On the same day that Parliament repealed most of the Townshend Acts,
a bloody riot exploded in Boston. The arrival of British troops had caused tensions to rise,
and the relationship between Bostonians and Redcoats, as British soldiers were called,
had deteriorated so badly that one spark sent the city into chaos. What was that spark?
British soldiers in Boston, the most rebellious city in the American colonies,
had certainly been an unwelcome sight. Soldiers and civilians cursed each other in the streets,
and clashes were consistent and often violent.
British soldiers, finding themselves in a hostile environment, began viewing Bostonians as even more
rebellious than the Irish (also British subjects). They called Bostonians Yankees as an insult.
A harsh fact that British soldiers experienced was meager pay. Faced with such a poor salary,
and boredom, many sought to take on a second job. Male Bostonians resented the fact that the 600
soldiers stationed in the city were competing with them for labor and the attention of the ladies.
On March 5, 1770, a lone British soldier stood guard outside the customs house.
It was a cold evening and he gazed out at the filthy piles of snow and ice,
patiently awaiting the end of his shift. A young colonist exited a tavern, and he and the soldier
exchanged insults. The drunken colonial approached the soldier and poked him in the chest.
The soldier retaliated by clubbing the man with the butt of his rifle.
As the colonist fell to the ground, he shouted for help. Taverns emptied as colonists, many of
them drunk, gathered around the lone guard. Six more British soldiers rallied to provide support,
and the seven men found themselves surrounded by an angry mob that soon numbered in the 100s.
Someone began ringing a church bell, adding more noise and attention to the mayhem.
The colonists began pelting the soldiers with chunks of ice and snowballs. Crispus Attucks,
a man of Native American and African descent, walked right up to within inches of a soldier s
bayonet and dared him to fire. A British officer ordered the town magistrate to read the Riot Act
(which would give the British soldiers the authority to take action),
but he refused out of fear for his life.
Someone in the crowd struck a soldier with a club, sending him to the snowy ground. The man
sprang to his feet and was struck a second time. He raised his musket and pulled the
trigger. The other soldiers took it as a signal and fired into the crowd. A great screech came
from the mob as bullets cut their way through. Crispus Attucks and 4 other Bostonians fell dead,
while six more were wounded. The mob fled in all directions.
For several hours, the city tinkered on the brink of a bloodbath. Citizens were outraged,
and Boston s Sons of Liberty (all armed) outnumbered the Redcoats 5 to 1.
The colonists rage subsided only after Lt. Governor Thomas Hutchinson promised to try
the soldiers for murder. The event became known as the Boston Massacre.
Paul Revere created an elaborate print titled The Bloody Massacre perpetrated in King Street,
and the Sons of Liberty used it as a powerful
piece of propaganda (one-sided information designed to influence public opinion).
British troops were withdrawn from the city, and those involved were put on trial for murder.
Sam Adams was the driving force behind the trial,
and, in an odd coincidence, his cousin John Adams defended the seven soldiers.
John Adams argued that emotions cannot override facts and that the soldiers acted in self-defense.
They were found not guilty, but two had their thumbs branded for killing people in the crowd
by accident. All of the soldiers had to leave the American colonies for their own protection.