The Boston Massacre
Storyboard Text
- The BostonMassacre
- March 5, 1770, a mob of American colonists gathered at the Customs House in Boston and taunted the British soldiers guarding the building.
- The protesters, who called themselves Patriots, were protesting against the occupation of their city by British troops, who were sent to Boston in 1768 to enforce taxation measures passed by a British parliament that didn't have much American representation.
- The colonists threw snowballs and other objects at the British regulars, and Private Hugh Montgomery was hit, leading him to discharge his rifle at the crowd. The other soldiers began firing and when the smoke cleared, five of them were dead or dying
- The British soldiers were put on trial, and patriots John Adams and Josiah Quincy agreed to defend the soldiers in a show of support of the colonial justice system.
- When the trial ended in December 1770, two British soldiers were found guilty of manslaughter and had their thumbs branded with an “M” for murder as punishment.
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