83-696: Captain Thomas Preston None The Boston Massacre (known in Great Britain as the Incident on King Street ) was a confrontation in Boston on March 5, 1770, in which nine British soldiers shot several of a crowd of three or four hundred who were harassing them verbally and throwing various projectiles. The event was heavily publicized as "a massacre" by leading Patriots such as Paul Revere and Samuel Adams . British troops had been stationed in
166-410: A bayonet, and with the other knocked the man down." However, two witnesses contradict this statement, testifying that Attucks was 12–15 feet (3.7–4.6 m) away from the soldiers when they began firing, too far away to take hold of a bayonet. Adams stated that it was Attucks' behavior that, "in all probability, the dreadful carnage of that night is chiefly to be ascribed." He argued that the soldiers had
249-470: A combination of the Winthrop Peninsula and Deer Island to the north, the hooked Nantasket Peninsula and Point Allerton to the south, and the harbor islands in the middle. The harbor is often described as being split into an inner harbor and an outer harbor. The harbor itself comprises 50 square miles (130 km ) with 180 miles (290 km) of shoreline and 34 harbor islands. The inner harbor
332-402: A fair inquiry into the shootings if the crowd dispersed. Hutchinson immediately began investigating the affair, and Preston and the eight soldiers were arrested by the next morning. Boston's selectmen then asked him to order the troops to move from the city out to Castle William on Castle Island , while colonists held a town meeting at Faneuil Hall to discuss the affair. The governor's council
415-646: A letter to the colonial governors in America instructing them to dissolve any colonial assemblies that responded to the Massachusetts Circular Letter. He also ordered Massachusetts Governor Francis Bernard to direct the Massachusetts House to rescind the letter. The house refused to comply. Boston's chief customs officer Charles Paxton wrote to Hillsborough for military support because "the Government
498-478: A request to John Adams , pleading for him to work on the case. Adams was already a leading Patriot and was contemplating a run for public office, but he agreed to help in the interest of ensuring a fair trial. He was joined by Josiah Quincy II after Quincy was assured that the Sons of Liberty would not oppose his appointment, and by Loyalist Robert Auchmuty. They were assisted by Sampson Salter Blowers , whose chief duty
581-453: A set of people a mob, I can't conceive, unless the name is too respectable for them. The sun is not about to stand still or go out, nor the rivers to dry up because there was a mob in Boston on the 5th of March that attacked a party of soldiers." Adams also described the former slave Crispus Attucks , saying "his very look was enough to terrify any person" and that "with one hand [he] took hold of
664-669: A somewhat safer position on the steps of the Custom House, and he sought assistance. Runners alerted Captain Thomas Preston , the officer of the watch at the nearby barracks. According to his report, Preston dispatched a non-commissioned officer and six privates from the grenadier company of the 29th Regiment of Foot to relieve White with fixed bayonets. The soldiers were Corporal William Wemms and Privates Hugh Montgomery , John Carroll, William McCauley, William Warren, and Matthew Kilroy , accompanied by Preston. They pushed their way through
747-574: Is a natural harbor and estuary of Massachusetts Bay , located adjacent to Boston Massachusetts . It is home to the Port of Boston , a major shipping facility in the Northeastern United States . Since its discovery to Europeans by John Smith in 1614, Boston Harbor has been an important port in American history. Early on, it was recognized by Europeans as one of the finest natural harbors in
830-575: Is as much in the hands of the people as it was in the time of the Stamp Act ." Commodore Samuel Hood responded by sending the 50-gun warship HMS Romney , which arrived in Boston Harbor in May 1768. On June 10, 1768, customs officials seized Liberty , a sloop owned by leading Boston merchant John Hancock , on allegations that the ship had been involved in smuggling. Bostonians were already angry because
913-780: Is fed by several rivers, including the Neponset River , the Weymouth Fore River , the Weymouth Back River and the Weir River . Dredged deepwater channels stretch from President Roads to the inner harbor, and from Nantasket Roads to the Weymouth Fore River and Hingham Bay via Hull Gut and West Gut. Some commercial port facilities are located in the Fore River area, an area which has a history of shipbuilding including
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#1732836990875996-586: Is shown ordering his men to fire, and a musket is seen shooting out of the window of the customs office, which is labeled "Butcher's Hall". Artist Christian Remick hand-colored some prints. Some copies of the print show a man with two chest wounds and a somewhat darker face, matching descriptions of Attucks; others show no black victim. The image was published in the Boston Gazette and circulated widely, and it became an effective anti-British editorial. The image of soldiers in red uniforms and wounded men with red blood
1079-455: Is still ongoing. Before the clean-up projects, the water was so polluted that The Standells released a song in 1965 called " Dirty Water " which referred to the sorry state of the Charles River. Neal Stephenson , who attended Boston University from 1977 to 1981, based his second novel, Zodiac , around pollution of the harbor. Since the writing of the song, the water quality in both
1162-464: Is true, but you will determine whether a man just stepping into eternity is not to be believed, especially in favor of a set of men by whom he had lost his life". Carr's testimony is one of the earliest recorded uses of the dying declaration exception to the inadmissibility of hearsay evidence in United States legal code. The four civilians were tried on December 13. The principal prosecution witness
1245-470: The Boston Custom House on King Street (today known as State Street). A wigmaker's apprentice, approximately 13 years old, named Edward Garrick called out to Captain-Lieutenant John Goldfinch, accusing him of refusing to pay a bill due to Garrick's master. Goldfinch had settled the account the previous day, and ignored the insult. Private White called out to Garrick that he should be more respectful of
1328-744: The Boston Massacre Monument was erected on the Boston Common in memory of the men killed in the massacre, and the five victims were reinterred in a prominent grave in the Granary Burying Ground . The massacre is reenacted annually on March 5 under the auspices of the Bostonian Society . The Old State House, the massacre site, and the Granary Burying Ground are part of Boston's Freedom Trail , connecting sites important in
1411-493: The Massachusetts Water Resources Authority in 1985. The slow progress of the cleanup became a key theme of the 1988 U.S. presidential election as George H. W. Bush defeated Dukakis partly through campaign speeches casting doubt on the governor's environmental record, which Dukakis himself had claimed was better than that of Bush. The court-ordered cleanup continued throughout the next two decades and
1494-495: The Province of Massachusetts Bay since 1768 in order to support crown-appointed officials and to enforce unpopular Parliamentary legislation. Amid tense relations between the civilians and the soldiers, a mob formed around a British sentry and verbally abused him. He was eventually supported by seven additional soldiers, led by Captain Thomas Preston, who were hit by clubs, stones, and snowballs. Eventually, one soldier fired, prompting
1577-598: The Province of Massachusetts Bay , an important shipping town, and along with Philadelphia and present-day New York City , one of the most influential political, economic, and cultural cities in the Thirteen Colonies of pre-Revolutionary British America . Boston also was a center of resistance to unpopular acts of taxation by the British Parliament in the 1760s. In 1768, the Townshend Acts were enacted in
1660-619: The polling place is on the mainland at Columbia Point . Since 1920, Boston must pass legislation to redistrict. As of 2018, there were two active voters, staff at the Thompson Island Outward Bound Educational Center . There were previously registered voters at a recovery center and a homeless shelter on Long Island, but few voted and they have closed. In 1996, the Boston Globe reported that Mayor Thomas Menino and MIT engineer Clifford Goudey were planning
1743-542: The "foundation of American independence was laid" on March 5, 1770, and Samuel Adams and other Patriots used annual commemorations ( Massacre Day ) to encourage public sentiment toward independence. Christopher Monk was the boy who was wounded in the attack and died in 1780, and his memory was honored as a reminder of British hostility. Later events such as the Gaspee Affair and the Boston Tea Party further illustrated
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#17328369908751826-734: The Action of that Night a Massacre, nor is it any Argument in favour of the Governor or Minister, who caused them to be sent here. But it is the strongest Proofs of the Danger of Standing Armies. The government was determined to give the soldiers a fair trial so that there could be no grounds for retaliation from the British and so that moderates would not be alienated from the Patriot cause. Several lawyers refused to defend Preston due to their Loyalist leanings, so he sent
1909-672: The Harbor and the Charles River has significantly improved, and the projects have dramatically transformed Boston Harbor from one of the filthiest in the nation to one of the cleanest. Today, Boston Harbor is safe for fishing and for swimming nearly every day, though there are still beach closings after even small rainstorms, caused by bacteria-laden storm water and the occasional combined sewer overflow. In 2022, pieces of plastic transmission line used in rock explosives, (known as explosive shock tubing) began washing up on coastal shores of Cape Cod and Rhode Island . [1] This led to an investigation that
1992-528: The Harbor. In the 19th century, two of the first steam sewage stations were built (one in East Boston and one later on Deer Island). With these mandates, the harbor was seeing small improvements, but raw sewage was still continuously pumped into the harbor. In 1919, the Metropolitan District Commission was created to oversee and regulate the quality of harbor water. However, not much improvement
2075-560: The Thirteen Colonies, placing tariffs on a variety of common items that were manufactured in Britain and imported in the colonies. Colonists objected that the Acts were a violation of the natural, charter, and constitutional rights of British subjects in the colonies. The Massachusetts House of Representatives began a campaign against the Acts by sending a petition to King George III asking for
2158-420: The captain of Romney had been impressing local sailors; they began to riot, and customs officials fled to Castle William for protection. Daniel Calfe declares, that on Saturday evening the 3rd of March, a camp-woman, wife to James McDeed, a grenadier of the 29th, came into his father's shop, and the people talking about the affrays at the ropewalks, and blaming the soldiers for the part they had acted in it,
2241-513: The city's history. Thomas Preston (British Army officer) Captain Thomas Preston ( c. 1722— c. 1798 ) was a British military officer who served in Boston , Massachusetts . He commanded the troops involved in the Boston Massacre in 1770 and was tried for murder, but was acquitted. Historians have never settled whether he ordered his men to fire on the colonists. Preston
2324-502: The city's waterfront contributed to the problem. That suit was followed by one by Conservation Law Foundation and finally by the United States government , resulting in the landmark court-ordered cleanup of Boston Harbor. The lawsuits forced then-Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis to propose separating the water and sewer treatment divisions from the MDC, resulting in the creation of
2407-514: The colonists planned the attack on the soldiers On March 27, the eight soldiers, Captain Preston, and four civilians were indicted for murder; the civilians were in the Customs House and were alleged to have fired shots. Bostonians continued to be hostile to the troops and their dependents. General Gage was convinced that the troops were doing more harm than good, so he ordered the 29th Regiment out of
2490-555: The companion Deer Island plant adjacent to Winthrop had far-reaching environmental and political effects. Fecal coliform bacteria levels forced frequent swimming prohibitions along the harbor beaches and the Charles River for many years. The city of Quincy sued the Metropolitan District Commission (MDC) and the separate Boston Water and Sewer Commission in 1982, charging that unchecked systemic pollution of
2573-433: The crowd. Henry Knox took Preston by the coat and told him, "For God's sake, take care of your men. If they fire, you must die." Captain Preston responded "I am aware of it." When they reached Private White on the custom house stairs, the soldiers loaded their muskets and arrayed themselves in a semicircular formation. Preston shouted at the crowd, estimated between 300 and 400, to disperse. The crowd continued to press around
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2656-416: The crowd. The jury's decisions suggest that they believed that the soldiers had felt threatened by the crowd but should have delayed firing. The convicted soldiers pled benefit of clergy , the right to a lesser sentence for a first offender. This reduced their punishment from a death sentence to branding of the thumb in open court. Patrick Carr's deathbed account of the event also played a role in exonerating
2739-485: The crumbling relationship between Britain and its colonies. Five years passed between the massacre and outright war, and Neil York suggests that there is only a tenuous connection between the two. It is widely perceived as a significant event leading to the violent rebellion that followed. Howard Zinn argues that Boston was full of "class anger". He reports that the Boston Gazette published in 1763 that "a few persons in power" were promoting political projects "for keeping
2822-570: The death sentence. Instead, they were branded on the thumb with a hot iron, the letter "M" for murder. Captain Preston was tried separately. The main issue was whether or not he had called the order to fire, he was found not guilty. After his trial, Preston retired from the army. He reportedly settled in Ireland. Adams later recalled seeing him in London in the 1780s, when Adams was serving there as US Minister to Britain. Boston Harbor Boston Harbor
2905-466: The eight defendants of murder charges. The testimony of John Jeffries is reprinted below: Q: Were you Patrick Carr's surgeon? A: I was. Q: Was he [Carr] apprehensive of his danger? A: He told me... he was a native of Ireland, that he had frequently seen mobs, and soldiers called upon to quell them... he had seen soldiers often fire on the people in Ireland, but had never seen them bear half so much before they fired in his life. Q: When had you
2988-506: The first of four British Army regiments began disembarking in Boston on October 1, 1768. Two regiments were removed from Boston in 1769, but the 14th and the 29th Regiments of Foot remained. The Journal of Occurrences were an anonymous series of newspaper articles which chronicled the clashes between civilians and soldiers in Boston, feeding tensions with its sometimes exaggerated accounts, but those tensions rose markedly after Christopher Seider , "a young lad about eleven Years of Age",
3071-459: The harbor until the 19th century. By 1660, almost all imports came to the greater Boston area and the New England coast through the waters of Boston Harbor. A rapid influx of people transformed Boston into an exploding city. The health of the harbor quickly deteriorated as the population of Boston increased. As early as the late 19th century Boston citizens were advised not to swim in any portion of
3154-613: The harbor, or just outside it in Massachusetts Bay: Two former islands, Castle Island and Deer Island , still exist in a recognizable form. Castle Island was joined to the mainland by land reclamation , while Deer Island ceased to be an island when the channel which formerly separated it from the mainland was filled in by the New England Hurricane of 1938 . Nut Island is a small former island in Boston Harbor that
3237-432: The harbor, river systems, and tidal reservoirs. This interpretation came to be known as the theory of Tidal scour . This understanding of the harbor as a dynamic landscape assuaged concerns some had over the negative impacts of land fill operations of land and real estate developers. As the 19th century progressed, the acceleration of urban growth dramatically increased the need for more land. The Ordinance of 1641 extended
3320-447: The immediate area of the custom house but continued to grow in nearby streets. Captain Preston immediately called out most of the 29th Regiment, which adopted defensive positions in front of the state house. Acting Governor Thomas Hutchinson was summoned to the scene and was forced by the movement of the crowd into the council chamber of the state house. From its balcony, he was able to minimally restore order, promising that there would be
3403-409: The inner harbor meets the outer harbor. The outer harbor stretches to the south and east of the inner harbor. To its landward side, and moving in a counterclockwise direction, the harbor is made up of the three small bays of Dorchester Bay , Quincy Bay and Hingham Bay . To seaward, the two deep water anchorages of President Roads and Nantasket Roads are separated by Long Island . The outer harbor
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3486-429: The inner harbor was also filling and created widespread anxiety about the destruction of the Boston Harbor. Although the scientific understanding of hydraulics was still in its infancy and there were high degrees of uncertainty regarding the meeting of land and water, scientists and engineers began to describe the Boston Harbor as a series of channels created and maintained by the scouring force of water moving in and out of
3569-531: The intention of causing harm. In the interest of minimizing impact on the jury pool, city leaders held back local distribution of the pamphlet, but they sent copies to other colonies and to London, where they knew that depositions were headed which Governor Hutchinson had collected. A second pamphlet entitled Additional Observations on the Short Narrative furthered the attack on crown officials by complaining that customs officials were abandoning their posts under
3652-413: The landlord of the house that it was to collect the mob. Mr. Gillespie upon this resolved to go home, and in his way met numbers of people who were running past him, of whom many were armed with clubs and sticks, and some with other weapons. At the same time a number of people passed by him with two fire-engines, as if there had been a fire in the town. But they were soon told that there was no fire, but that
3735-412: The last conversation with him? A: About four o'clock in the afternoon, preceding the night on which he died, and he then particularly said, he forgave the man whoever he was that shot him, he was satisfied he had no malice, but fired to defend himself. Justices Edmund Trowbridge and Peter Oliver instructed the jury, and Oliver specifically addressed Carr's testimony: "this Carr was not upon oath, it
3818-502: The law that made land reclamation such a widespread activity in Boston. By the end of the nineteenth century, the city had created more land in two generations than it had in the previous two centuries. Boston Harbor contains a considerable number of islands, 34 of which have been part of the Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area since its establishment in 1996. The following islands exist within
3901-413: The legal right to fight back against the mob and so were innocent. If they were provoked but not endangered, he argued, they were at most guilty of manslaughter . The jury agreed with Adams' arguments and acquitted six of the soldiers after 2 1 ⁄ 2 hours of deliberation. Two of the soldiers were found guilty of manslaughter because there was overwhelming evidence that they had fired directly into
3984-471: The massacre as part of an ongoing scheme to "quell a Spirit of Liberty", and harped on the negative consequences of quartering troops in the city. Henry Pelham was an engraver and half-brother of celebrated portrait painter John Singleton Copley , and he depicted the event in an engraving. Silversmith and engraver Paul Revere closely copied the image and is often credited as its originator. The engraving contained several inflammatory details. Captain Preston
4067-710: The most gallant, generous, manly and disinterested Actions of my whole Life, and one of the best Pieces of Service I ever rendered my Country. Judgment of Death against those Soldiers would have been as foul a Stain upon this Country as the Executions of the Quakers or Witches , anciently. As the Evidence was, the Verdict of the Jury was exactly right. This however is no Reason why the Town should not call
4150-414: The notable Fore River Shipyard . In the 1830s, members of the maritime community observed physical decay in the harbor. Islands in the outer harbor were visibly deteriorating and erosion was causing weathered materials and sediment to move from where it was protecting the harbor to where it would do the most harm. Recent shoaling experiences and comparisons with old charts caused observers to insist that
4233-408: The officer, and the two exchanged insults. Garrick then started poking Goldfinch in the chest with his finger; White left his post, challenged the boy, and struck him on the side of the head with his musket. Garrick cried out in pain, and his companion Bartholomew Broaders began to argue with White, which attracted a larger crowd. Henry Knox was a 19-year old bookseller who later served as a general in
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#17328369908754316-522: The others to fire without an order by Preston. The gunfire instantly killed three people and wounded eight others, two of whom later died of their wounds. The crowd eventually dispersed after acting governor Thomas Hutchinson promised an inquiry, but they reformed the next day, prompting the withdrawal of the troops to Castle Island . Eight soldiers, one officer, and four civilians were arrested and charged with murder, and they were defended in court by attorney, and future U.S. president, John Adams . Six of
4399-480: The people poor in order to make them humble." The massacre was remembered in 1858 in a celebration organized by William Cooper Nell , a black abolitionist who saw the death of Crispus Attucks as an opportunity to demonstrate the role of African Americans in the Revolutionary War . Artwork was produced commemorating the massacre, changing the color of a victim's skin to black to emphasize Attucks' death. In 1888,
4482-461: The people were going to fight the soldiers, upon which they immediately quitted the fire-engines, and swore they would go to their assistance. All this happened before the soldiers near the custom-house fired their muskets, which was not till half an hour after nine o'clock; and it [shows] that the inhabitants had formed, and were preparing to execute, a design of attacking the soldiers on that evening. —Excerpt from A Fair Account , suggesting that
4565-470: The pretense that it was too dangerous for them to do their duties; one customs official had left Boston to carry Hutchinson's gathered depositions to London. Hutchinson's depositions were eventually published in a pamphlet entitled A Fair Account of the Late Unhappy Disturbance in Boston , drawn mainly from the depositions of soldiers. Its account of affairs sought to blame Bostonians for denying
4648-556: The property rights of riparian owners from the line of low tide to a maximum distance of 100 rods (1,600 ft; 500 m) from the line of high tide. Generally, other states drew the line of private property at high tide. However, extending shore lines into bordering bodies of water was not unique to Boston. Chicago built into Lake Michigan, New York extended itself into the Hudson and East rivers, and San Francisco reclaimed sections of its bay. The Boston Harbor's unique geography inspired
4731-552: The province in May. Governor Hutchinson took advantage of the on-going high tensions to orchestrate delays of the trials until later in the year. In the days and weeks following the incident, a propaganda battle was waged between Patriots and Loyalists in Boston . Both sides published pamphlets that told strikingly different stories, and which were principally published in London in a bid to influence opinion there. The Boston Gazette 's version of events, for example, characterized
4814-562: The repeal of the Townshend Revenue Act. The House also sent the Massachusetts Circular Letter to other colonial assemblies, asking them to join the resistance movement, and called for a boycott of merchants importing the affected goods. Lord Hillsborough had recently been appointed to the newly created office of Colonial Secretary , and he was alarmed by the actions of the Massachusetts House. In April 1768, he sent
4897-465: The revolution; he came upon the scene and warned White that, "if he fired, he must die for it." As the evening progressed, the crowd around Private White grew larger and more boisterous. Church bells were rung, which usually signified a fire, bringing more people out. More than 50 Bostonians pressed around White, led by a mixed-race former slave named Crispus Attucks , throwing objects at the sentry and challenging him to fire his weapon. White had taken up
4980-489: The scene to help the other troops. Charges were brought against him and other soldiers, but he was acquitted in a trial held in Boston , Massachusetts . Future United States President John Adams was his attorney. An eyewitness report by John Tudor, who was a merchant, says that Preston gave the order to fire, but many historians believe that he did not. Two of his men, Hugh Montgomery and Matthew Kilroy , were found guilty of manslaughter . They " prayed clergy " to avoid
5063-426: The shooting and other lesser incidents that took place in the days before as unprovoked attacks on peaceful, law-abiding inhabitants and, according to historian Neal Langley York, was probably the most influential description of the event. The account which it provided was drawn from more than 90 depositions taken after the event, and it included accusations that the soldiers sent by Captain Preston had been deployed with
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#17328369908755146-401: The soldiers were acquitted; the other two were convicted of manslaughter and given reduced sentences. The two found guilty of manslaughter were sentenced to branding on their hand. Depictions, reports, and propaganda about the event heightened tensions throughout the Thirteen Colonies , notably the colored engraving produced by Paul Revere. In the 18th century, Boston was the capital of
5229-402: The soldiers, taunting them by yelling "Fire!", by spitting at them, and by throwing snowballs and other small objects. Innkeeper Richard Palmes was carrying a cudgel, and he came up to Preston and asked if the soldiers' weapons were loaded. Preston assured him that they were, but that they would not fire unless he ordered it; he later stated in his deposition that he was unlikely to do so, since he
5312-440: The streets in parties, to the number, as he thinks, of forty or fifty persons; and that while he was sitting with his friends there, several persons of his acquaintance came in to them at different times, and took notice of the numbers of persons they had seen in the street armed in the above manner [with clubs].… About half an hour after eight the bells rung, which [Gillespie] and his company took to be for fire; but they were told by
5395-417: The town. The first four victims were buried with ceremony on March 8 in the Granary Burying Ground , one of Boston 's oldest burial grounds. Patrick Carr, the fifth and final victim, died on March 14 and was buried with them on March 17. Mr. John Gillespie, in his deposition, (No. 104) declares that, as he was going to the south end of the town, to meet some friends at a public house, he met several people in
5478-434: The troops' removal. Secretary of State Andrew Oliver reported that, had the troops not been removed, "they would probably be destroyed by the people—should it be called rebellion, should it incur the loss of our charter, or be the consequence what it would." The 14th was transferred to Castle Island without incident about a week later, with the 29th following shortly after, leaving the governor without effective means to police
5561-537: The validity of Parliamentary laws. It also blamed the city's citizens for the lawlessness preceding the event, and claimed that they set up an ambush of the soldiers. As it was not published until well after the first pamphlet had arrived in London, it had a much smaller impact on the public debate there. The Part I took in Defence of Cptn. Preston and the Soldiers, procured me Anxiety, and Obloquy enough. It was, however, one of
5644-550: The woman said, "the soldiers were in the right;" adding, "that before Tuesday or Wednesday night they would wet their swords or bayonets in New England people's blood." —Excerpt from A Short Narrative , suggesting that the soldiers were contemplating violence against the colonists Given the unstable state of affairs in Massachusetts, Hillsborough instructed General Thomas Gage , Commander-in-Chief, North America , to send "such Force as You shall think necessary to Boston", and
5727-474: The world due to its depth and natural defense from the Atlantic as a result of the many islands that dot the harbor. It was also favored due to its access to the Charles River , Neponset River and Mystic River which made travel from the harbor deeper into Massachusetts far easier. It was the site of the Boston Tea Party in 1773, as well as almost continuous building of wharves, piers, and new filled land into
5810-435: Was a pause of uncertain length (eyewitness estimates ranged from several seconds to two minutes), after which the soldiers fired into the crowd. It was not a disciplined volley, since Preston gave no orders to fire; the soldiers fired a ragged series of shots which hit 11 men. Three Americans died instantly: rope maker Samuel Gray, mariner James Caldwell, and Crispus Attucks. Samuel Maverick, a 17-year old apprentice ivory turner,
5893-403: Was a servant of one of the accused who made claims that were easily rebutted by defense witnesses. They were all acquitted, and the servant was eventually convicted of perjury, whipped, and banished from the province. The Boston Massacre is considered one of the most significant events that turned colonial sentiment against King George III and British Parliamentary authority. John Adams wrote that
5976-414: Was conducted by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers , it was suspected to have been related to a concluded Boston Harbor dredging project. The outcome was to seek to find methods to prevent future environmental impacts from reoccurring. Boston Harbor is a large harbor which constitutes the western extremity of Massachusetts Bay . The harbor is sheltered from Massachusetts Bay and the open Atlantic Ocean by
6059-484: Was historically the main port of Boston and is still the site of most of its port facilities as well as the Boston waterfront, which has been redeveloped for residential and recreational uses. The inner harbor extends from the mouths of the Charles River and the Mystic River , both of which empty into the harbor, to Logan International Airport and Castle Island , the latter now connected by land in 1928 to Boston, where
6142-493: Was hung in farmhouses throughout New England. Anonymous pamphlets were published describing the event from significantly different perspectives. A Short Narrative of the Horrid Massacre was published under the auspices of the Boston town meeting, principally written by James Bowdoin , a member of the governor's council and a vocal opponent of British colonial policy, along with Samuel Pemberton and Joseph Warren. It described
6225-428: Was initially opposed to ordering the troop withdrawal, and Hutchinson explained he did not have the authority to order the troops to move. Lieutenant Colonel William Dalrymple was the commander of the troops, and he did not offer to move them. The town meeting became more restive when it learned of this; the council changed its position and unanimously ("under duress", according to Hutchinson's report) agreed to request
6308-465: Was joined by landfill to the Houghs Neck peninsula in northeastern Quincy by the 1940s so it could be used as the site of a sewage treatment facility. Two other former islands, Apple Island and Governors Island , have been subsumed into land reclamation for Logan International Airport . The Harbor Islands have made up Boston's least populated electoral area, Ward 1, Precinct 15, since 1990, though
6391-477: Was killed by a customs employee on February 22, 1770. Seider's death was covered in the Boston Gazette , and his funeral was described as one of the largest of the time in Boston. The killing and subsequent media coverage inflamed tensions, with groups of colonists looking for soldiers to harass, and soldiers also looking for confrontation. On the evening of March 5, Private Hugh White stood on guard duty outside
6474-627: Was originally from Ireland ; his people were among the Protestants settled there. Preston was a captain of the 29th Regiment of Foot , part of the British garrison in Boston under the overall command of Thomas Gage . He was present at the Boston Massacre , also known as the Incident on King Street, when on 5 March 1770 a group of soldiers from the 29th fired on colonists of the city, after an aggressive mob had confronted them and thrown snowballs, clubs, and rocks at them. Captain Thomas Preston showed up on
6557-600: Was seen and general public awareness of the poor quality of water was very low. In 1972, the Clean Water Act was passed in order to help promote increased national water quality. Since the mid-1970s organizations within the Boston community have battled for a cleaner Boston Harbor. More recently, the harbor was the site of the $ 4.5 billion Boston Harbor Project. Failures at the Nut Island sewage treatment plant in Quincy and
6640-419: Was standing in front of them. A thrown object then struck Private Montgomery, knocking him down and causing him to drop his musket. He recovered his weapon and angrily shouted "Damn you, fire!", then discharged it into the crowd although no command was given. Palmes swung his cudgel first at Montgomery, hitting his arm, and then at Preston. He narrowly missed Preston's head, striking him on the arm instead. There
6723-416: Was struck by a ricocheting musket ball at the back of the crowd and died early the next morning. Irish immigrant Patrick Carr was shot in the abdomen, an inevitably fatal wound at that time, and died two weeks later. Apprentice Christopher Monk was seriously wounded; he was crippled and died in 1780, purportedly due to the injuries that he had sustained in the attack a decade earlier. The crowd moved away from
6806-406: Was to investigate the jury pool, and by Paul Revere, who drew a detailed map of the bodies to be used in the trial. Massachusetts Solicitor General Samuel Quincy and private attorney Robert Treat Paine were hired by the town of Boston to handle the prosecution. The defense team believed it was advantageous for Preston and the enlisted men to be tried separately and obtained such a separation. Preston
6889-487: Was tried in late October 1770 and acquitted after the jury was convinced that he had not ordered the troops to fire. The trial of the eight other soldiers opened on November 27, 1770. Adams told the jury to look beyond the fact that the soldiers were British. He referred to the crowd that had provoked the soldiers as "a motley rabble of saucy boys, negroes, and molattoes, Irish teagues and outlandish Jack Tarrs" (sailors). He then stated, "And why we should scruple to call such
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