What the was the Boston massacre?

Answer 1

The Boston Massacre, also known as the Incident on King Street, was a street fight that occurred on March 5, 1770, between a "patriot" mob, throwing snowballs, stones, and sticks, and a squad of British soldiers. Several colonists were killed and this led to a campaign by speech-writers to rouse the ire of the citizenry.

The presence of British troops in the city of Boston was increasingly unwelcome. The riot began when about 50 citizens attacked a British sentinel. A British officer, Captain Thomas Preston, called in additional soldiers, and these too were attacked, so the soldiers fired into the mob, killing 3 on the spot (a black sailor named Crispus Attucks, ropemaker Samuel Gray, and a mariner named James Caldwell), and wounding 8 others, two of whom died later (Samuel Maverick and Patrick Carr).

A town meeting was called demanding the removal of the British and the trial of Captain Preston and his men for murder. At the trial, John Adams and Josiah Quincy II defended the British, leading to their acquittal and release. Samuel Quincy and Robert Treat Paine were the attorneys for the prosecution. Later, two of the British soldiers were found guilty of manslaughter.

Answer 2

Answer:

Tensions began to mount within the city of Boston in the spring of 1770, for there were rumors that British soldiers were going to take over the town, and govern the city by military rule.

On March 5, 1770, some boys began hurling snowballs and stones at a small group of soldiers. Bells began ringing and a crowd gathered quickly. Someone gave the order to fire and five citizens of Boston fell to the street, dead or mortally wounded.

Among them was Crispus Attucks, a fugitive slave who had actively participated in previous encounters with the soldiers. Attucks was the first victim of the Revolution, and this event will forever be known as the "Boston Massacre."

Answer 3

It may not have really been a "massacre," but for the colonists who were angry with the British over unfair taxes and harsh policies, it felt like the last straw in a series of frustrating events. The event that came to be called the Boston Massacre occurred on March 5, 1770, when British troops shot into a crowd, killing five colonists, including a black resident of Boston named Crispus Attucks. Some sources later said the colonists had insulted the British troops and even thrown things at them, but whether the action of the troops was justified or not, the deaths of the five civilians made the colonists furious. The Boston Massacre became an iconic event that persuaded many Boston residents that the time had come for a revolution against British rule.

Answer 4

The Boston Massacre is a event that is steeped in myth and much of what we think we know is not true. This was not first fight of the Revolution and the colonist started the fight. Disturbed over a scuffle earlier in the day between a British soldier and a ropemaker, the Americans roamed the city that night looking for trouble. At 9 PM they found it and armed with clubs and rocks they laid siege on a British sentry. The idea that the British shot a peaceful group of civilians is nothing but Propaganda of the time.

Answer 5

The Boston Massacre was when soldiers that were ordered not to fire shot and killed five colonists when one of the soldiers got hit with a snowball by a Bostonian.