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There is no doubt that the Boston Massacre is one of early America’s most notable
moments in history. But why did this fight happen and who is to blame? In order to appropriately
understand this brutal street fight between soldiers and civilians, we must first properly
understand the events that took place beforehand.
It all began shortly after the French and Indian War in 1763. The colonists were initially
very pleased to be protected by the British troops from the angry French. However, once the war
concluded and the French returned to Europe, the British did not return to Europe. Instead, they
remained in the colonies, allowing for Parliament to still have active involvement in the colonies.
This led to the colonists resenting the presence of the British soldiers.
In addition to this, Parliament began to impose taxes on the colonies without the colonies’
consent, including the Sugar Act and the Stamp Act, which did nothing to defuse tensions in the
colonies. The British Prime Minister, George Grenville, passed the Sugar Act in 1764, charging a
tax on coffee, indigo dye, and exotic materials such as imported cloth. Later, the Stamp Act was
passed in March 1765. This act forced the colonists to pay for a stamp that had to be placed on
many commonplace items such as parchment, paper, and business documents. However, what is
very interesting about this tax is that most colonists could afford the taxation; for the average
colonist, it only cost about 66% of a day's wages every year. So the colonists were not upset
about the actual cost of the tax, but rather the principle that Parliament was taxing them without
their consent. Finally, the Quatering Act of 1765 seemed to push the colonists to their limits.
When the colonists were instructed by Parliament to provide bedding, food, and supplies to the
British soldiers, they had finally had enough. They no longer felt like the British were on their
side, but rather just trying to control them. The colonists began to voice their frustration through
peaceful, vocal protests but when Parliament refused to listen, the colonists turned to violence.
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On August 14, 1765, a group of merchants and artisans, famously known as the Loyal Nine,
terrorized a stamp distributor named Andrew Oliver. The following week, a colonist, Ebenezer
Mackintosh, led a group to harass Thomas Hutchinson, a Lieutenant Governor at the time, at his
home. These acts of harassment eventually led to the creation of the Sons of Liberty, which was
a group of lower and middle class men demanding justice from Britain. They used acts of
violence to protest the Stamp Act, encouraging the colonists to boycott stamps, eventually
forcing stamp distributors out of business.
After much pressure from British merchants, Parliament repealed the Stamp Act on March
18, 1766, paving the way for the Declaratory Act. This new act claimed that Parliament had the
right to control the colonies in any issue. Shortly after, Britain pushed against the colonies even
further with the Townshend Acts. This act charged the colonists for only imported items like
paper or paint. However, by the year 1770, most of the taxes placed by the Townshend Acts had
been repealed, except for the tax on tea. The British viewed tea as an item that the colonists
could not live without and would therefore be obligated to pay a tax on it. With that being said,
Britain still made it abundantly clear that this tax was to show the colonists that Parliament was
still in control.
Things in Boston came to a violent head on March 5, 1770, when a British guard named
Hugh White was standing at his post on King Street, located about a block away from the
customs house. While this man stood guard, a young boy approached him and began to disturb
him. The soldier retaliated by knocking the boy down with the end of his musket, quickly
drawing an angry, shouting crowd. White backed himself up against the custom-house door and
tried to enter, in an attempt to flee the angry mob. However, the door was locked so White
resorted to standing his ground and raising his gun in defense, causing the brawl to accelerate
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rapidly. The colonists soon began to gather any material they could that could be used as a
weapon. This included snowballs, sticks, and rocks.
Observing how severe the situation was becoming, White cried out for help, bringing Captain
Thomas Preston and his seven soldiers. They tried to keep the crowd under control but someone
in the mob struck a soldier, causing him to drop his musket. The mob quickly tried to pick it up,
when the gun suddenly went off. The other seven soldiers quickly reacted to the sound of
gunfire, firing at the mob until Captain Preston stopped them. This unfortunate event caused two
colonists to die on site, while three others died soon after, including an ex-slave, Cripus Atticus.
Since studying this tragic event, I have since changed my opinion about this topic a bit.
Before, I argued that this was not a case of the British fighting in self-defense. I initially argued
that the colonists did not seem to severely threaten the soldiers or their lives; they only
antagonized and taunted the soldiers. Though this statement is partially true (the colonists did not
physically harm the British soldiers) it is clear to see that the colonists were constantly wreaking
havoc upon the British which often threatened the soldiers’ safety. Though I do believe that this
massacre could have been prevented if the musket had not been fired accidentally, it is clear that
tensions between the colonists and the British were going to continue to rise, inevitably leading
to some sort of severe altercation. Therefore, I stand by my initial claim that the colonists were
victims of the British because, despite the colonists’ constant harassment, the British open fired
on the colonists, causing them to be the victims of this preventable tragedy.
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Bibliography
McGill Sa. Boston Massacre trick Henry: First Among Patriots. Boston Massacre {Internet}.
2017 Aug https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ulh&AN=
17907520&site=ehost-live&scope=site
Messer, Peter “A scene of Villainy acted by a dirty Banditti, as must astonish the Public”:
The Creation of the Boston Massacre. The New England Quarterly 2017; 90 (4):
502-539. Doi: https://doi.org/10.1162/tneq_a_00639
Tudor, John “Account of the Boston Massacre”. Teaching American History.
https://teachingamericanhistory.org/document/account-of-the-boston-massacre/
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