Site of the Boston Massacre
This is the plaque commemorating the massacre. The five stars represent each of the five victims of the massacre. The date of the event is also engraved around the border. The circle is made up of thirteen rings of cobblestones that all converge at the star in the middle.
After the imposition of the Townshend Duties, Boston colonists began to riot throughout the town. British soldiers were sent to quell the riots and the protect the customs officials who were enforcing the new taxes. 2,000 soldiers were sent to occupy the town of 16,000 colonists. Tensions were high between the soldiers and the colonists. Fist fights and other angry confrontations were common between the groups.
On March 5, 1770, a large group of people were gathered outside of the state house. An argument sparked between a British soldier and a citizen. A Customs House guard – Private White – struck Edward Garrick in the face with his musket. Garrick had insulted White’s commanding officer. The surrounding group immediately began taunting the soldiers and throwing rocks, snowballs, and sticks at the soldiers. The English Captain Preston and eight other British soldiers extracted White from the square and tried to quell the hostile crowd. Witnesses reported that a club was thrown and struck a Private Montgomery in the face. Montgomery retaliated by firing the first shot. The crowd pressed towards the soldiers and more shots were fired.
Once the riot finally cleared, five men were dead or dying. The Sons of Liberty held funerals for the five victims – Crispus Attucks, Samuel Gray, James Caldwell, Samuel Maverick, and Patrick Carr – and used the riot in a vigorous propaganda effort to turn the public opinion against the British.
The eight British soldiers involved were tried for murder with John Adams defending them. Six of the eight soldiers were acquitted. The other two were branded with an “M” on their right thumb to signify their charge of manslaughter and were sentenced to death. However, they escaped the death penalty by invoking the “benefit of the clergy”. The “benefit of the clergy” stated that the defendant must prove that they can read Psalms 51: 1, which says “Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions.”
There is now a plaque in the square commemorating the event and to remember the victims. Around the edge is the date of the massacre and a star for each of the five victims. The marker is not located in the original spot of the massacre, it was moved in 2011 to its current location in front of the Old State house.
​
​
Sources: http://historyofmassachusetts.org/boston-massacre-site-gets-a-makeover/