Boston Massacre Facts |
Boston Massacre Fact 1 | The Boston Massacre took place on the evening of March 5, 1770 | |
Boston Massacre Fact 2 | The location of the incident was in front of the Customs House on King Street | |
Boston Massacre Fact 3 | The heavy military presence in the town that lead to the incident was the result of British enforcement of the Townshend Acts of 1767 | |
Boston Massacre Fact 4 | The British soldiers (redcoats) had arrived in Boston on September 28, 1768 | |
Boston Massacre Fact 5 | There were 4,000 British troops and about 20,000 residents at the time of the incident. | |
Boston Massacre Fact 6 | Two famous men led the different factions. Thomas Hutchinson was the royal governor and Samuel Adams was a patriot and the man of the people
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Boston Massacre Fact 7 | The day before the incident on March 4, 1770 dozens of Bostonians had clashed with British troops at John Gray's Ropewalk in the Fort Hill district
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Boston Massacre Fact 8 | Private Matthew Kilroy had argued with Samuel Gray at Gray's Ropewalks. Private Kilroy would later be convicted of manslaughter of Samuel Gray
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Boston Massacre Fact 9 | On the snowy evening of March 5, 1770 a British soldier called Hugh White became involved in a confrontation with some citizens. Hugh White struck a young boy called Edward Garrick with the butt of his rifle for insulting a British officer called Captain Goldfinch | |
Boston Massacre Fact 10 | Private White called for assistance which was answered by Captain Thomas Preston and 8 British soldiers. | | |
Boston Massacre Fact 11 | A redcoat called Private Montgomery was hit in the face by a stick and fired into the crowd killing a black man called Crispus Attucks | |
Boston Massacre Fact 12 | Other shots were fired. Private Kilroy shot and killed a man called Samuel Gray | |
Boston Massacre Fact 13 | Altogether 5 civilians were killed. Their names were Crispus Attucks, Samuel Gray, Patrick Carr, Samuel Maverick and James Caldwell | |
Boston Massacre Fact 14 | Six other civilians were wounded during the incident | |
Boston Massacre Fact 15 | The soldiers involved were arrested - all pleaded not guilty | |
Boston Massacre Fact 16 | The victims were hailed as heroes and buried together in the Granary Burying Ground | |
Boston Massacre Fact 17 | 12,000 Bostonians joined the funeral procession that made symbolic trip to the Liberty Tree | |
Boston Massacre Fact 18 | The Governor William Hutchison instigated an investigation and reported his findings to London | |
Boston Massacre Fact 19 | A town meeting held at Faneuil Hall appointed their own committee to investigate the incident. Samuel Adams was the chairman of the committee who insisted that the British troops left the town. | |
Boston Massacre Fact 20 | The British troops left the town and stayed at Castle William which was an old fort in Boston Harbor. | |
Boston Massacre Fact 21 | The term 'Boston Massacre' was coined by Samuel Adams | |
Boston Massacre Fact 22 | John Adams, the cousin of Samuel Adams who would become the second American President, was appointed to defend the Soldiers at the trial together with Josiah Quincy Jr. | |
Boston Massacre Fact 23 | The prosecutors were Robert Treat Paine and Samuel Quincy | |
Boston Massacre Fact 24 | Captain Thomas Preston and eight of his men were brought to trial on November 27, 1770. | |
Boston Massacre Fact 25 | The 8 British soldiers accused of murder were tried separately from their officer Captain Preston. | |
Boston Massacre Fact 26 | The names of the 8 soldiers were Corporal William Wemms, Private Hugh Montgomery, Private James Hartigan, Private William McCauley, Private Hugh White, Private Matthew Kilroy, Private William Warren and Private John Carroll. | |
Boston Massacre Fact 27 | Captain Thomas Preston was found not guilty and returned to England on December 2, 1770. He awarded £200 in compensation for the troubles he had endured during the incident | |
Boston Massacre Fact 28 | Two of the troops, Kilroy and Montgomery, were found guilty of manslaughter. | |
Boston Massacre Fact 29 | 9 days after their trial, on December 14, 1770, they returned to court for sentencing - which should have been the mandatory death penalty. | |
Boston Massacre Fact 30 | They both entered a claim, and were granted, the 'benefit of clergy' to avoid the death sentence. They were released but were first branded on their thumb with the letter "M" for manslaughter. | |
Boston Massacre Fact 31 | Samuel Adams and Paul Revere used the incident as political propaganda to stir the patriots in the other colonies | |
Boston Massacre Fact 32 | The incident was followed by the Tea Act in 1773 followed by the Boston Tea Party in 1774. | |
Interesting Facts & Information |