Boston Massacre Site

The tensions that led to the Boston Massacre were the product of the occupation of Boston by Redcoats in 1768. Redcoats were sent to Boston to quell riots in the wake of the Townsend Duties and to protect customs officials. With 2,000 soldiers occupying a town with a population of about 16,000, friction was inevitable. 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. When the smoke cleared, five men lay dead or dying. The first man to fall at the Boston Massacre was dockworker Crispus Attucks, who was of African and Indigenous descent. Little is known about Crispus Attucks, and yet he is one of the most important figures in the Revolution. 

The Sons of Liberty held funerals for the victims and organized a vigorous propaganda effort in order to turn public opinion against the Redcoats, and labeled the tragedy a "bloody massacre." Paul Revere's print of the event, based on an illustration by Henry Pelham, was widely circulated. The British soldiers were tried for murder and were defended by John Adams, a Boston lawyer who was as loyal to the idea of justice as he was to the Patriot cause.