by Martin Haschka

Created on: August 15, 2009   Last Updated: August 23, 2009

Tension was high in Boston on the 5th day of March 1770. The British were trying to enforce rules meant to restrict the freedom of the Colonists and the town's economy suffered under the impact of the Townshend Acts. Two British regiments were in town to remind the 20,000 citizens they were subjects of the King of England. The 4,000 soldiers regarded the townspeople as rebellious and treated them accordingly. Bostonians in turn perceived the soldier's behaviour as triumphant, hostile and insolent. Yet nobody expected this day to go down in history as the day of the Boston Massacre.

A few days earlier, on February 22, a crowd of boys had gathered in front of Ebenezer Richardson's house. He was a customs official and the crowd followed him home after Richardson had tried to disrupt a protest against unfair trading laws and taxation staged in front of a shop of a British Loyalist. After some of his windows were smashed and a brick hit his wife, he took his gun and shot into the crowd, killing 12-year-old Christopher Snider.

The inhabitants of Boston felt their patience with the English stretched by what they perceived as provocation. In order to intimidate the citizens, two British cannons were aimed at the city's Town Hall. The behaviour of some of the British troops didn't help to reduce the tension either. Drunken soldiers prowled the streets at night, shouting, often ready to pick a fight. Even during daytime, the soldier's behaviour was rampant. Loud singing outside the churches disrupted many Services on Sundays. On the other hand the British soldiers felt they were constantly being tormented by irresponsible gangs of Colonists.

On March 2, Thomas Walker, a British soldier of the 29th Regiment inquired about a job at a Boston ropewalk to supplement his pay. It was not at all uncommon for a soldier to take up work in the local economy during off-duty hours. He was turned a way with harsh words and a fight broke out. Badly beaten he returned with some friends from his regiment and the fighting started anew, this time resulting in only more people being wounded on both sides. The assaults continued until the next day. The town resembled a powder keg waiting to be ignited.

Among the people in town during these perilous times was Crispus Attucks, 47 years old. He was probably the son of Prince Yonger, an African born slave, and Nancy Attucks, a Native American. Not much is known about his life. According to research conducted years after his

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