BOSTON MASSACRE SOLDIERS
On March 5, 1770, English soldiers fired into a crowd of angry colonists, killing five. Two of the soldiers were later found guilty of manslaughter.
The Boston Massacre, March 5, 1770, was an event that exemplified the growing tension between the American colonies and England which would subsequently result in the outbreak
of the Revolutionary War.
In 1767 the English Parliament had levied an import tax on tea, glass, paper, and lead. The duties were labeled the Townshend Acts—part of a series of unpopular taxes directed at the
colonists without their representation. The colonists retaliated with attacks on English representatives and officials, and troops were dispatched to America to restore order. The agitation between the colonists and the English soldiers increased, reaching a climax on the evening of March 5.
An apprentice antagonized an English soldier on guard duty and the soldier cuffed the
boy on the ear with his firearm. The incident drew a gathering of hostile colonists, and the
guard, alarmed at the size of the mob, called for help. The chief officer of the unit, Captain
Thomas Preston, arrived with seven men. In an instant several shots were fired into the crowd of colonists: three men were killed at once; two more died later.
The city of Boston braced itself for more violence;
Lieutenant Governor Thomas Hutchinson
calmed the crowd by promising the incarceration
of the guilty soldiers to be followed by a trial for
murder.
Political leader Samuel Adams was influential
in building a public case against the soldiers
through his bombastic speeches and newspaper
articles. He published a pamphlet that related
the events of the violent evening as told by eyewitnesses;
all the reports were decidedly in support
of the colonists. The pamphlet, however,
was not distributed in Boston, due to the belief
that it might interfere with the fairness of the
trial.
The trial became a controversial issue with
political aspects. In addition to the murder
charge, the legal action intensified the struggle
between the King’s men, who desired a verdict
in their favor to counteract the tactics of
Samuel Adams, and the colonists, who wanted
the trial to be an example to Parliament against further use of the militia to restrain their
freedom.
Lieutenant Governor Hutchinson believed
that an immediate court hearing would be detrimental
and unfair to the King’s men; he advocated
a series of postponements and the trial
finally began in the fall of 1770. ROBERT TREAT
PAINE served as prosecutor, and JOHN ADAMS
(cousin to Samuel Adams) and Josiah Quincy
were the defense counselors.
The trial progressed and arguments were
presented for both sides. The defense was determined
to prove that the soldiers were acting in
SELF-DEFENSE. The prosecution attempted to
show that the soldiers were guilty of malice with
intent to kill.
Captain Preston was tried separately (there
is evidence that the jury was packed in his
favor). He was acquitted and he hastily left
Boston.
Eight soldiers were next brought to trial and
six were acquitted. The remaining two soldiers
were found guilty of MANSLAUGHTER (as
opposed to murder). The method of punishment
was branding on the thumb. The two soldiers,
Matthew Killroy and Hugh Montgomery,
received their penalty and were discharged from
the military.
The irony of the Boston tragedy is that it
need never have occurred. Shortly before the
night of the bloodshed Parliament had decided
to repeal the TOWNSHEND ACTS that had so
greatly agitated the colonists.Word of this decision
did not reach Boston until later.
The acts were revoked later in 1770, after the
Boston Massacre; one tax remained, however,
and that was a minimal tax on tea. This tea tax
would later precipitate the Boston Tea Party.
