On the evening of March 5, 1770, a mob of rowdy Bostonians taunted and abused British soldiers on guard duty outside of the Customs House. As tensions escalated, soldiers fired into the crowd. When the smoke cleared, four men were dead; a fifth later died from his injuries. In the aftermath of the event, the British soldiers were put on trial and acquitted for their actions, in large part due to their defense attorney, Boston lawyer John Adams. Nevertheless, the so-called “Boston Massacre” became a compelling propaganda image for the emergent patriot movement to rally colonists to their side. In truth, how and why the violence unfolded that evening is more complicated and nuanced than a simple political dispute. This kit allows you to examine different accounts of the Boston Massacre and the ensuing trial to explore what actually happened in Boston that fateful night. –Prof. Lauren Duval
Please note: the links in these kits go to either a source on the web, an OU Libraries’ resource, requiring you to login with your OUNetID (4×4), or a companion Canvas page, requiring you to enroll here before you can access the document. The links open in a new window/tab. Report link problems to lscrivener@ou.edu.
Primary Sources: Original Documents from the Time
Images
Newspapers and Broadsides
The Boston-Gazette, and Country Journal, March 12, 1770, pp. 3-4.
“[Excerpt].” The London Chronicle, April 26-28, 1770.
“On the Trial of the Inhuman Murderers, Of the 5th of March, 1770.” Broadside. Boston, Mass. 1770.
“A Verse Occasioned by the late horrid Massacre in King-Street.” Broadside. Boston, Mass. 1770.
Letters, Diaries, and Memoirs
“George Hewes’ Recollection of the Boston Massacre.” History Matters. George Mason University.
Trials and Depositions
- p. 1-38 [images 1-38]: a narrative overview and short descriptions of depositions
- p. 81-83 [images 119-121]: an index of depositions
- p. 39-80 [images 39-118]: primary source depositions.
Secondary Sources: What Historians Have Written
Zabin, Serena. “Intimate Ties and the Boston Massacre.” In Women in the American Revolution: Gender, Politics, and the Domestic World, edited by Barbara Oberg, 192–210. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2019. (Companion Canvas page.)