“A SPARK TH

AT IGNITE

D THE

REVOLUTIONARY

WAR”

B O S T O N , MA R C H 5

, 17 7 0

DIFFERENT NAMES• Boston Massacre• The Bloody Massacre on

King Street (Paul Revere)• State Street Massacre• Incident on King Street

(British)

WHAT REALLY HAPPENED• Mob had formed around

British sentinel (a sentinel is a soldier stationed as a guard to challenge all comers)• Outside Old State House• Tensions were high because

the British soldiers were stationed in Boston to enforce the Townshend Act

• Captain Thomas Preston called in more British soldiers

SNOWBALLS, STICKS, AND STONES• 50 citizens attacked the soldiers• With out being ordered, Soldiers shot in to the mob

*Crispus Atticus*Samuel Gray*James Coldwell*Samuel Maverick* Patrick Carr

• All killed were buried at Boston Granary burial ground

THE WITNESS- HENRY KNOX• Ran a bookshop in Boston • Witness to the Boston Massacre• Attempted to stop the situation by trying to persuade the British soldiers to go back to their quarters

THE TRIALS• Captain Thomas Preston asked John Adams to be his lawyer• Adams was accompanied by Josiah Quincy II• 8 soldiers were tried• Six of them were found innocent • Two of them found guilty- forced to brand their thumb

REMEMBERED BY ALL• Monument was made in the Boston Common• All five victims had prominent grave• Old State House and Granary Burial Ground are part of the Freedom Trail• Massacre Day until 1783 when American Independence was declared

BIBLIOGRAPHY• wikipedia.org• bostonmassacre.net• ushistory.org• bostonteapartyship.com