The Boston Massacre in March 1770 occurred a year on from the Townshend duties, and the colonies were growing increasingly unstable. The government of Massachusetts was asking other colonies to resist and boycott their goods at the same time that riots were occurring in Boston. These riots were over the ironically named boat liberty which was seized for smuggling. Before the Boston Massacre, the colonists were discontent but there were no real intentions to fight the occupation, action here created a surge of anti-imperial unrest10. The Boston Massacre occurred when a group of redcoats ( Soldiers) were surrounded by townspeople who attacked them with snowballs before turning to more violent weapons as they expressed their discontent, after they knocked over a solider, the group of soldiers fired, killing five, and injuring six10. The impact of the massacre initially depends on perspective, government called it an unfortunate accident whereas it was the colonists referred to it as a Massacre and the official tit
le is the Boston Massacre despite the fact that 5 people were killed. The Massacre is often attributed to the start of the revolution however initially it made Lord North and Parliament withdraw the Townshend Act temporarily resolving the crisis. The Massacre had a huge impact as it had shown the level of brutality the government had sunk to in their desperate attempt to retain power and influence in the Americas. It is to this extent therefore, that this can be considered gross misgovernance as tensions had risen to the point the colonists clearly resented the soldiers to the point of attacking them in the street, and the fact that Britain instead of making proper concessions relied on the brute force which became no longer viable as the colonists gained external support. In addition, Boston proved to have high-profile links to the revolution as John Adams who was a prominent figure in the revolution and America`s second president after Washington proving just how much of an impact Boston had on the colonists.