Captain Preston’s Trial Accounts

In the story "John Adams and the Coming of the Revolution”, author David McCullough discusses how John Adams was asked to defend the British soldiers in court of the soldier’s accusation of man slaughter, following the Boston Massacre. Being such a problematic case that could ruin his reputation, John Adams accepted to defend the soldiers because of his experience in difficult cases, and his strong principles and beliefs. John Adam’s reputation did not even tarnish because of how skillfully he handled the case gaining the respect of the people of Boston.

On the cold and snowy night of March 5, 1770, rioters marched down King Street in Boston, breaking the usual silence. In front of the customs office, the violent rioters were met by five British soldiers and their commanding officer. They immediately began haranguing the soldiers. During the ensuing chaos, the soldiers, who had been bombarded by stones and balls of ice, were becoming anxious as they waited for commands from their superiors. However, the soldiers panicked when they heard, through the yells of the rioters, the word “Fire!”. Upon hearing that word, the soldiers opened fire on the crowd with their muskets. “Shouts and curses filled the air.” (pg. 206). Five rioters were swiftly killed.This was the infamous Boston Massacre- An event that shaped U.S. history and fed the growing flames of revolution among the British colonists in America. After the massacre, the outraged people of Boston called for a trial. Defending the soldiers was renowned lawyer and future president John Adams, who believed that everyone should be granted a fair trial. With the help of Mr. Adams, the soldiers were determined to achieve victory. Through months of thought and many struggles, they succeeded. As punishment, the soldiers were branded and sent back to England, but

Beginning in 1764, Great Britain began passing acts to exert greater control over the American colonies. The Sugar Act was passed to increase duties on foreign sugar imported from the West Indies. A Currency Act was also passed to ban the colonies from issuing paper bills or bills of credit because of the belief that the colonial currency had devalued the British money. Further, in order to continue to support the British soldiers left in America after the war, Great Britain passed the Quartering Act in 1765. This ordered colonists to house and feed British soldiers if there was not enough room for them in the colonist’s homes. An important piece of legislation that really upset the colonists was the Stamp Act passed in 1765. This required stamps to be purchased or included on many different items and documents such as playing cards, legal papers, newspapers, and more. This was the first direct tax that Britain had imposed on the colonists. Events began to escalate with passage of the Townshend Acts in 1767. These taxes were created to help colonial officials become independent of the colonists by providing them with a source of income. This act led to clashes between British troops and colonists, causing the infamous Boston Massacre. These unjust requests and increasing tensions all led up to the colonist’s declaration as well as the Revolutionary War.

This chapter provided information from the trial of Captain Thomas Preston. The chapter asked the question, “What really happened in the Boston Massacre”. Chapter four focused on the overall event of the Massacre and trying to determine if Captain Preston had given the order to fire at Boston citizens. The chapter provides background information and evidence from Preston’s trial to leave the reader answering the question the chapter presents. Although, after looking through all the witnesses’ testimonies some might sway in Captain Preston’s favor, just the way the grand jury did.

Once again, the colonists were angry that they were being taxed on basic needs. This anger only grew through the Boston Massacre incident, where five colonists were killed, and the Boston Tea Party, where enraged colonists dumped tea into the Boston Harbor. The last straw for the colonists seemed to be the passing of the Coercive Acts, otherwise known as the Intolerable Acts. These acts were created to regulate and basically restrict the colonists to make them realize that Parliament was in control. Colonists did not agree with this act, specifically the Quartering Act which required them to house British soldiers, as well as feed and clothe them. These acts and taxations, along with the violent incidents that occurred in Boston, and a lack of colonial representation in the Parliament caused the colonists to

During the Boston Massacre, a mob of colonists in Boston harassed the British soldiers. Captain Thomas Preston wrote,” On this is a general attack was made on the men by a great number of heavy clubs and snowballs being thrown at them…” During the riot, the British troops shot 5 colonists from the mob. The shots, however, were fired without their Captain’s demand. In Captain Thomas Preston’s report he admitted that he did not order the men to fire. He wrote, “ This might be the case as many of the mob called out fired, fire, but i assured the men that i gave no such order; that my words were, don’t fire, stop your firing.” To this day, no one knew who called out “fire”. At last, the colonists called a town meeting to demand the removal of British troops and even argued a trial for the incident of the shots. The judges agreed to put the soldiers on trial while the colonists were the one who started

The act also gave customs agents the authority to search property, including the colonists’ homes. The colonial response to these acts was increasing violence against the customs officials. In 1768, the British government sent troops to America to reinforce the Townshend Acts and protect the customs agents. At one point there were 4,000 British soldiers in a city of only 16,000 people (Phelan, 24). According to Phelan, there were “almost daily confrontations” between soldiers and civilians (38). There was increasing tension between the troops and the American colonists. Some children as well as adults tormented the troops by throwing snowballs and chunks of ice at the soldiers. There was also increasing tension between the colonists who were loyal to the Crown and those who were loyal to the colonies because some store owners broke their agreements about importing and selling British goods. Children threw trash and rocks at those storeowners’ buildings. Several days before the Boston Massacre, one of the loyalist merchants shot and killed a young man who was a part of group vandalizing his business (Phelan, 44-46). The colonists’ tempers flared.

The Boston Massacre was an incident that took place on March 5, 1770 where the British Army killed five male civilians as well as injuring six others. The use of propaganda at the time led by patriots spurred hostility towards the British authority. The result of the hatred was great tension among the public as well as the death of some of the participants. Following the alarming incidence, Thomas Hutchinson, the acting governor committed himself to undertaking an inquiry, which reformed on the following day and the troops withdrew to Castle Island . The soldiers and the civilians arrested there in were arrested and charged with murder. Consequently, John Adams, a defense lawyer defended them and they were acquitted. Thus, this paper focuses on the investigative role of John Adams and the ethics behind the Boston Massacre.

Parliament passed the Townshend Acts, which placed taxes on paper, lead, paint, and tea that was imported to New England. The colonist began to boycott these goods which angered English authorities. They placed military officials so that they could force the colonists to pay the much needed taxes. Tensions between British soldiers and colonists escalated. This lead to the Boston Massacre; it was propagandized and impassioned many settlers to rebel. In response for the unfair taxes on tea, the colonists dumped the imported tea into the harbor. People became much more ardent to their side after the incident. You were either for the revolution; a patriot, or you sided with England; a loyalist.

On April 19th, 1775, infantrymen of the British Army clashed with colonial Patriots near Boston, MA. British troops, also known as redcoats, had been in Boston for seven years to ensure that the Intolerable Acts were enforced. Colonists had already demonstrated their displeasure for their king with the Boston Tea Party, and now the British were on the offensive attempting to confiscate the arms of the rebels. Militiamen were alerted and a standoff occurred at Lexington and Concord. History has left us in doubt about which side fired first, triggering the Revolutionary War. But various stories give different accounts. American poet Ralph Waldo Emerson called it the "shot heard 'round the world," and described it as coming from the colonials. There is more reason to believe that the first shot did come from the side of the Patriots simply because they had more to gain by initiating a war. This paper will show why it is more reasonable to believe that the Patriots fired first.

In response to the events of the Boston Tea Party, the British parliament passed a series of laws called the Intolerable (Coercive) Acts in 1774. These Acts were: the ‘Boston Port Act’, closing down all trade of Massachusetts; the ‘Massachusetts Government Act’, Massachusetts was no longer allowed to govern themselves; the ‘Administration of Justice Act’, any person charged with murder while trying to enforce the law would be tried in England; and the ‘Quartering Act’, allowing British troops to be housed in

The rebellion’s successfulness is a product of the results achieved by those taking a stand. In response to the colonists’ defiant actions, Parliament passed the Intolerable Acts (Wallace 1). The Intolerable Acts included the Boston Port Act. This bill “shut off the city’s sea trade” (“Boston Tea Party”). This act would hold strong until the colony paid its debt to the British East India Company. The Boston Port Act greatly burdened the colony and resulted with the additional twelve colonies sending supplies to Boston in an effort to provide assistance (“The Intolerable Acts”). The Intolerable Acts also included the Massachusetts Government Act. This act declared the government of the colony to be unfit, unqualified and in need of improvement (“The Intolerable Acts”). This rebellion was the first reaction leading to the Revolutionary War. The Revolutionary War began

The French and Indian War resulted in a number of acts which angered the colonists. A couple of the major acts used as payment for the war debt were the Sugar Act and the Stamp Act.t The Sugar Act was not as heavily enforced and had a three pence tax it did not affect the occupational life aspect of the colonists as much as the Stamp Act. The Teapot was produced in England between the time of 1766 and 1770 during the time of the Declaratory Acts and the Boston Massacre (Doc 1). Based by the writing inscribed on the teapot it responded to the repeal of the Stamp Act. In addition to the wish for less taxes and British personnel dispatched on the colonies. For many of the colonists the Stamp Act was an annoyance for the basic tools of the paper editors, lawyers, printers and other occupants that relied on documentation for a living to have them taxed. Many acts and tariffs were placed repealed after the repeal of the Stamp Act. Due to the perseverance of the colonists desire for no more taxes, the bond between the

The Boston Massacre is one of the most controversial events in American history that occurred in Boston before the American Revolution. Certainly, it has a fundamental role in the development of America as a nation, which led it to have a huge motivation for revolution. A heavy British military presence and having very high taxes in the country were some of the main reasons that made Boston citizens very irritated. Thus, there were already many disagreements and tensions between inhabitants and the British that could have led to the Massacre. In this essay, I will carefully analyze three primary sources, and compare these to the interpretation given by HBO’s John Adams. In my view, these sources can be

With Parliamentary laws and taxes imposed in the 1760s, colonists became rebellious towards British troops, which led to the Boston Massacre. During this occurrence, patriots were protesting towards the British soldiers and what led to another, gunshots fired at the colonists claimed the lives of five civilians. Thomas Preston, a commanding officer who was present during the Boston Massacre, was arrested and charged with murder as well as a separate trial from the other accused soldiers. Based off three witness testimonies, I believed that Preston did not give the order to fire and should not have been trialed against it.