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5 Contemporary Reports of the Boston Massacre (March 5, 1770) I N T R O D U C T I O N As tensions rose between the citizens of Boston and the occupying British troops, it became clear that one incident might ignite the whole town. The date was March 5, 1770. The actual facts of the confrontation are harder to verify. Two contemporary reports on the events of March 5 follow. They diff er in emphasis depending on the perspective and political agenda of the author. Relating to the Massacre of Citizens of Boston by British Troops 1 . . . one of the causes which led to the massacre of the 5th of March, was the aff ray 2 between the inhabitants and the British soldiers, an account of which was related to me shortly after the event, by one who was an eye witness. At that time there was only one house on the east side of what is now called Pearl street, in which then resided Charles Paxton, esq. On the west side of the street stood four or fi ve rope-walks, 3 extending from the upper to the lower end of the street, which were all burnt in 1794. On Saturday afternoon, on the 3rd March, 1770, a British soldier of the 29th regiment, accosted a negro who was employed in one of the rope-walks, by inquiring “whether his master wanted to hire a man.” (Th e soldiers who were mechanics were some- times hired as journeymen 4 ). Th e negro answered that his “master wished to have his vault 5 emptied and that was a proper work for a Lobster. ” 6 Th is produced a confl ict between the soldier and the negro, and, before relief came to his assistance, the negro was very severely beaten . . . Mr. Gray, the foreman of the walk, came up and parted them. Mr. Gray . . . told the soldier that “as he had obtained satisfaction for the insult, he had better go back to his barracks.” Th e soldier “damned him” and said that “for six-pence he would drub him as he had done the negro.” A contest then took place between 1 The American view of the events leading up to the Boston Massacre places responsi- bility on the shoulders of the British. 2 Public noisy quarrel. 3 Long alleys where workers laid strands of hemp and bound them to form rope. 4 Experienced workers. 5 Outhouse. 6 “Lobster” was an insult used by Bostonians to refer to the British soldiers, who often wore red uniforms.