The Boston Tea Party

A Massacre in Boston

The Green Dragon Tavern on Union Street in Boston was always a lively place. And on one particular night, it was especially rowdy. A group of young men from the Sons of Liberty were in a corner, chugging ale and sipping pipes. The shouts and protests grew louder as a man named Samuel Adams stood to speak. He was in his mid-forties and was one of the fiercest Patriots in the colonies. He studied at Harvard College, and all he cared for was justice and liberty for the colonists in America. He led protests and wrote letters to newspapers, like the Boston-Gazette and Country Journal, to express his opinions on freedom and the British government. In Britain, he was known as “the most dangerous man in Massachusetts.” The British disliked Adams for his persuasiveness and opinions that independence from English rule was the best for their future.

That evening, Adams riled up the Sons of Liberty with his account of the British Parliament’s latest attack on liberty: the Townshend Acts. This act would call for new taxes on British goods, such as glass, paint, and tea. That night, the men went home wanting more than ever to fight for their freedom. They wanted their independence from British rule.

Britain sent more soldiers to the colonies to control the crowds and suppress the protests. Tensions between the two groups quickly grew. Patriots continued to boycott British products, and many continued their violent behavior.

In the spring of 1768, a mob rioted when John Hancock’s ship was seized by a tax collector. Hancock was a well-known smuggler of wine. Joseph Harrison, the chief customs agent, suspected Hancock broke the law and wanted to inspect his ship. While British sailors tied Hancock’s boat to one of their ships, angry Bostonians gathered on the docks to protest. Later, a mob vandalized the home of one of the customs officers and burned one of his boats.

King George was frustrated with his “rebellious child.” He dispatched over four thousand soldiers to Boston, a city with less than seventeen thousand residents. This angered the people of Boston. The soldiers became known as Redcoats because of their bright red uniforms.

By 1770, fights between Loyalists and Patriots became more common. Teenagers would taunt the British soldiers by name-calling, and pelting them with rocks, oyster shells, rotten eggs, and more. On March 5, 1770, one of the skirmishes broke out between some boys and soldiers. Although none of the boys were armed, the soldiers were probably on edge because just a few days earlier, a mob of angry Bostonians had beaten up a group of off-duty soldiers.

The scene grew increasingly tense as more Patriots joined the crowd. All of a sudden, someone shouted, “Fire!” A nervous soldier fired his gun, and other soldiers did the same. When the smoke cleared, three colonists were dead, and many more were injured. Five Patriots died that day. The first person killed, Crispus Attucks, is considered the first casualty of the American Revolution. More than twelve thousand people came to the funerals of Attucks and his fellow victims.

Samuel Adams saw this as an opportunity to stir up more resentment towards the British. He began calling the event the Boston Massacre. Paul Revere, one of Adams’ friends, was a well-known silversmith and an excellent horseman. Using his skills as a copperplate engraver, he created political cartoons etched into and printed from sheets of copper. He made a cartoon of the Boston Massacre, showing British troops opening fire against an innocent group of colonists. Although his cartoon wasn’t totally accurate, it succeeded in making Patriots even angrier toward the British.

But King George wasn’t about to give in to the protests. He was ready to hit back even harder.