Boston Massacre

History 4 Minutes

Today marks the anniversary of the infamous Boston Massacre.  This article from History.com details the events and the aftermath.

From History.com:

The Boston Massacre was a deadly riot that occurred on March 5, 1770, on King Street in Boston. It began as a street brawl between American colonists and a lone British soldier, but quickly escalated to a chaotic, bloody slaughter. The conflict energized anti-British sentiment and paved the way for the American Revolution.

Tensions ran high in Boston in early 1770. More than 2,000 British soldiers occupied the city of 16,000 colonists and tried to enforce Britain’s tax laws, like the Stamp Act and Townshend Acts. American colonists rebelled against the taxes they found repressive, rallying around the cry, “no taxation without representation.” Skirmishes between colonists and soldiers—and between patriot colonists and colonists loyal to Britain (loyalists)—were increasingly common. To protest taxes, patriots often vandalized stores selling British goods and intimidated store merchants and their customers.

On February 22, a mob of patriots attacked a known loyalist’s store. Customs officer Ebenezer Richardson lived near the store and tried to break up the rock-pelting crowd by firing his gun through the window of his home. His gunfire struck and killed an 11-year-old boy named Christopher Seider and further enraged the patriots. Several days later, a fight broke out between local workers and British soldiers. It ended without serious bloodshed but helped set the stage for the bloody incident yet to come.

On the frigid, snowy evening of March 5, 1770, Private Hugh White was the only soldier guarding the King’s money stored inside the Custom House on King Street. It wasn’t long before angry colonists joined him and insulted him and threatened violence.

At some point, White fought back and struck a colonist with his bayonet. In retaliation, the colonists pelted him with snowballs, ice and stones. Bells started ringing throughout the town—usually a warning of fire—sending a mass of male colonists into the streets. As the assault on White continued, he eventually fell and called for reinforcements.

In response to White’s plea and fearing mass riots and the loss of the King’s money, Captain Thomas Preston arrived on the scene with several soldiers and took up a defensive position in front of the Custom House. Worried that bloodshed was inevitable, some colonists reportedly pleaded with the soldiers to hold their fire as others dared them to shoot. Preston later reported a colonist told him the protestors planned to “carry off [White] from his post and probably murder him.”

The violence escalated, and the colonists struck the soldiers with clubs and sticks. Reports differ of exactly what happened next, but after someone supposedly said the word “fire,” a soldier fired his gun, although it’s unclear if the discharge was intentional. Once the first shot rang out, other soldiers opened fire, killing five colonists–including Crispus Attucks, a local dockworker of mixed racial heritage–and wounding six. Among the other casualties of the Boston Massacre was Samuel Gray, a rope maker who was left with a hole the size of a fist in his head. Sailor James Caldwell was hit twice before dying, and Samuel Maverick and Patrick Carr were mortally wounded. Within hours, Preston and his soldiers were arrested and jailed and the propaganda machine was in full force on both sides of the conflict.

Preston wrote his version of the events from his jail cell for publication, while Sons of Liberty leaders such as John Hancock and Samuel Adams incited colonists to keep fighting the British. As tensions rose, British troops retreated from Boston to Fort William.

Paul Revere encouraged anti-British attitudes by etching a now-famous engraving depicting British soldiers callously murdering American colonists. It showed the British as the instigators though the colonists had started the fight. It also portrayed the soldiers as vicious men and the colonists as gentlemen. It was later determined that Revere had copied his engraving from one made by Boston artist Henry Pelham.

It took seven months to arraign Preston and the other soldiers involved in the Boston Massacre and bring them to trial. Ironically, it was American colonist, lawyer and future President of the United States John Adams who defended them.

Adams was no fan of the British but wanted Preston and his men to receive a fair trial. After all, the death penalty was at stake and the colonists didn’t want the British to have an excuse to even the score. Certain that impartial jurors were nonexistent in Boston, Adams convinced the judge to seat a jury of non-Bostonians.

During Preston’s trial, Adams argued that confusion that night was rampant. Eyewitnesses presented contradictory evidence on whether Preston had ordered his men to fire on the colonists. But after witness Richard Palmes testified that, “…After the Gun went off I heard the word ‘fire!’ The Captain and I stood in front about half between the breech and muzzle of the Guns. I don’t know who gave the word to fire,” Adams argued that reasonable doubt existed; Preston was found not guilty.

The remaining soldiers claimed self-defense and were all found not guilty of murder. Two of them—Hugh Montgomery and Matthew Kilroy—were found guilty of manslaughter and were branded on the thumbs as first offenders per English law. To Adams’ and the jury’s credit, the British soldiers received a fair trial despite the vitriol felt towards them and their country.

The Boston Massacre had a major impact on relations between Britain and the American colonists. It further incensed colonists already weary of British rule and unfair taxation and roused them to fight for independence.

Yet perhaps Preston said it best when he wrote about the conflict and said, “None of them was a hero. The victims were troublemakers who got more than they deserved. The soldiers were professionals…who shouldn’t have panicked. The whole thing shouldn’t have happened.”

Over the next five years, the colonists continued their rebellion and staged the Boston Tea Party, formed the First Continental Congress and defended their militia arsenal at Concord against the redcoats, effectively launching the American Revolution. Today, the city of Boston has a Boston Massacre site marker at the intersection of Congress Street and State Street, a few yards from where the first shots were fired.

SOURCE: HISTORY.COM

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Published by pat frederick

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179 thoughts on “Boston Massacre”

  2. WeThePeople2016
    WeThePeople2016
    March 5, 2025 11:31 am

    Congressman Pete Sessions is introducing the Make Elections Secure Again Act (MESA), a bill aimed at overhauling federal election procedures by banning universal mail-in voting, eliminating electronic voting machines, and restricting early voting to just three days.

    Badlands Media
    X | Truth Social

    https://t.me/ElectionHQ2024/12534

    Liked by 1 person

  3. Tony Seruga
    @TonySeruga
    Many conservatives believe Justice Amy Coney Barrett deliberately lied and intentionally misled the vetting team during her confirmation.

    But it isn’t just about her ideology, though. It is becoming very obvious Justice Amy Coney Barrett is also compromised out of fear for her and her family. After Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s potential assassin was caught, Justice Amy Coney Barrett lost it. Many thought she was about to resign. She was genuinely scared to death. The Biden Admin and dem Senators ignored Justice’s pleas for help. Protesters were allowed to get very, very close to Justice’s homes. This was intentional.

    And if you don’t seriously believe these judges are scared to death to rule against the administrative and intelligence states, you’re simply not paying attention. Look at what happened to SCOTUS, Justice Brett Kavanaugh, on June 8, 2022, Nicholas Roske traveled to his home with zero difficulty, with plans to break in Kavanaugh’s home, kill him, and then commit suicide.

    They and their families are being intimidated daily.

    Even the Senate Majority Leader, Chuck Schumer threatened the court with zero repercussions. “You have released the whirlwind, and you will pay the price,” the senator from New York said of SCOTUS Justices. And when protestors began harassing Justices at their homes, pretty much NOTHING was done. https://x.com/nrsc/status/1235597730443079681?s=61&t=zczLy14zne1hD7ChEni0vA

    Liked by 1 person

    1. As I just commented @ M’s: I would bet Trump would provide extra security for them if they asked; failing that, do they NOT have enough $$$ to hire additional security? Yes, it’s frightening but you cannot tell me that they didn’t consider this when approached about their nomination to SCOTUS in the first place, not to mention when they actually took the job. EVERYONE in the political realm should automatically take that into consideration. That’s just basic common sense, FFS!!! Nope – no excuse IMO! If you can’t take the heat, get out of the fire! QUIT!!!

      Liked by 1 person

      1. I think they are warned against taking the security–even speaking about it–OR resigning. the ones doing it to them need them to continue so they can control their vote. their only way out is death.

        Liked by 1 person

        1. BS! IDC what they are “warned” against doing! Warn all you like, I’m gonna do it anyway if I make the determination that it is required! Spineless cowards, IMO!!! More concerned with good publicity that basic common sense! Nope, nope and nope! If they’re looking for sympathy, they can find it between sex and syphilis in the dictionary!!!

          Liked by 1 person

          1. maybe…but you don’t have skeletons in your closet. acb has good concern over the way she adopting her children–may have been bought–who knows? people with secrets can be blackmailed easily.

            Liked by 1 person

  4. Just The News: “The United States has suspended deportation flights using military aircraft over cost-efficiency concerns, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing “defense officials.”

    The administration has worked toward mass deportations and floated a plan to expand Guantanamo Bay’s detention capacity to bolster the effort.

    Migrant deportation flights began early in the Trump administration.”

    Liked by 1 person

  11. Good write-up, Ms. Pat. I have heard about the Boston Massacre l my life, but never the details. So it happened on this date, huh? Six years before the Declaration of Independence was signed. Tensions brewed for a long time.

    Liked by 2 people

  15. Breitbart: “More layoffs have hit the Disney Grooming Syndicate, a wipe out of about 200 jobs, which represents six percent of the staff in two major divisions.

    “About 200 employees are being let go at Disney’s ABC News Group and Disney Entertainment Networks unit,” people familiar with the matter told the Wall Street Journal. “Ratings and revenue are down at many cable channels as consumers ditch cable packages and advertisers flee for streaming services and digital platforms.”

    The most interesting nugget is the news that ABC is shutting down the once-popular 538, the site created by Nate Silver touted as a data-driven piece of science that would predict the outcome of elections, along with things like the Oscars and sporting events.

    Under Silver the site did pretty well … until the arrival of Donald Trump in 2016. Suddenly, “data-driven” began to look more like “wishcasting,” and the site became a joke. Silver left his creation in 2023, 538 blew the 2024 presidential election, and now it’s gone. So sad. Buh-bye.

    Giving up 538 is a Big Deal. The whole idea behind that site was not to reflect what public opinion said in the polling, but to shape public opinion—especially in 2016, 2020, and 2024. Rasmussen is one of the most accurate pollsters out there and has been for 20 years. Still, 538 dismissed their polls. That alone spoke volumes about the site’s credibility.

    What the closing of 538 tells me is that it was no longer an effective piece of propaganda. Over time, after so many failures, people stopped buying what ABC News was selling: Hey, this is objective number crunching! This is science! No, really. Where is everyone going?

    Anyone who wants accurate poll aggregation can go to RealClearPolitics (RCP). RCP doesn’t tweak the numbers seeking to demoralize Republicans. RCP reports the numbers, aggregates the averages, and gets it as right as anyone can.

    Why do I call the shuttering of 538 a Big Deal? Because we defeated 538. New Media’s commitment to accuracy curb-stomped that propaganda outlet over and over, and now the Disney Grooming Syndicate is surrendering the godfather of data-driven poll sites. And it wasn’t only RCP. All kinds of online folks did a better job of analyzing the polls, while 538 turned itself into a punchline. One of those online sites that humiliated 538 in 2024 was Nate Silver’s new site.

    The entertainment job cuts at Disney are exactly as the Wall Street Journal describes: a direct result of people canceling their cable packages and moving to streaming. This inevitability is something I’ve been predicting for 15 years. Cable TV money was a windfall for mega-entertainment companies like Disney. Streaming services are not. As people continue switching to streaming, more and more of that cable TV money will dry up.

    Netflix is making a ton of money. The other streaming services are either losing a ton or squeaking out a tiny profit.

    Everything is changing for the better. The less power these monsters have, the safer we all are.”

    Liked by 1 person

  16. Breitbart: “March 5 (UPI) — The right-wing House Freedom Caucus said Wednesday it will introduce a censure resolution against Democratic Rep. Al Green for as verbal protest during President Donald Trump’s speech to a joint session of Congress.

    Tuesday night, Green stood and shouted that Trump had “no mandate” to cut Medicaid. For that disruptive verbal dissent, House Speaker Mike Johnson had Green ejected when Green ignored a warning to take his seat.

    On X, the Freedom Caucus wrote, “The House Freedom Caucus will be introducing a censure resolution against Rep. Al Green today.”

    Green told reporters after he was ejected Tuesday night that he will accept the punishment. “It’s worth it to let people know that there are some of us who are going to stand up against this president’s desire to cut Medicaid, Medicare and Social Security.” He added that he had constituents who are very fearful. “These are poor people, and they all need Medicaid in their lives when it comes to their health care,” Green added.

    Green’s fraternity backed Green’s dissent in a statement that said, “Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. applauds Alpha Brother Rep. Al Green’s courage and conviction to take a stand against President Donald J. Trump’s barrage of recent harmful and discriminatory policies during the President’s address to a joint session of Congress last night despite facing ejection.”

    The fraternity cited notable historical figures as members including the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Paul Robeson, Rep. Adam Clayton Powell Jr., and U.S. Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall. The statement added Green is a “veteran civil rights advocate who fights for the poor and disenfranchised” and “refuses to stand idly by as efforts to roll back historic civil rights and social justice advancements are taking place.”

    According to a January 2025 Kaiser Family Foundation poll, 51% said not enough is being spent on Medicare. On Medicaid, 41% of poll respondents said it should not be cut. Just 13% said Medicaid cuts should be a top priority while 25% said cuts were important but not a top priority. An additional 17% said Medicaid cuts are not too important. Roughly 79 million people depend on Medicaid for health insurance.

    Republicans on the House Budget Committee in February sought at least $880 billion in mandatory cuts in programs overseen by the House Energy and Commerce Committee. Medicaid is expected to bear most of the cuts. While Trump seeks deep cuts in programs and pursues mass federal worker layoffs, he is also seeking a $4.5 trillion tax cut with the bulk of the cuts Democrats says will go to the wealthiest Americans.

    The caucus was unhappy with the way Democrats expressed dissent during Trump’s speech, accusing them of using noisemakers and making threats. Johnson backed the Freedom Caucus effort to censure Green. Republicans advocating a censure against Green did not publicly address the issue of Trump cuts to Medicaid, Medicare and Social Security. Rep. Troy Nehls, R-Texas, is also circulating a censure resolution.”

    Liked by 1 person

  17. “Exclusive — Sen. Bernie Moreno Introduces Bill to Ban Foreign Flags on Capitol Grounds”

    Breitbart, Matthew Boyle, 5 Mar 2025

    Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky speaks after giving a Ukrainian national flag
    Mandel NGAN / AFP via Getty

    ENTIRE ARTICLE: “Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-OH) has introduced legislation to ban the display of foreign flags on U.S. Capitol grounds, Breitbart News has learned exclusively. Moreno, a legal immigrant from Colombia who came here to the United States as a child and then built an impressive auto dealer chain business before his election last year to the U.S. Senate, told Breitbart News that flying foreign flags like Ukraine’s in Congress is offensive to Americans.

    “When I came to this country as a child, I swore allegiance to America and America alone, which is why it’s so deeply offensive to me to see elected officials flying the flags of foreign nations like Ukraine in the halls of Congress,” Moreno told Breitbart News. “We swore an oath to the American people we would always put them first—let’s start acting like it and stop sending billions overseas on endless wars when average Americans are struggling.”

    The new bill he just introduced, called the “Allegiance Act,” would make it illegal for members of Congress to use official funds to purchase any nation’s flags other than the American flag. It would also prohibit the display on Capitol grounds of a nation’s flag if it is not the U.S. flag.

    The two-page bill from Moreno comes as Democrats and even some establishment Republicans try to rally support for Ukraine after last week’s explosive Oval Office meeting between Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky and President Donald Trump. Zelensky erupted in an unhinged tirade against Vice President JD Vance and Trump, resulting in Trump evicting him from the White House grounds and a delay in the signing of a negotiated minerals deal between the United States and Ukraine. Trump said the antics of Zelensky, whose term expired last May but who is still serving as president of Ukraine using a martial law declaration that has suspended elections in the country until after the war with Russia concludes, have demonstrated he is not interested in peace.

    While Zelensky has still not apologized for his anti-American outburst in the Oval Office, Trump announced in his joint address to Congress on Tuesday evening that Zelensky wrote to him expressing regret for how it went and saying he is ready for peace now and to sign the delayed minerals deal. That sharp turnaround from Zelensky has come after the White House cut off all military aid to Ukraine and stopped sharing intelligence with the war-torn country, essentially forcing Zelensky’s hand.

    Moreno, meanwhile, has been one of Trump’s most ardent allies on Capitol Hill. He told Breitbart News late last year during the transition that he intends to be one of Trump’s fiercest champions in the U.S. Senate, and he has definitely lived up to that promise so far this year after a little more than a month of Trump’s second term in the White House. Moreno has voted for and championed every single one of Trump’s nominees, and he has regularly been an aggressive voice in support of every one of Trump’s objectives.

    Bernie Moreno speaking with attendees at the 2023 Turning Point Action Conference at the Palm Beach County Convention Center in West Palm Beach, Florida, on July 16, 2023. (Gage Skidmore via Flickr)

    “The American people gave him [Trump] the mandate,” Moreno told Breitbart News late last year for the profile piece. “I would like to say I won my Senate race—no, President Trump won my Senate race. President Trump is the reason I’m going to be a United States Senator. So we’re going to give him massive deference.”

    Allegiance Act by Breitbart News on Scribd

    Liked by 1 person

  21. Just The News: “The Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) on Wednesday ordered the Department of Agriculture to temporarily reinstate all of its nearly 6,000 probationary employees, who were fired by the Trump administration last month.

    The order comes as the new Trump administration attempts to restructure the federal government, including by drastically reducing its workforce. The administration previously advised departments to fire probationary employees, but the direction has faced legal challenges.

    The new order will allow those Department of Agriculture employees to resume their work for 45 days, The Hill reported.

    The board’s decision agrees with the Office of Special Counsel, who claimed the employees were not fired for poor performance but for restructuring purposes. The board also agreed with Special Counsel Hampton Dellinger last week in reinstating employees from six different agencies.

    “Agencies are best positioned to determine the employees impacted by these mass terminations,” Dellinger said in a statement on Wednesday’s ruling. “That’s why I am calling on all federal agencies to voluntarily and immediately rescind any unlawful terminations of probationary employees.

    “Voluntarily rescinding these hasty and apparently unlawful personnel actions is the right thing to do and avoids the unnecessary wasting of taxpayer dollars,” he added.” 

    Liked by 1 person

  23. ICR which pics I’ve posted and which I haven’t so…..if there are repeats….get over it! 😁😉😊😅😆😘

    Liked by 1 person

        1. and he appreciates it. soon as he’s done working for the day and he comes into the great room, he asks…did she post good ones today??? lol
          now to me that means memes…to him it’s vehicles…LOL

          Liked by 1 person

            1. oh yeah. he likes to daydream.
              i told you before (iirc) his dream is to win the lottery, buy the old car dealership lot in town, renovate it and then go on a classic car trip and buy up whatever catches his fancy. his detailed plan includes an updated security system AND a guard…LOL

              Liked by 1 person

              1. LOL – replace those cars with abused (kinda like abused antique cars!) horses (altho not TOO antique, thank you!) and that is my daydream! With an acreage instead of a garage!

                Like

  27. H/T Rodney – Awwwww….he has such a big heart and is so very thoughtful!!!

    “BREAKING: President Trump has invited 13-year-old DJ Daniel, who was sworn in as an honorary Secret Service agent at the President’s State of the Union speech, along with his family, to the Oval Office today. In return, President Trump received a big hug from the very special Agent Daniel.”

    https://twitter.com/ImMeme0/status/1897402478347608369

    Liked by 1 person

  28. Just The News: “Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s chief of staff Andriy Yermak on Wednesday said that delegations for the U.S. and Ukraine will meet in the “near future” to continue peace talks that would end the war with Russia.

    The announcement comes after peace talks stalled last week during a meeting between President Donald Trump and Zelensky, after the discussion devolved into an argument that resulted in a canceled press briefing.

    Yermak posted on social media that he and national security adviser Mike Waltz “discussed the next steps towards a just and lasting peace.”

    “We also exchanged views on security issues and the alignment of positions within the framework of bilateral relations between Ukraine and the United States,” Yermak wrote on X. “We have scheduled a meeting for our teams in the near future to continue this important work.” 

    Zelensky has also commented that there has been “positive movement” toward a peace deal and return to negotiations.

    The comments however come after Waltz said that the U.S. has halted intelligence sharing with Ukraine, and is still reviewing the relationship between the two countries.

    “We have taken a step back, and are pausing and reviewing all aspects of this relationship,” Waltz told reporters, per The Hill. “But I just got off the phone before I walked out here with my counterpart, the Ukrainian national security adviser. We are having good talks on location for the next round of negotiations, on delegations, on substance.”

    The Trump administration has also temporarily stopped all aid flowing to Ukraine after the discussion with Zelensky.” 

    Liked by 1 person

  29. PaulnotSaul

    PaulnotSaul

    March 5, 2025 5:14 pm

    “Shalom Hamas” means Hello and Goodbye – You can choose. Release all of the Hostages now, not later, and immediately return all of the dead bodies of the people you murdered, or it is OVER for you. Only sick and twisted people keep bodies, and you are sick and twisted! I am sending Israel everything it needs to finish the job, not a single Hamas member will be safe if you don’t do as I say. I have just met with your former Hostages whose lives you have destroyed. This is your last warning! For the leadership, now is the time to leave Gaza, while you still have a chance. Also, to the People of Gaza: A beautiful Future awaits, but not if you hold Hostages. If you do, you are DEAD! Make a SMART decision. RELEASE THE HOSTAGES NOW, OR THERE WILL BE HELL TO PAY LATER!

    DONALD J. TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
    https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/114112015891353323

    Liked by 1 person

  31. 🚨 JUST IN: Elon Musk and DOGE have TERMINATED the lease on the Obama Presidential Library site in Chicago, per Fox

    Barry’s gonna be BIG mad 🤣🔥 pic.twitter.com/ViCLved2EG

    — Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) March 5, 2025

    Liked by 1 person

  32. NF: There used to be a TV show on in 1968 called “The Ghost and Mrs. Muir” that I vaguely remember watching as a child. Never saw the movie. I thought Edward Mulhare was a real hunk!

    Gene Tierney in The Ghost and Mrs. Muir, 1947

    Liked by 1 person

  34. Temp is up to 40 now – front door freed, wind has dropped, bright sunshine and almost all of the snow is completely gone! Hopefully, we don’t get the 2-3 inches that has been predicted for tonight. Just one more night, then we’ll be looking at almost 70 next week!!!

    Liked by 1 person

  36. I am adding a short daily prayer to the board. I would invite each of you, if you wish, to also add one or maybe two of your own liking. I do not want to stifle anyone but please limit yourself to one or two religious postings. here’s one I found that I liked.

    Like

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