The Boston Massacre, at the time known as King's Street Incident, on March 5, 1770, was an altercation between a wigmaker's apprentice and a British officer that got awfully out of hand. The British officer, a captain, had ordered a wig and that day the wigmaker's apprentice was sent to collect the payment. The apprentice did not know that earlier that day the captain hadpaid off his debt, and as he refused to pay, again,the apprentice started to call him names. A British private soldier standing in guard and watching the scene requested the apprentice to show more respect, and not only the apprentice refused, but he started poking the soldier on the chest. The soldier then responded by hitting the apprentice with the butt of his musket, an action that infuriated a number of bystanders who called more people in until a mob gathered together. This mob greatly outnumbered the British soldiers stationed on that street and made hints on lynching the soldiers on the spot to avenge an action they perceived of as yet another abuse of power by the British. The tension grew until someone had the terrible idea of throwing a stone at one of the soldiers, which made him discharged his musket, which scared both soldiers and colonists, and the soldiers reacted by discharging their weapons at the crowd killing over half a dozen colonists.
The reason for the animosity of the colonists was due to the Townshend Acts which unfairly taxed products manufactured in Britain and exported to the colonies. And even the British captain and eight soldiers that took place were trialed for murder, their attorney, John Adams, managed to get the captain and six soldiers acquitted, and to have the charges on murder for the other two soldiers changed to manslaughter, which saved them from a death sentence. The outcome of the trials upset the American colonists and served to unite them against the British.