boston massacre

in 1765, parliament passed the quartering act, requiring the colonies to provide housing for 10,000 british soldiers. a year later, two regiments of redcoats, as british soldiers were sometimes called because of their uniforms, arrived in boston. the people maintained an uneasy peace with the redcoats until march 5, 1770, when an unruly mob taunted some soldiers. the soldiers opened fire, killing three bostonians; two more later died of their wounds. calm followed for the next two years, but the basic conflict had not been resolved.

samuel adams, one of the most radical patriots, began calling the incident the boston massacre. for several years, patriots cited this incident as an example of british brutality.