protection were not the earliest here; there were prior issues.
• Option c: The Boston Massacre was not the final straw for independence in 1770.
• Option d: The Boston Massacre did reveal tensions (like between colonists and British troops/Parliament - as troops were seen as a symbol of imperial control), but in 1770 most colonists still hoped for reconciliation within the empire (independence was radical then).

Answer:

d. The Massacre revealed the seriousness of long - simmering tensions between colonists and Parliament, but also showed that most Americans still saw independence as too radical a step.