It was March 5, 1770. Future President of the United States John Adams was enjoying a local Boston social gathering when the town bells began to ring. Townsmen often rang these bells in case of fire. However, the guests hurried out onto the cobbled streets to discover a different sort of blaze: British soldiers, surrounded by an indignant and pressing mob, had discharged their muskets, hitting 11 civilians. Three died on site. Two more followed in the ensuing days.
Most schoolchildren learn the basics of the Boston Massacre, but few are taught about the trial that followed soon after, the trial of Captain Preston and his company. As documented by Dan Abrams and David Fisher in their book John Adams Under Fire, this trial would test the very limits of judicial impartiality. It would test whether the inflamed city of Boston could give a fair hearing of justice, even against the most vilified objects of the colonists’ scorn.
Reports of the Boston Massacre were jumbled, often contradictory, but a few facts were known. A certain Private White had been guarding the Custom House on King Street when he was encircled by a growing mob. Captain Preston and seven men of the 29th Regiment came to his defense, yelling for the Bostonians to back down. After intense pressure, one of the soldiers snapped and fired the first shot, followed by the remainder of the troops. In a balcony address later that night, Gov. Thomas Hutchinson promised the riled citizenry that the
