British Bullets Fire Five: The Boston Massacre Ignites Revolution

British soldiers fired into a crowd of colonists outside the Custom House on King Street in Boston on March 5, 1770, killing five men. Crispus Attucks, a man of African and Native American descent, was the first to fall and became the first casualty of the American Revolution. The soldiers had been pelted with snowballs, oyster shells, and chunks of ice by a mob that had been harassing the sentry for hours. Captain Thomas Preston ordered his men to hold fire, but in the chaos, shots rang out. John Adams, who would later become the second president, defended the soldiers at trial, arguing that they had acted in self-defense. Six were acquitted; two were convicted of manslaughter and branded on their thumbs. Samuel Adams and Paul Revere exploited the incident for propaganda purposes, producing an inflammatory engraving that depicted the soldiers firing in formation on a helpless crowd. The 'Boston Massacre' became the colonists' most powerful recruitment tool for revolution.