On the night of March 5, 1770, an important event happened on King Street in Boston. A "massacre" took place at about eight o'clock, right in front of the State House. At this time in history, British Soldiers had been sent to Boston by King George lll to watch over the Bostonians, and make sure they were paying their taxes. While King George lll thought this was a great idea, the people of Boston felt differently. The townspeople would taunt the soldiers, throw things at them, and call them names and the soldiers were not allowed to do anything about it. They had to stand there as if nothing was happening.

However, on the night of March 5th, Hugh White, a sentry watching guard in front of the State House, felt that he had to defend himself. A wigmaker's apprentice was taunting him at the time, and Hugh White hit the apprentice with his bayonet. In need of support, Hugh White called his men over and within a couple of minutes, the townspeople were throwing snow, holding clubs and threatening the soldiers. The word "FIRE" kept being said, and no one was quite sure who called it out. With the word's many meanings, confusion and chaos began to fill the air. The fire bells were ringing and Bostonians came flying out of their houses in fear. FIRE your guns? Do not FIRE your guns? Where is the FIRE happening? All of this commotion lead to gun shots. Within twenty minutes, the whole event was over. But when the fight concluded, five townspeople's lives were at an end. Three people faced their demise that night, and two more passed away. Six other townspeople were injured, as well. A funeral took place in Boston for the victims of the massacre and 5,000 Bostonians marched along the streets holding the coffins in misery. Sam Adams was able to use this as a symbol of the bad things that can happen when the soldiers come to the colonies.

Until the trial in November, the eight soldiers were all held in jail for murder. Captain Preston had his own trial and was found not guilty. Surprisingly, in November of 1770, John Adams defended the British Soldiers along with Josiah Quincy. The trial lasted eight days, and the end result was Matthew Kilroy and Hugh Montgumery were guilty of manslaughter, and the others were found not guilty. Luckily for Kilroy and Montgomery, they were not taken to jail, but instead were branded with cement with the shape of an "M" on their thumb. This meant that if they ever went to trial again for any cause, they would automatically be sent to jail.

In reality, The Boston Massacre would not be considered a massacre, but the Bostonians called it this to try to show how horrible King George lll was being by sending the soldiers to Boston. This was one spark that contributed to the start of the revolution.

The Journals
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