History of the Boston Massacre: March 5, 1770

The Bloody Massacre by Paul Revere, an engraving depicting the Boston Massacre in March 1770. Image: Wikimedia

HISTORY OF THE BOSTON MASSACRE

Part of the series on America 250, the US Semiquincentennial

On March 5, 1770, a confrontation between British soldiers stationed in Boston and a crowd of sailors and dockworkers led to the death of five colonists. It became known in America as the Boston Massacre or the “Bloody Massacre.”

However, in England, it was called the Incident on King Street or “An Unhappy Disturbance.”

What led up to it, what actually occurred, who defended the British soldiers, and what happened afterward?

The Incident

The incident began as a confrontation over a lone soldier. It escalated when a mob of 300 to 400 colonists threw projectiles (snow, ice, rocks), leading reinforcing soldiers to fire, and was used by Patriots like Samuel Adams and Paul Revere as powerful propaganda, galvanizing anti-British sentiment and pushing the colonies closer to revolution.

The location was the Custom House on King Street, now known as the Old State House.

Old State House in Boston, called the “Site of the Boston Massacre,” which occurred nearby. Image: Wikipedia

The Cause of the Boston Massacre

In essence, these Boston leaders sought to control import duties for the town without interference from the English Parliament. Bostonians had rioted against the Stamp Act since 1765. The fight over taxes and representation led to violent street clashes between Bostonians and royal customs officials. Growing resentment against the occupying British troops also contributed.

The Victims of the Boston Massacre

What ended with five civilians killed by gunfire, Crispus Attucks, Samuel Gray, James Caldwell, Samuel Maverick, and Patrick Carr, led to the rallying of Bostonians against the Crown and the evacuation of troops in Boston. They would not return until 1774.

Key Victim of the Boston Massacre

Crispus Attucks, killed in the Boston Massacre, produced just prior to the American Civil War. Image: Wikipedia

The first of those killed was Crispus Attucks, a free sailor of mixed African and Native American ancestry. Two musket balls were found in his chest. As he had no family or home in Boston, his body lay in state at Faneuil Hall, Boston. The defense of the soldiers doing the shooting suggested that Attucks and the others were the aggressors, playing on the jury’s prejudices about race and class, describing them as:

“a motley rabble of saucy boys, Negroes, and mulattos, Irish teagues and outlandish jack tars.” In other words, young out-of-town lower-class sailors.

The Trial for the British Soldiers

John Adams (1766). Image: Wikipedia

At the trial of the British soldiers involved, the defense argued that the soldiers had acted in self-defense. Who gave that defense? None other than John Adams, the future second president of the United States.

He had no sympathy for the British government and was a strong opponent of the Stamp Act and any form of taxation without representation. Nevertheless, he argued to the jury:

“The fact, was the slaying five unhappy persons that night; you are to consider, whether it was justifiable, excusable, or felonious; and if felonious, whether it was murder or manslaughter. One of these four it must be, you need not divide your attention to any more particulars.”

His argument led to an acquittal for the English Captain Preston and all but two of the soldiers, who were convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to branding on the thumb, according to the law at that time.

The Aftermath of the Boston Massacre

Paul Revere, engraver, made an engraving (at top) of the incident, which was widely distributed to fuel anti-British sentiment and enflame revolutionary fervor, becoming a key moment in the lead-up to the American Revolution.

March 12, 1770 Boston Gazette newspaper report depicting coffins with initials of 4 victims. Image: Wikipedia

Bill Petro, your friendly neighborhood historian
billpetro.com