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The Boston Massacre

The Boston Massacre. March 5, 1770. Boston, Massachusetts, Circa 1770. What we know happened. A crowd (or mob) of Bostonians approached and began yell at a group of seven or eight British soldiers and their commanding officer, Captain Thomas Preston.

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The Boston Massacre

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  1. The Boston Massacre March 5, 1770

  2. Boston, Massachusetts, Circa 1770

  3. What we know happened. • A crowd (or mob) of Bostonians approached and began yell at a group of seven or eight British soldiers and their commanding officer, Captain Thomas Preston.

  4. British soldiers of the time were nicknamed “Lobsterbacks”

  5. What we know happened. • Preston and his men were coming to the aid of a lone British Sentry (guard) in front of the Custom’s House (Seaport Tax Office).

  6. The Boston Custom’s House

  7. What we know happened. • The crowd (or mob) surrounded the group of soldiers under Captain Preston’s command. • Captain Preston’s efforts to get the crowd (or mob) to calm down and disperse (go home) failed.

  8. What we know happened. • The crowd (or mob) was calling the soldiers things far worse than “lobsterback”. • The crowd started throwing things.

  9. What we know happened. • A musket was fired at the crowd (or mob). • This first shot was immediately followed by more shots.

  10. What we know happened. • The crowd (or mob) quickly went home. • The soldiers and Captain Preston went back to their barracks (the buildings where groups of soldiers live). • Five Bostonians were dead or dying.

  11. Grave of the five victims

  12. What we know happened. • People were angry.

  13. Questions • Did the soldiers fire with provocation? • Did they fire on their own? • Was Captain Preston guilty of ordering his men to fire into a crowd of civilians? • Was Preston innocent and being used by men like Samuel Adams to confirm the oft-claimed tyranny of England?

  14. Patriots claimed. . . .

  15. A Short Narrative of the Horrid Massacre in Boston. • Printed by Order of the Town of Boston. • THE HORRIDMASSACRE IN BOSTON, PERPETRATED IN THE EVENING OF THE FIFTH DAY OF MARCH, 1770, BY SOLDIERS OF THE TWENTY-NINTH REGIMENT

  16. Paul Revere engraved the event.

  17. Paul Revere by John Singleton Copley

  18. Source: www.americaslibrary.gov

  19. Crispus Attucks This is a mid 1850s depiction of the attack.

  20. Why isn’t Crispus Attucks in the engraving? • Bias? • Racism? • Personal Animosity? • Lack of knowledge? • Another reason.

  21. Questions • Did the soldiers fire with provocation? • Did they fire on their own? • Was Captain Preston guilty of ordering his men to fire into a crowd of civilians? • Was Preston innocent and being used by men like Samuel Adams to confirm the oft-claimed tyranny of England?

  22. What happened after the Boston Massacre? The soldiers were put on trial.

  23. March 13, 1770 • A grand jury indicts Captain Preston and eight soldiers are indicted for murder in connection with the massacre.

  24. Queen Street Courthouse

  25. September 7, 1770 • Preston and the soldiers are formally arraigned on charges of murder.  All plead "Not Guilty."

  26. October 24-30, 1770 • Captain Preston is tried.  A jury acquits Preston after the evidence fails to establish that he gave the order to fire.

  27. A scene from the Trial

  28. November 27, 1770 • The trial of the eight soldiers begins.

  29. December 5, 1770 • Six of the soldiers are acquitted on all charges.  Two soldiers, Montgomery and Killroy are convicted of manslaugter. 

  30. December 14, 1770 • Montgomery and Killroy plead "the benefit of clergy" to reduce their punishment to branding.  Sheriff Greenleaf brands the two men on their right thumbs.

  31. The Defense Attorney Speaks • “The part I took in the Defence of Cptn. Preston and the Soldiers . . . was one of the best pieces of service I ever rendered my Country” • “As the evidence was, the verdict of the jury was exactly right.”

  32. John Adams, Patriot and our second President

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