On the day of the Boston Massacre, March 5, 1770, angry colonists gathered in front of the Old State House in Boston to protest the presence of British troops in the city. Relations between the colonists and the British soldiers had been tense for some time, with many colonists resenting the presence of the soldiers and viewing them as a symbol of British oppression.
Earlier that day, a group of colonists had confronted a British soldier who was standing guard outside the Old State House, and a scuffle had broken out. As tensions escalated, a larger group of colonists gathered in front of the building to protest the presence of the soldiers and demand that they be removed from the city.
As the protest continued, a group of British soldiers arrived on the scene, and a confrontation ensued. The soldiers were eventually surrounded by a large and angry crowd, and in the chaos that followed, shots were fired and several colonists were killed.
The Boston Massacre was a pivotal event in the lead-up to the American Revolution, and it helped to galvanize colonial opposition to British rule. The incident was widely reported in the colonial press, and it was used by colonial leaders to rally support for the cause of independence.