This episode relates the incident that occurred on March 5, 1770 that has come to be known as the Boston Massacre
From the Book
A Day in United States History – Book 1
Transcript:
Boston Massacre – British Troops Killed Five in a Crowd in Boston
Greetings, this episode relates the incident that occurred on March 5, 1770 that has come to be known as the Boston Massacre
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The road from close cooperation between the American colonists in the French and Indian War that ended in 1763, to the American Revolution that severed the ties, was a long and bumpy one stained with blood.
To pay for the war, Parliament had imposed various taxes. Colonials protested the taxes, because since the colonies had no representation in Parliament, they felt that body had no right to impose taxes on them. When Parliament passed The Townsend Acts, it had no idea that the uproar over them would lead to British troops stationed in Boston to enforce them. They had no idea that incidents that arose from the stationing of those troops would fuel a war in which the Colonists would gain their independence.
In February, an incident occurred in which a British soldier had killed eleven-year-old Christopher Seider. The incident had inflamed the citizens of Boston. Patriot firebrands had whipped up public indignation over the incident, which led to more tension between the British troops in Boston and irate citizens who wanted them gone. It was a fire waiting for a match.
The Townsend Acts take their name from the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Charles Townsend. Parliament passed these acts during the years 1765 through 1767. The two most objectionable to the Americans were the Quartering Act and the Townsend Duty Act. Parliament repealed these Acts in 1770, but by that time, the Colonies were inflamed almost beyond reconciliation. The colonists engaged in widespread resistance to the taxes.
October 01, 1768 – British troops under General Gauge land in BostonAfter colonial resistance to the Townsend Acts, the British government decided to send two regiments of troops into Boston commanded by General Gage to quell it. Paul Revere produced an engraving depicting the October 1 landing of the troops. This deployment was about as bad a decision they could have made.
On March 5, 1770, outside the Boston Custom house on King Street, Private Hugh White stood guard. A young Bostonian, Edward Garrick, called out an insult to White, which the soldier ignored. Garrick continued insulting the soldier, who finally approached Garrick and struck him on the cheek with his musket. Garrick cried out in pain. A crowd began to gather, pressing in on, and threatening, the soldier. The crowd grew larger as the evening progressed. The members of the mob threw threats and insults at the soldier. Someone began ringing a church bell. This usually signaled that there was a fire, drawing out people to help fight it.
As people began pouring into the streets, the British soldier’s plight became more threatened. Captain Thomas Preston, officer of the watch, became aware of the situation and summoned six soldiers and a non commissioned officer to accompany him to rescue White. The soldiers pressed through the crowd and surrounded White. The crowd was now several hundred people strong. Assurances were issued that the soldiers would not fire unless ordered by Preston. Since Preston was standing in front of the soldiers, it was doubtful that he would order them to fire. At this point seven British soldiers stood, muskets loaded and bayonets fixed, staring into a crowd of several hundred enraged Bostonians. The memory of eleven-year-old Christopher Seider, killed just days earlier in a similar incident, was fresh on everyone’s mind. But mobs have a mind of their own. The British soldiers were threatened. It was only a matter of time.
A local innkeeper, Richard Palmes, approached Captain Thomas Preston. Palmes held a cudgel in his hand. After a brief exchange between the two, someone in the crowd threw an object, striking one of the British soldiers. The soldier dropped his musket. He retrieved his weapon. He was angry. The man discharged the weapon into the crowd. Palmes struck Preston with the cudgel. There was a pause. Then, without orders, the soldiers fired a ragged volley into the crowd. The volley killed three colonists immediately. Two more died over the ensuing days of their wounds. Another man was seriously wounded. The fire would grow to a conflagration.
Written in a “this day in history,” format, each of the two books in this collection of North American colonial history events includes 366 history stories. The historical collection of tales includes many well-known as well as some little-known events in the saga of the United States. The easy to follow “this day in history,” format covers a wide range of the people, places and events of early American history. I is the first book in my series, 366 Days in History Series. Each book includes 366 stories of American history. It is availble, with many of my other titles on gardening, Indiana places and history and United States History, at the Walnut Street Variety Shop in downtown Batesville, Indiana.
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Mossy Feet Books - Author Paul R. Wonning 