James caldwell indiana

Trouble had been brewing in Boston for some time. The city was considered the beating heart of the Patriot cause, and its residents had organized spirited and occasionally violent resistance to British tax policies.

When Bostonians responded to 1767’s Townshend Acts with mass protests and riots, the Crown dispatched several regiments of soldiers to police the city.

Paul revere boston massacre engraving

Many denounced the Redcoats as occupiers, and it wasn’t long before locals began clashing with soldiers. On March 2 and 3 of 1770, British troops and a band of Boston ropemakers squared off in a series of street brawls that left one infantryman with a fractured skull.

By March 5, the city was awash with rumors that an even bigger confrontation was in the offing. British regulars spoke of their desire to get revenge on the townspeople, and a local minister reported that he heard many Boston men planned on “fighting it out with the soldiers.”

That evening, British Private Hugh White stood watch near the Custom House on