Five civilians were killed on the night of March 5, 1770, when British soldiers opened fire on a crowd of rioters who had assembled and attacked the unwelcome troops. British troops had been sent to Boston in 1768 to quell the public furor over the Townshend Acts, the unpopular legislation enacted to help to increase the enforcement of trade taxes and restrict the burgeoning smuggling market.
The Boston Massacre began when a shop owner's apprentice falsely accused an on-duty British officer of refusing to pay his bill. The officer ignored the the charge, but the apprentice soon showed up with friends who continued hurling insults at the officer. Soon, the civilians began throwing snowballs at their target. A British private rushed to his defense and struck the apprentice in the head with his musket. A crowd eventually grew to a size of 300 or more, and the small group of British soldiers were reinforced.
The crowd grew into an unruly mob who continued to throw snowballs and other objects until one soldier was felled by a club swung by a local innkeeper. The soldier angrily rose to his feet and encouraged his fellow infantrymen to fire; meanwhile, the civilians themselves were daring the soldiers by calling "fire" to the armed men. Although apparently not ordered to do so by their commanding officer, a number of soldiers fired into the crowd, hitting at least 11 civilians.
A total of five Bostonians died of their wounds, and several of the soldiers were later charged with murder. The next day, the soldiers were removed from the town center to a fort in Boston Harbor. At the later trial, six of the indicted soldiers were found not guilty of murder, while two privates were found guilty of manslaughter. Their punishment? They had their thumbs branded.
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