240 Years Ago Today
The Boston "Massacre"
"The Boston Massacre began when a shop owner's apprentice falsely accused an on-duty British officer of refusing to pay his bill. The officer ignored the the charge, but the apprentice soon showed up with friends who continued hurling insults at the officer. Soon, the civilians began throwing snowballs at their target. A British private rushed to his defense and struck the apprentice in the head with his musket. A crowd eventually grew to a size of 300 or more, and the small group of British soldiers were reinforced.
The crowd grew into an unruly mob who continued to throw snowballs and other objects until one soldier was felled by a club swung by a local innkeeper. The soldier angrily rose to his feet and encouraged his fellow infantrymen to fire; meanwhile, the civilians themselves were daring the soldiers by calling "fire" to the armed men. Although apparently not ordered to do so by their commanding officer, a number of soldiers fired into the crowd, hitting at least 11 civilians.
A total of five Bostonians died of their wounds, and several of the soldiers were later charged with murder. The next day, the soldiers were removed from the town center to a fort in Boston Harbor. At the later trial, six of the indicted soldiers were found not guilty of murder, while two privates were found guilty of manslaughter. Their punishment? They had their thumbs branded."
A guy named Crispus Attucks was one of the civilians killed. There's little known about him except that he probably was a sailor and worked the wharves, and had black skin although he could have been part indian and part white. A lot of ensuing accounts credit him as being the first colonist to die in the war for independence.
"The Boston Massacre began when a shop owner's apprentice falsely accused an on-duty British officer of refusing to pay his bill. The officer ignored the the charge, but the apprentice soon showed up with friends who continued hurling insults at the officer. Soon, the civilians began throwing snowballs at their target. A British private rushed to his defense and struck the apprentice in the head with his musket. A crowd eventually grew to a size of 300 or more, and the small group of British soldiers were reinforced.
The crowd grew into an unruly mob who continued to throw snowballs and other objects until one soldier was felled by a club swung by a local innkeeper. The soldier angrily rose to his feet and encouraged his fellow infantrymen to fire; meanwhile, the civilians themselves were daring the soldiers by calling "fire" to the armed men. Although apparently not ordered to do so by their commanding officer, a number of soldiers fired into the crowd, hitting at least 11 civilians.
A total of five Bostonians died of their wounds, and several of the soldiers were later charged with murder. The next day, the soldiers were removed from the town center to a fort in Boston Harbor. At the later trial, six of the indicted soldiers were found not guilty of murder, while two privates were found guilty of manslaughter. Their punishment? They had their thumbs branded."
A guy named Crispus Attucks was one of the civilians killed. There's little known about him except that he probably was a sailor and worked the wharves, and had black skin although he could have been part indian and part white. A lot of ensuing accounts credit him as being the first colonist to die in the war for independence.
posted by nolocontendere at 8:05 PM
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