The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History. Paul Revere’s Engraving of the Boston Massacre, 1770. National Park Service: National Historical Park of Massachusetts. John Adams Historical Society.īoston Massacre Trial. 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. The whole thing shouldn’t have happened.” The soldiers were professionals…who shouldn’t have panicked. The victims were troublemakers who got more than they deserved. Yet perhaps Preston said it best when he wrote about the conflict and said, “None of them was a hero. It further incensed colonists already weary of British rule and unfair taxation and roused them to fight for independence. The Boston Massacre had a major impact on relations between Britain and the American colonists.
#The colonists game move buildings trial#
To Adams’ and the jury’s credit, the British soldiers received a fair trial despite the vitriol felt towards them and their country. 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. The remaining soldiers claimed self-defense and were all found not guilty of murder. I don’t know who gave the word to fire,” Adams argued that reasonable doubt existed Preston was found not guilty. Eyewitnesses presented contradictory evidence on whether Preston had ordered his men to fire on the colonists.īut 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. READ MORE: Why John Adams Defended British Soldiers in the Boston Massacre Trialsĭuring Preston’s trial, Adams argued that confusion that night was rampant. Certain that impartial jurors were nonexistent in Boston, Adams convinced the judge to seat a jury of non-Bostonians. After all, the death penalty was at stake and the colonists didn’t want the British to have an excuse to even the score. 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.Īdams was no fan of the British but wanted Preston and his men to receive a fair trial. The violence escalated, and the colonists struck the soldiers with clubs and sticks. Preston later reported a colonist told him the protestors planned to “carry off from his post and probably murder him.” Worried that bloodshed was inevitable, some colonists reportedly pleaded with the soldiers to hold their fire as others dared them to shoot. 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. As the assault on White continued, he eventually fell and called for reinforcements. Bells started ringing throughout the town-usually a warning of fire-sending a mass of male colonists into the streets. In retaliation, the colonists pelted him with snowballs, ice and stones. At some point, White fought back and struck a colonist with his bayonet.
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