The Boston Massacre began on the night of March 5, 1770, when a confrontation between a lone British sentry and angry Boston residents escalated into a chaotic street clash that led British soldiers to fire into a crowd. It grew out of years of tension over British taxes, troops stationed in the town, and frequent street scuffles between soldiers and colonists.

Quick Scoop

  • British taxes like the Stamp Act and Townshend Acts angered colonists, who protested “taxation without representation,” creating long‑term resentment against British authority in Boston.
  • To enforce these laws and keep order, Britain stationed troops in Boston from 1768 onward, and locals saw them as an occupying force, leading to frequent taunts, fights, and brawls in the streets.
  • In the weeks before March 5, 1770, there were several violent incidents, including clashes between workers and soldiers and the shooting of a boy by a loyalist, which further inflamed public anger.

How the clash started that night

  • On the evening of March 5, a British sentry (often identified as Private Hugh White) stood guard near the Custom House when he got into an argument with a young apprentice, striking him with his musket.
  • Locals gathered, began shouting insults, and rang church bells—usually a signal for fire—which drew more people into the streets and enlarged the crowd around the sentry.
  • As the crowd grew more aggressive—throwing snowballs, ice, and debris and daring the soldier to fire—the sentry called for backup, and Captain Thomas Preston arrived with several additional soldiers to form a defensive line.

The moment it turned violent

  • The crowd pressed closer, jeering and pelting the soldiers with objects, and accounts describe people wielding sticks or clubs and knocking soldiers with blows.
  • Amid the noise and confusion, one soldier was struck and fell, and then a shot went off; whether an order to fire was clearly given remains disputed in historical sources.
  • After the first shot, other soldiers also fired into the crowd, killing three people instantly and wounding several more, with two of the wounded later dying, for a total of five dead.

Why people say it “started”

Historians usually describe the Boston Massacre as starting when:

  • A street confrontation around a lone sentry escalated into a hostile mob surrounding soldiers at the Custom House.
  • The crowd’s harassment and projectiles created a volatile situation, and then one British soldier fired, prompting others to shoot, even though Captain Preston later claimed he never ordered them to do so.

In short, the Boston Massacre started as a tense nighttime street argument that spiraled, step by step, from verbal abuse and thrown snowballs into lethal gunfire, against a backdrop of deep political and social resentment in Boston.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.