The Boston Massacre unfolded on March 5, 1770, on King Street in Boston. While often depicted as a brutal act of British oppression, a closer look reveals the incident was the result of increasing friction between the colonists and the British authorities. 

A series of economic acts passed by the British Parliament in the 1760s designed to generate revenue and curb England’s massive debt from the French and Indian War sowed the seeds of discontent in the Massachusetts colony. Colonists in America fiercely resisted these measures, viewing them as an infringement on their rights as British citizens. While many colonists adopted a policy of economic boycotts to reverse the laws, others, especially those in Boston, resorted to violence. 

The presence of British troops in Boston further exacerbated tensions. The soldiers were dispatched to the town in the late 1760s to enforce the law and maintain the peace, but they were seen as an occupying force. Fights routinely broke out between the soldiers and residents, and tensions reached a near-boiling point when a Boston youth was shot and killed by a Loyalist on February 22, 1770. 

On the fateful evening of March 5, a minor altercation escalated into a deadly confrontation. A lone British soldier was harassed by a group of colonists, many of whom were teenagers. The sentry called for help, and a detachment from the 29th Regiment of Foot arrived. A shoving match between the parties quickly erupted. At the height of the confrontation, one of the soldiers was struck with a club. In response, he fired his musket, setting off a chain reaction. In the ensuing chaos, seven soldiers discharged their weapons into the crowd, resulting in the deaths of five civilians, including Crispus Attucks, a man of African and Native American descent. The soldiers and commanding officer were quickly arrested. 

Colonial leaders swiftly exploited the Boston Massacre as a powerful propaganda tool. Paul Revere’s iconic engraving, The Bloody Massacre, depicted the British soldiers as cold-blooded murderers who deliberately targeted innocent civilians. An anonymous account published in Boston claimed, “The soldiers … had attacked the people with their bayonets and that there was not the least provocation given.”¹ Samuel Adams, a prominent figure in the Sons of Liberty, portrayed the victims as martyrs and successfully forced the royal governor to withdraw the British soldiers garrisoned in Boston to a fortification known as Castle Island.² 

However, there were two sides to the story. British authorities argued the troops, facing a barrage of projectiles, acted in self-defense. Captain Thomas Preston, commanding officer of the British soldiers at the riot, later testified, “I saw the people in great commotion, and heard them use the most cruel and horrid threats against the troops … They immediately surrounded the sentry posted there, and with clubs and other weapons threatened to execute their vengeance on him.”³ A Loyalist account of the massacre noted the soldiers were forced to act in self-defense, having been “attacked by at least an hundred people, armed with bludgeons, sticks, and cutlasses.”⁴ 

The trial for the soldiers involved in the massacre began in October 1770. John Adams, a future U.S. president, served as the defense attorney for the British soldiers, demonstrating his commitment to upholding the principles of justice even when defending those unpopular at the time. 

The jury, composed of colonists, faced immense pressure from the public. Despite the intense scrutiny, the verdict was surprisingly mixed. Six of the eight soldiers were acquitted, while two were found guilty of manslaughter and had their thumbs branded. While not entirely satisfying to the colonists, this outcome further inflamed public opinion against British authority. 

Notes:

1 Massachusetts Historical Society. “A Short Narrative of the Horrid Massacre in Boston...,” accessed January 2, 2025, www.masshist.org/database/viewer.php?item_id=337.

2 National Parks Service. “Samuel Adams: Boston’s Radical Revolutionary,” accessed January 2, 2025, www.nps.gov/articles/000/samuel-adams-boston-revolutionary.htm.

3 Massachusetts Historical Society. “Case of Capt. Thomas Preston of the 29th Regiment,” accessed January 2, 2025, www.masshist.org/database/viewer.php?item_id=462&pid=2.

4 Massachusetts Historical Society. “A Fair Account of the Late Unhappy Disturbance at Boston in New England,” accessed January 2, 2025, www.masshist.org/database/viewer.php?item_id=386&pid=2.