Boston Massacre Facts
The “Boston Massacre” was an event that took place on March 5, 1770, when British troops fired into a mob in Boston, Massachusetts, killing several colonists, including Crispus Attucks.
- The incident started when a teenage boy named Edward Garrick insulted Captain John Goldfinch.
- Then Garrick had words with Private Hugh White, which led to White hitting Garrick in the head with his musket.
- A crowd gathered and started throwing rocks, sticks, snowballs, and other objects at the soldiers.
- Captain Thomas Preston was on duty and went to the scene with six privates.
- The commotion led to church bells being rung, which usually meant there was a fire. Townspeople, including John Adams, ran to the scene.
- One of Preston’s men, Private Hugh Montgomery, fired into the crowd. It may have been accidental. Crispus Attucks was killed.
- Some of the other soldiers panicked and fired into the mob.
- Preston called out more troops and they took a defensive position in front of the Town House.
- Governor Thomas Hutchinson arrived on the scene and helped calm things down. He promised to conduct an investigation, but only if the crowd dispersed and went home. The mob broke up and order was restored.
- Samuel Adams called it the “Boston Massacre.”
Boston Massacre Causes
Liberty Affair
The Liberty Affair was an incident that took place in Boston after British customs officials seized a ship owned by John Hancock, the wealthy merchant and prominent member of the Sons of Liberty. A violent riot followed, and British officials responded by sending troops to occupy Boston, setting the stage for the Boston Massacre.
- On May 9, 1768, Hancock’s ship, Liberty, arrived at Boston, carrying casks of Madeira Wine. British customs officials suspected the ship was carrying more casks than what was listed on the manifest, which meant Hancock was smuggling them, hoping to avoid paying the taxes.
- After the arrival of the man-of-war HMS Romney, two weeks later, Kirk decided to tell customs officials what really happened. The presence of the Romney likely made Kirk believe he would be protected from reprisal.
- Joseph Harrison (Collector of the Port of Boston) and Benjamin Hallowell (Comptroller of the Port of Boston) seized the Liberty on June 10 and had it towed out into Boston Harbor, where it was anchored near the Romney.
- Moving the Liberty away from the wharf outraged Bostonians, who responded by rioting and destroying the homes of Harrison and Hallowell. Fearing for their safety, they fled to Castle Island in Boston Harbor.
Occupation of Boston by British Military Forces
Parliament responded to the Liberty Affair by sending British soldiers to Boston to help maintain order and enforce the Townshend Acts and Navigation Acts. The troops landed in the city on October 1, 1768.
- The people of Boston resented the presence of the British troops.
- The troops also conducted themselves poorly and antagonized the citizens.
- This led to both parties tormenting and harassing each other, which often led to fights and riots.
Although the number of British troops in Boston was reduced in 1769, the Redcoats continued to cause trouble:
- The British commanders paraded their men through the streets on a frequent basis.
- On Sundays, the troops would race their horses through the streets.
- The people accused the troops of taking jobs from them.
The Battle of Golden Hill in New York City
The Battle of Golden Hill, also known as the “Golden Hill Riot,” took place in New York City in January 1770. Citizens and workers of New York and members of the Sons of Liberty, led by Isaac Sears, John Lamb, and Alexander McDougall, fought with British Redcoats in the streets of the city — almost two months before the Boston Massacre.
- In late January, two days of riots occurred in New York City, which was the result of resistance to the Quartering Act of 17675.
- The incident is known as the Battle of Golden Hill.
- During the riots, British soldiers attacked some citizens and wounded them. Some were severely injured, and there were rumors that one person was killed.
- Although the death has never been proven, the British did inflict serious wounds on some colonists, which may give the Battle of Golden Hill the distinction of being the “first bloodshed of the American Revolution.”
The Death and Funeral of Christopher Seider
On February 22, about a month after the Battle of Golden Hill a young boy named Christopher Seider was shot and killed by a Loyalist named Ebeneezer Richardson. Some historians consider Seider to be the first casualty of the American Revolution.
- A crowd was harassing storeowner Theophilus Lillie, a Loyalist who refused to adhere to the Boston Non-Importation Agreement.
- Richardson tried to break up the crowd, but the people turned on him and chased him back to his house where they continued to threaten him.
- Richardson warned them to leave, picked up a gun, and fired into the crowd.
- 11-year-old Seider was nearby and hit twice, once in the arm and once in the head.
- Doctor Joseph Warren conducted the autopsy and confirmed it was Richardson’s gun that fired the shots.
- Samuel Adams arranged for Seider’s funeral and a public display was made of what Richardson had done. An estimated 2,000 people attended the funeral at the Granary Burial Ground which helped fuel the outrage of the people of Boston.
Boston Massacre Events
A Crowd Gathered
Resentment against the British troops in Boston grew to a climax on the evening of March 5, 1770, when a group of Bostonians began hassling a lone sentry guarding the Customs House.
A crowd began to form as the confrontation between the sentry and the Bostonians continued.
Captain Preston Responded
Captain Thomas Preston led seven soldiers from the Twenty-ninth Regiment to reinforce the sentry.
The crowd began advancing on the soldiers and pelted them with sticks and snowballs.
Shots Fired
As hostilities escalated, a British soldier fired his musket into the crowd.
Believing that Captain Preston had given the order to fire, other soldiers also fire into the crowd.
Casualties
Three Bostonians were killed immediately and two others died later from their wounds. Six others were wounded but survived.
The first person shot and killed by the British soldiers was Crispus Attucks, an escaped slave of African-American descent. The others killed were Samuel Gray, Samuel Maverick, James Caldwell, and Patrick Carr.
Joseph Warren Cared for the Wounded
Joseph Warren was called to the scene to tend to the wounded. Warren wrote, “The horrors of that dreadful night are but too deeply impressed on our hearts. Language is too feeble to paint the emotions of our souls, when our streets were stained with the blood of our brethren, when our ears were wounded by the groans of the dying, and our eyes were tormented by the sight of the mangled bodies of the dead.”
Warren even went so far as to call for armed resistance, “To arms! we snatched our weapons, almost resolved, by one decisive stroke, to avenge the death of our slaughtered brethren, and to secure from future danger all that we held most dear.”
Funerals and Investigation
The victims of the Boston Massacre were buried in the Granary Burying Ground.
A week later, the Boston Committee of Safety organized a committee, which included Warren, to investigate the incident. Warren wrote the report for the committee, which was called “A Short Narrative of the Horrid Massacre in Boston.” The report blamed Parliament for what happened because of the situation it had put the troops in.
The report said, “As they were the procuring cause of the troops being sent hither, they must therefore be the remote and blameable cause of all the disturbances and bloodshed that have taken place in consequence of that measure.”
The report was published as a pamphlet and included an appendix with 96 depositions. It was sent to Britain to ensure the government received the American viewpoint of what was happening in Boston.
Boston Massacre Trials
Captain Preston and his men were eventually tried in court for the accusations made against them in regard to the incident. John Adams defended them in court, along with Josiah Quincy, Jr., Sampson Salter Blowers, and Robert Auchmuty.
Preston’s trial started on October 24, 1770. He was found not guilty on October 30.
The trial of the eight soldiers from the 29th regiment started on November 27. The jury reached its verdict on December 5. Adams had successfully proved that the soldiers did not fire into the crowd until they were physically attacked
Six of the soldiers were acquitted. Hugh Montgomery and Matthew Kilroy were found guilty of manslaughter. Montgomery and Kilroy were branded with the letter “M” — for manslaughter — on their hands, where the palm meets the thumb.
Boston Massacre Effects
After the Boston Massacre, there was a lull in the unrest in Boston, partially because the British troops had been moved to Castle William in Boston Harbor.
On March 5, the same day the news of Christopher Seider’s death was printed in the Boston Gazette and the Boston Massacre took place, Lord Frederick North made a motion in the House of Commons to partially repeal the Townshend Acts.
On April 12, 1770, Parliament voted to repeal the taxes levied by the Townshend Acts, except for the tax on tea.
Many of the Patriots toned down their involvement in political affairs. However, Warren and Samuel Adams continued to write in the papers and warned people that it was only a matter of time before Parliament would start levying taxes and infringing on their rights again.
Three years later, Parliament passed the Tea Act, which led to the Boston Tea Party and the passage of the Intolerable Acts.
In the years following the Boston Massacre, May 5 was observed as a holiday in Boston, and a memorial was held to commemorate the incident. Each year, a prominent member of the community was chosen to deliver a speech, which was also printed in the newspapers.
A monument honoring the contribution of Crispus Attucks to the struggle for freedom was erected in Boston in 1888.
Today, the Boston Historical Society holds an annual reenactment of the Boston Massacre on the exact spot where it took place.
Boston Massacre Location
The Boston Massacre happened in downtown Boston Massachusetts. This map shows the present-day location of the area. The marker on the ground in front of the State House is not the actual location of the incident. The marker has been moved over the years, to accommodate expansion of the roads in Boston.
