Boston Massacre

The Boston Massacre occurred on March 5, 1770, when British soldiers fired into a crowd of colonists who had been throwing snowballs at the soldiers. The British killed five, including the African American Crispus Attucks.

At the trial of the British solders involved in the massacre, the defendants were represented by John Adams who believed that all people were due a fair trial and who would later become the first Vice-President of the United States and the second President of the United States. John Adams' defense of the solders lead to the acquittal of six of the eight charged and the conviction of the remaining two on charges of manslaughter, rather than murder. Near the end of his life Adams described his defense of the British solders as "one of the most gallant, generous, manly, and disinterested actions of my whole life, and one of the best pieces of service I ever rendered my country."