The Boxer Rebellion started in late in 1899 in China. They were called the Boxers by the western people because they practiced calisthenic rituals and boxing because they believed it would protect them from firearms.
It was mainly a group of people that were trying to stop westernization, which is western ideas coming back to their land. Around 70% of all Boxers were common people who were trying to save the Chinese way of life. The main thing that these people targeted was the railroads because it was the most western thing that was coming to China, and they didn't know if it would be good or bad. Many people were killed in the rebellion because they were trying to make a point that they wanted to keep their way of life. I can understand that the people were very protective of their way of life, but I don't think that they needed to get as violent as they did. I also get that in these times people wouldn't listen to you as easily, but killing hundreds of people seems kind of excessive. 
The Boxer group didn't just kill people that were running the railroads, they targeted nearly any western person in the area. In early 1900, they moved the majority of their fighting to Beijing because that is where most of the people worked and stayed. For a few weeks we didn't know if a US diplomat was alive or dead. When we thought we had contacted him we asked what his sisters name was. His returning telegraph said: "My sister's name is Alta." After that, Alta, became on of the most popular baby names for a short while. I think it is kinda funny how people named their children Alta just because she was the sister of a US diplomat that was possibly captured.
In the summer of 1900, President McKinley teamed up with the German, Japanese, French, and British forces to put an end to the mass murdering taking place. We went in to China and started killing all the people that were a part of the Boxers or had been helping them. When China realized what was going on, part of the Chinese army joined the Boxers and they declared war on us and our allies. We started fighting back and quickly massacred many of the Boxers, basically making a point that it was not okay to do this, and its not going to happen again. I know that we needed to take control and stop them from killing more people, but I don't think that we need to be as violent as they were. I found other websites that said we put their heads on stakes and placed them around the city.
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Great job Mason!