The road to the American Revolution took a dramatic turn on March 5th, 1770. Newspapers across the American colonies labeled it a massacre. A British officer claimed that colonists had a malicious temper and had attacked with vengeance. The real story lies somewhere in between, but nevertheless, was a pivotal moment in the lead-up to the Revolutionary War. We call the event the Boston Massacre. Does it live up to its name?
That's for you to decide. By 1770, a series of acts and taxes had led to rising frustration amongst the American colonists. They saw the taxes imposed by the Sugar Act, Stamp Act, Quartering Act, Declaratory Act, and Townshend Acts as a direct violation of their rights as British citizens. The colonists claimed that they were being forced to pay taxes without any representation in British Parliament. A common rallying cry became, No taxation without representation!
By 1770, that rallying cry was growing closer to a battle cry. British soldiers had been occupying the city of Boston since 1768 in an effort to exert control over the American colonies. It didn't go over well. Instead of controlling the colonists, the military presence caused the relationship between the colonies and Great Britain to worsen further.
Angry mobs were frequent sights in the streets of Boston, and tensions were higher than ever. On March 5, 1770, a young man named Edward Garrick walked past the Customs House on King Street. He got into a verbal fight with Private Hugh White, who was stationed outside.
The harsh words turned physical when the Private hit Edward Garrick on the side of his head with a musket. Word spread, and soon an angry mob gathered outside the customs house. British reinforcements were called, and eight soldiers stood their ground against a mob of over 300 people who were tired of the soldiers trying to quell a spirit of liberty in the colonies.
Colonists began throwing snowballs and rocks while hurling insults at the soldiers. They dared the soldiers to fire their weapons into the crowd. In response, the British soldiers loaded their weapons. The colonists continued to launch rocks, pieces of wood, and swore at the soldiers.
At one point, a club was thrown from the crowd and hit one of the British soldiers. It fell to the ground. A volley of musket fire from the British soldiers quickly followed. The first man killed was a former slave named Crispus Atticus. Four more men were killed and six others were wounded.
The crowd disappeared and quickly spread word of the massacre on the streets of Boston, Massachusetts. The next day, eight soldiers and their commander, Captain Thomas Preston, were arrested and charged with murder. a patriot named John Adams agreed to defend the soldiers in court and promised them a fair trial.
Adams was a talented lawyer, and the American public was shocked when the verdict was read. Two soldiers were found guilty of manslaughter, and six others were found not guilty. Despite the verdict, news of the event spread like wildfire around the colonies after Paul Revere made an engraving of the fight.
Its title? The Bloody Massacre. The Bloody Massacre became a defining moment in the road to the Revolution. The colonies in Great Britain were careening headlong into a much bigger, and much more deadly, conflict. Hey everyone, thanks for watching.
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