The Boston Massacre occurred on March 5, 1770, when a squad of British soldiers fired on a group of American colonists in front of the Customs House on King Street in Boston. Later, John Adams would write that neither the Battle of Lexington and Concord nor the British army’s surrender in 1781 were more important to American history.

By 1770, tensions between the colonists and the British colonizers had grown to the edge of violence. Although the unpopular Stamp Act had been repealed, the British had introduced a new tax bill, the Townshend Acts, which had again roused Americans to protest. The watchful presence of British soldiers in Boston’s streets had also angered the public.

On March 5, 1770, an American wigmaker’s apprentice and a British army private got into an argument. Americans flocked to the scene, threatening the soldier with death if he fired his musket. The private called for help, and Captain Thomas Preston came with seven Redcoat soldiers. Their arrival made the crowd of about 50 colonists furious. Colonists began throwing objects, such as snowballs, stones, and sticks, at the soldiers. Captain Preston did not give an order to fire, but an unknown person shouted, “Fire!” and the soldiers began to shoot.

Three colonists died on the scene, and two more died of their wounds later. One of the first three dead was Crispus Attucks, a Black man who has since become a symbol of American freedom and the abolition of slavery.

A future American president, John Adams, served as the soldiers’ defense lawyer in court, in order to show that the colonists could conduct a fair trial of their opponents. Most of the British soldiers, including Captain Preston, were found not guilty, but two were found guilty of manslaughter and were punished.

The event raised colonists’ anger to an even higher pitch, including Samuel Adams and Paul Revere. The British withdrew their troops from Boston to a nearby island. The Revolutionary War was still six years away, but the Boston Massacre had drawn first blood and given new power to rebel groups such as the Sons of Liberty.

Source: On this Day, the Boston Massacre Lights the Fuse of Revolution
National Constitution Center