March 5, 2020: On March 5, 1770—250 years ago today—five American colonists were killed by British soldiers in an event that became known to history as the Boston Massacre. The event became a key milestone leading to the colonial War of Independence. In fact, some historians consider these five men to be the first fatalities of that war.[1]
The British troops had occupied Boston two years earlier in an attempt to enforce unpopular taxes (taxes passed by Parliament with no colonial representation). On that fateful evening, protesters taunted soldiers guarding the Customs House. One soldier was hit by a snowball and fired a shot. Other soldiers responded killing five colonists and wounding three others.
Crispus Attucks, an African American, is commonly believed to be the first of the five to be killed. The others were Patrick Carr, Samuel Gray, Samuel Maverick, and James Caldwell.[1]
According to History, “The Sons of Liberty, a Patriot group formed in 1765 to oppose the Stamp Act, advertised the 'Boston Massacre' as a battle for American liberty and just cause for the removal of British troops from Boston.”[1] Just over five years later, the American Revolution began with the battles of Lexington and Concord.
In March of 1776, six years after the Boston Massacre, George Washington and colonial troops ended the British occupation of Boston by surrounding the city. Another five years would pass before the Revolutionary War itself ended and the United States won its independence.
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