The Boston Massacre
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| Revolutionary America, Boston Massacre 1770 | The American boycott of the Townshend Acts, which taxed paper, paint, lead, and tea, angered the British. Four thousand British soldiers were posted in Boston to try to force colonists to pay these duties. Bostonians resented the soldiers' presence, and arguments and incidents were commonplace. In one such argument, a sentry struck a merchant with the butt of his musket, triggering a crowd to throw things at the sentry. The crowd taunted them to fire their weapons, knowing they were forbidden to. Five were killed by soldiers' fire, and the "Boston Massacre" fueled American resistance. |
| Boston Massacre Trial of 1770 | Provides an account of the Boston Massacre trials which took place in 1770. Presents a chronology of events leading to the massacre, descriptions and background information on the key figures involved, and numerous images of artworks. Excerpts of trial accounts, John Adam's summation and diary entries, and eyewitness testimony and massacre accounts are presented along with indictments. A modern-day article provides an overview of the massacre and trial and gives historical perspective. |
| Today in History: March 5- the Boston Massacre | Bostonians and British sentries guarding the Boston Customs House had a conflict on March 5, 1770 which became known as the Boston Massacre. Soldiers shot into the crowd after one of them was struck by a snowball, in spite of orders to not fire. Crispus Attucks, an escaped slave, led the attack on the soldiers, despite the risk to his freedom. He was one of the men who died in the conflict, and became a symbol of patriotism. |
| Anonymous Account of the Boston Massacre | Every story has two sides; this anonymous account of the Boston Massacre tells one of those sides. A horrible massacre occurred in Boston on March 5, 1770. The happy union between the colonies and Britain had been interrupted by the Stamp Act and other British taxation. The Board of Commissioners chose Boston as a base and his Majesty's regiments invaded, despite it being peace time, and quartered there. Sentinels posted around town caused uneasiness and quarrels with the inhabitants. Eleven were killed in this attack by the soldiers when their muskets were fired. |
| Boston Massacre | The Boston Massacre was an incident which helped lead to the American Revolution. In 1770, British soldiers fired on unarmed colonists in Boston during a riot. The incident was fueled by the resentment the people of Boston had toward the British troops sent to collect taxes. The riot began when colonists threw snowballs at a sentry, and soldiers fired, killing five men. John Adams defended British soldiers in a trial when Captain Thomas Preston and eight soldiers were tried for murder. |
| Boston Massacre Historical Society | Five men were killed by British soldiers on March 5, 1770. This incident is known as the Boston Massacre. British soldiers, supposedly in Boston to keep order, were seen as spies by the townspeople. The incident began when an apprentice insulted a British sentry and was knocked down by his rifle. The boy returned with a mob and faced Captain John Preston and his guard. They threw snowballs and hit the soldiers with clubs, and were fired upon by the soldiers. Find out why it was called a "massacre" and read about the British trial and viewpoint. |
| The Account of The Boston Massacre as Reported in The Boston Gazette and Country Journal | Read the Boston Gazette and Country Journal. On March 12, 1770, they published a report on the Boston Massacre. Read the original report that the citizens of Boston read. Four youths encountered a soldier with a broad sword and his companion, who had a cudgel. The youths fought back, but were unarmed, except for a stick and snowballs. More soldiers and lads joined the fight. The soldiers were driven back to their barracks, but soon overpowered the boys, firing their weapons. Three men died instantly, and several more were wounded, some fatally. |
| Captain Thomas Preston's Account of the Boston Massacre | The inhabitants of Boston tried by all means to weaken his Majesty's troops. Several disputes arose between the soldiers and the inhabitants, and the soldiers were alarmed by the malice and the concealed weapons of the townspeople. A mob of 100 people threatened the sentry ay the custom house; a dozen soldiers came to his aid. The mob would not retire peacefully, and a soldier was struck with a club, so other soldiers fired against the officer's orders. In a council, witnesses swore the officer gave the order to fire, although the officer denied it. |
| The Boston Massacre | Tensions had been growing between the colonists and British soldiers for a year and a half. On March 5, 1770, five men were killed by British soldiers in Boston after a young apprentice insulted a British officer. The church bells rang after the boy was attacked, drawing a crowd of nearly 400 men, led by Crispus Attucks. The colonists dared the soldiers to fire, and the squad fired into the crowd. This event, known as the Boston Massacre, was used by radicals to encourage anti-British feelings. |
| The Boston Massacre | Archiving Early America features an array of primary source material from eighteenth-century America, including scenes, portraits, maps, articles, and newspapers--"just as they appeared to this country's forebears more than two centuries ago." The site's resources include entries arranged under such tabs as Freedom Documents, Notable Women, Milestone Events, Pages from the Past, Famous Obits, and Lives of Famous Americans. Subtitled "A Behind-the-Scenes Look at Paul Revere's Most Famous Engraving," this article first appeared in the Winter 1996-97 issue of The Early American Review. |