- Boston Massacre
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Amer. Hist.a riot in Boston (March 5, 1770) arising from the resentment of Boston colonists toward British troops quartered in the city, in which the troops fired on the mob and killed several persons.
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Skirmish on March 5, 1770, between British troops and a crowd in Boston.After provocation by the colonists, British soldiers fired on the mob and killed five men, including Crispus Attucks. The incident was widely publicized by Samuel Adams, Paul Revere, and others as a battle for American liberty, and it contributed to the unpopularity of the British in the years before the American Revolution.* * *
▪ United States history(March 5, 1770), skirmish between British troops and a crowd in Boston, Mass., U.S. Widely publicized, it contributed to the unpopularity of the British regime in America in the years before the American Revolution.The incident was the climax of a series of brawls in which local workers and sailors clashed with British soldiers quartered in Boston. Harassed by a mob, the troops opened fire. Crispus Attucks (Attucks, Crispus), a black sailor and former slave, was shot first and died along with four others. Samuel Adams (Adams, Samuel), a skillful propagandist of the day, shrewdly depicted the affair as a battle for American liberty. His cousin John Adams (Adams, John), however, successfully defended the British soldiers tried for murder in the affair.* * *
Universalium. 2010.