The year was 1770 and tensions that had been building in the American colonies erupted on the evening of 5 March with the Boston Massacre. Much of the tension had been brought on by the enforcement of the Townshend Acts in 1767. These acts imposed a tax on imported paper, lead, paint, glass, and tea, and suspended the New York Assembly for not complying with the Quartering Acts of 1765.
Although there was hostility on both sides on the night of the massacre, engravings of the incident immediately began being circulated that helped stir up American anger towards the British. Eventually the British captain, Thomas Preston, and eight other soldiers, were tried for the deaths of five Americans, including its most famous victim, Crispus Attucks, an African American who would become the first casualty of the American Revolution.Â
Future American President, John Adams, was among the lawyers on the defense team for the soldiers. All but two of the soldiers were acquitted and they had their charges reduced to manslaughter under a medieval relic called “benefit of clergy†that allowed them to escape the death penalty. Continue reading