The Boston Massacre

A rallying cry of patriotism in the colonies. Some say it sparked the American
Revolution. Can you imagine, a thing as small as an argument throwing our country into war? It was just a passionate protest, but it quickly escalated. The head British officer sent more soldiers to direct order, but with the guns laying there in their arms it only spiked the tension. Later that day there would be five dead bodies. And an argument that caused it all.

The day started out with a group of protesters called The Sons of Liberty, also known as “Patriots”. They were formed in 1765 to oppose the stamp act . When the argument first occurred there were only a few colonists present, but after a while it grew to around 50, then 200 colonists. For the most part,

It is now known as “The Boston Massacre”.

Later that day twelve soldiers would be arrested. Despite the fact that twelve were arrested four were “acquitted” or released because they were accused of shooting from inside the building, but it was never proven. John Adams and Josiah Quincy, both defended the soldiers and Captain Thomas Preston the commanding officer while they were on trial. The trial for the eight soldiers started on November 27, 1770, and ended on December 5, 1770. One of the biggest pieces of evidence in the trial was a testimony from a wounded victim saying that the soldiers were provoked and were only defending themselves. But because this victim was lying on his deathbed his physician John

Jeffries was to give the testimony second hand. The prosecutors did bring out witnesses who heard Private Kilroy saying that “he would not miss an opportunity to shoot at inhabitants”. Although this was some strong evidence against the soldiers the entire argument was not strong enough in itself. Matthew Kilroy and Hugh Montgomery were the only two soldiers found guilty. These two soldiers were facing the death penalty but avoided it by reading from the bible. Because both soldiers avoided the death

But all were released when it was discovered that the witnesses account was false. The witness was later convicted of perjury. The trials were held about eight months after the incident, so that the negative feelings of the massacre would die down. So as you can see the soldiers found guilty did not get off the hook, and had to pay for their actions.

Both of the trials for the soldiers and Thomas Preston were delayed because of the tension after the massacre. Despite the fact the trials were held 6-7 months after the massacre, the feelings towards the soldiers were still negative. A main reason for this is that the Sons of Liberty had started a propaganda war to try and change peoples mind about the relationship between the colonists and Britain. Which not only prevented the attention on the soldiers from dying down, but it also made it rise higher than before.
Thomas Preston’s trial was held October 24, 1770 and ended October 30, 1770. Unlike

the soldiers trial the case against Preston was strong as well as all of its evidence.
There were multiple testimonies submitted from a numerous amount of witnesses.