This essay is a short look at an event in American History that at times as been to say the least maybe a bit over blown. What would later be called The Boston Massacre, wasn't your conventional massacre in that the body count was not in excessive amounts with the streets coated in the blood of the innocent. The event itself was a tragedy that people died at all in what would seem to be a night of escalating violence, but in all the death toll was no more than four, with less than twenty wounded. To borrow a quote from an old teacher, "The Boston Massacre was an massacre in that it severed the Colonist last bit of toleration it had for Great Britain." This relatively short essay is going to show in part some of the events that lead up to and occurred during The Boston Massacre then finish with how the Colonist like Paul Revere and John Hancock would use the events to ignite the beginnings of the American Revolution.
One no doubt cold February morning of 1770, a group of several hundred adults and youths, including an eleven-year old Christopher Seider surrounded the house of Ebenezer Richardson. Richardson was a known Tory informer for the British customs commissioners. Unfortunately mob demonstrations during the 1770's were common often protesting things like the Townshend Act. Some protests and were organized behind men like Samuel Adams and other great men of Boston. Regrettably the one at the Richardson's house was highly unorganized and the crowd grew out of control and started breaking windows. During the commotion a one stone is thrown and hits Richardson's wife. Richardson then grabs an unloaded musket and shoved it through one of the broken windows and proceeds to threaten the angry mob. Seeing the musket just seemed to create more animosity and the crowd knocked down the front door of the Richardson's house. Richardson then loaded his musket and fired into the mob fatally wound!.