Summary
Highlights
On the same day Parliament repealed most of the Townshend Acts, a bloody riot erupted in Boston. The continuous arrival of British troops had significantly increased tensions between Bostonians and the Redcoats. Soldiers and civilians frequently clashed, contributing to a hostile atmosphere in the city. British soldiers, facing low pay and boredom, often sought second jobs, leading to resentment from male Bostonians who felt their livelihoods and attention of women were threatened.
On March 5, 1770, a lone British soldier guarding the customs house exchanged insults with a young colonist. The intoxicated colonist poked the soldier, who retaliated by striking him with his rifle butt. The fallen colonist's shouts attracted a large, drunken crowd from nearby taverns. Six more British soldiers arrived to support the lone guard, forming a group of seven surrounded by an angry mob that quickly grew to hundreds. A church bell began ringing, exacerbating the chaos.
The mob began pelting the soldiers with ice and snowballs. Crispus Attucks, a man of Native American and African descent, challenged a soldier to fire. Despite an officer's order for the magistrate to read the Riot Act, he refused out of fear. When a soldier was struck with a club and fell, then struck again after rising, he fired his musket. The other soldiers took this as a signal and also fired into the crowd. Crispus Attucks and four other Bostonians were killed, and six more were wounded, causing the mob to flee.
For hours, Boston teetered on the edge of a bloodbath. Citizens were outraged, and the Sons of Liberty, armed, outnumbered the Redcoats five to one. Lt. Governor Thomas Hutchinson's promise to try the soldiers for murder eventually calmed the enraged colonists. The event became known as the Boston Massacre. Paul Revere created a propagandistic print titled 'The Bloody Massacre perpetrated in King Street,' which the Sons of Liberty used effectively. British troops were withdrawn from the city, and the implicated soldiers were put on trial for murder.
Sam Adams spearheaded the trial efforts, while, in an ironic twist, his cousin John Adams defended the seven soldiers. John Adams argued that 'emotions cannot override facts' and that the soldiers acted in self-defense. The soldiers were found not guilty, though two had their thumbs branded for accidentally killing people in the crowd. All the soldiers were forced to leave the American colonies for their own safety.