Page 23 - ASM Book 9/2020

“. . . the Battle of King Street . . .”
17
1770
• JANUARY 17 - AMERICAN ACTION: Violence erupted in New York City when citizens tried to stop British soldiers from cutting down the liberty pole.
• MARCH 5 - BRITISH ACTION: The Boston Massacre took place after a group of Boston citizens taunted British soldiers guarding the Customs House.
• APRIL 12 - BRITISH ACTION: Parliament repealed the Townshend Acts. All duties on imports into the colonies were eliminated, except for tea. Parliament also refused to renew the 1765 Quartering Act.
Boston Massacre
“On that night the formation of American independence was laid... Not the battle of Lexington or Bunker Hill, not the surrender of Burgoyne or Cornwallis were more important events in American history than the battle of King Street on March 5th 1770.” - John Adams
British soldiers killed three Boston citizens on the night of March 5, 1770, including Crispus Attucks, a free man of African and Native American descent. Two died later from gun shot wounds and six more had nonlethal wounds. This event became known as the Boston Massacre.
An anti-British mood had been growing in Boston since 4,000 troops occupied the city in September of 1768. The troops were sent to enforce the Townshend Acts that were unpopular in Boston and throughout the colonies. Clashes between soldiers and citizens had become a normal occurrence.
The violence began as an argument between a British sentry and Boston residents outside the Custom House where British officials collected import duties. The argument escalated as more colonists gathered.
Captain Thomas Preston, the officer in charge, sent six privates and a corporal to support the sentry. They lined up facing the crowd and were ordered to load their muskets and fix their bayonets. The captain tried to get the growing crowd to leave. But the appearance and actions of the troops provoked the unarmed citizens even more. Within seconds, an object was thrown that struck a soldier. This was followed by a volley of shots from the soldiers. When the smoke cleared, dead and wounded Bostonians were lying between the soldiers and the crowd.
Captain Preston and his men were tried for murder. John Adams and Josiah Quincy agreed to defend the soldiers. Adams said he defended them to demonstrate the impartiality of the colonial judicial system. Preston and six of his men were acquitted; two others were found guilty of manslaughter, punished and discharged.
As word spread about the Boston Massacre, American support for independence took a significant leap.