The Boston Massacre occurred when British soldiers
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Boston was a pretty tense place in early 1770. Colonists objected to the taxes, declaring that Parliament had no right to impose taxes on them without their agreement. British soldiers were present to quiet riots that were taking place over the actions of the tax-collection agency, the Board of Customs Commissioners. Its agents and commissioners were enriching themselves by levying heavy fines for minor violations, spying on alleged violators, and even seizing property for little reason. Show To make things worse, the soldiers sent to Boston were poorly paid, and some of them tried to find part-time work. This practice didn't sit well with many Bostonians, so it wasn't unusual for fights to break out between soldiers and groups of colonists. On the night of March 5, 1770, a small mob of colonists began throwing rocks and snowballs at a British sentry outside the customs house. Twenty British soldiers appeared with fixed bayonets, and the crowd grew to about 100 boys and men. After about 30 minutes of being taunted and pelted with rocks and sticks, one of the soldiers opened fire into the melee. A few minutes later, 11 members of the mob were dead or wounded. Although the soldiers had been provoked, and several were later brought to trial, patriots Samuel Adams and Paul Revere tried to use the incident to stir up anti-British passions. In fact, the "Boston Massacre" didn't trigger further resistance, and tensions between the colonies and Britain eased temporarily. If you're seeing this message, it means we're having trouble loading external resources on our website. If you're behind a web filter, please make sure that the domains *.kastatic.org and *.kasandbox.org are unblocked. Late in the afternoon of March 5, 1770, British sentries guarding the Boston Customs House shot into a crowd of civilians, killing three men and injuring eight, two of them mortally. Surrounded by jeering Bostonians slinging hard-packed snowballs, the small group of soldiers lost control when one of their number was struck. The soldiers fired despite explicit orders to the contrary. African-American sailor Crispus Attucks was the first to fall. Attucks’ past remains mysterious, but he likely escaped slavery around 1750 and spent the next twenty years working whaling ships. The only victim of the Boston Massacre whose name became widely known, Crispus Attucks was memorialized as the first hero of the American Revolution. The Boston Massacre reflected growing tension between Great Britain and its American colonies. Burdened by debt accumulated during the French and Indian War, the British government attempted to exercise greater control over its American colonies while simultaneously increasing revenues. Beginning in 1764, a series of acts and proclamations limited westward expansion, created new levels of British bureaucracy on American soil, and raised taxes. The Stamp Act, considered particularly egregious by the colonists, levied a duty on all paper documents. Everything from playing cards and newspapers to wills and bills of sale carried this additional tax. The Boston Massacre helped galvanize Boston and the colonies against the mother country. Samuel Adams, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, played a leading role in framing the March 5 incident as a battle for American liberty. By transforming the dead rioters into martyrs for liberty, Sam Adams secured removal of British troops from Boston. Interestingly, Adams’ second cousin, patriot and future president John Adams, defended the soldiers at their trial.  In the nineteenth century, Crispus Attucks served as an important symbol of the patriotism and military valor of the African-American people. “When in 1776 the Negro was asked to decide between British oppression and American independence,” renowned educator Booker T. Washington observed in an 1898 address, “we find him choosing the better part and Crispus Attucks, a Negro, was the first to shed his blood on State Street, Boston, that the white American might enjoy liberty forever, though his race remained in slavery.” Considering his probable status as an escaped slave, Attucks risked personal liberty as well as his life by participating in the demonstration. Why did the British start the Boston Massacre?What caused the Boston Massacre? The cause of the Boston Massacre had to do with taxation without representation. In addition to this, British troops had been sent to Boston to enforce tax laws and the colonists resented the British troops.
What happened to the British soldiers involved in the Boston Massacre?Six of the soldiers were acquitted; the other two were convicted of manslaughter and given reduced sentences. The two found guilty of manslaughter were sentenced to branding on their hand.
How did the Boston Massacre happen?The violent clash on March 5, 1770 began with an argument that led to a riot outside of the Customs House. Captain Preston of the 29th Regiment arrived with eight fellow Redcoats to extract White from the square. The crowd pressed on the soldiers and shots were fired by the Redcoats.
What happened during the Boston Massacre?The Boston Massacre was a street fight that occurred on March 5, 1770, between a "patriot" mob, throwing snowballs, stones, and sticks, and a squad of British soldiers. Several colonists were killed and this led to a campaign by speech-writers to rouse the ire of the citizenry.
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