This Day in History: The Boston Massacre March 5, 1770 A skirmish in front of the Boston Custom house between British soldiers and angry colonists ends in bloody violence after the troops open fire on the crowd.
Three Americans were killed instantly and several other men eventually died from their injuries.
The incident followed several years of tensions and violence in colonial Massachusetts, partly due to revenue duties imposed on the colonists by the British Parliament passed Townshed Acts.
The violence turned colonial sentiment against the British and King George in the years leading up to the American Revolution.
John Adams wrote that the "foundation of American independence was laid" by the massacre.