Boston Massacre Site Audio Guide

Boston Massacre Site: what does the audio guide cover?

1. 01

   Welcome to the Boston Massacre Site

   This section of the Mappu audio guide to the Boston Massacre Site highlights Welcome to the Boston Massacre Site and points out what to notice during your visit.

   Welcome to one of the smallest memorials on the Freedom Trail, and one of the most consequential. Look down at the traffic island in front of the Old State House, right beneath its balcony. You will see a ring of stones set into the pavement, with downtown Boston rushing around it. That ring marks the Boston Massacre Site. On the night of March 5, 1770, this spot, then part of King Street, became the scene of a confrontation between British soldiers and a crowd of colonists. Five colonists were killed by gunfire. It is easy to walk past the marker without noticing it. Once you know the story, though, you will find it hard to look at this intersection the same way again. The area around you is now the Financial District, with commercial buildings, subway station entrances and a constant flow of pedestrians. In the next few minutes we will look at the tensions that led to that night, the people who died, the way the event was turned into a political message, and a courtroom surprise that followed. Take a moment to find the circle of stones, and keep an eye on the traffic while you do.

2. 02

   A City Under Occupation

   This section of the Mappu audio guide to the Boston Massacre Site highlights A City Under Occupation and points out what to notice during your visit.

   To understand what happened here, start with the months before it. The tensions behind the Boston Massacre grew out of the occupation of Boston by British soldiers, the Redcoats, who arrived in 1768. There was a heavy military presence downtown, meant to keep control over civilians and to enforce the Townshend Act, one of the taxation measures that so angered the colonists. Brawls between soldiers and townspeople had already broken out. The evening of March 5 was the first to end in civilian deaths. That evening an unruly group of colonists taunted British soldiers, throwing snowballs and rocks. Captain Preston of the 29th Regiment arrived with eight fellow soldiers. The crowd pressed in on them, shots were fired, and when the smoke cleared, five men lay dead or dying. The street itself carries a story too. The Puritans built their first meeting house near the marketplace that once stood where the Old State House is today. By 1636 the thoroughfare was known as Market Street. From 1708 to 1784 it was called King Street, which is the name it bore on the night of the shooting. Today we call it State Street.

3. 03

   The Five Who Fell

   This section of the Mappu audio guide to the Boston Massacre Site highlights The Five Who Fell and points out what to notice during your visit.

   Five colonists died because of the shooting: Crispus Attucks, Samuel Gray, James Caldwell, Samuel Maverick and Patrick Carr. Six more people were wounded. Together they are often considered the first casualties of the American Revolution. The first man to fall was Crispus Attucks, a dockworker of African and Indigenous descent. His name has drawn renewed attention in recent decades, as scholars and communities have sought to acknowledge more fully the part African Americans played in the founding of the United States. Patrick Carr's story has a legal footnote. His testimony is one of the earliest recorded uses of the dying declaration exception, a rule that lets a statement made by a person near death be heard in court even though it is secondhand. A moment on this traffic island therefore also left a mark on the history of American law.

4. 04

   Propaganda, Trial and a Name That Stuck

   This section of the Mappu audio guide to the Boston Massacre Site highlights Propaganda, Trial and a Name That Stuck and points out what to notice during your visit.

   Almost at once, the shooting became a political weapon. The Sons of Liberty held funerals for the victims and organized a vigorous campaign to turn public opinion against the Redcoats, labeling the tragedy a bloody massacre. Paul Revere's print of the event, based on an illustration by Henry Pelham, was widely circulated. Its image of the scene helped shape how people remembered it. The event went by other names too. Early on it was called the Incident on King Street, the Bloody Massacre on King Street and the State Street Massacre. In Great Britain it is still known as the Incident on King Street. Then came the courtroom. The soldiers were tried for murder, and they were defended by John Adams, a Boston lawyer who was as loyal to the idea of justice as he was to the Patriot cause. He went on to become a future president of the United States. He successfully defended the soldiers against the murder charges. The political consequence was large. The clash rallied Bostonians against the Crown, and the troops were evacuated from the city. They would not return until 1774. Historians count the Boston Massacre among the most significant events that turned colonial sentiment against King George the Third and the authority of the British Parliament.

5. 05

   Before You Head Off

   This section of the Mappu audio guide to the Boston Massacre Site highlights Before You Head Off and points out what to notice during your visit.

   Before you move on, take one more look at the ring of stones and the building above it. The Old State House, Boston's oldest public building, once served as the seat of the colonial government. The marker sits just outside it, and it is an official stop on the Freedom Trail, the 2.5-mile walking route through the city's history. This was once a state holiday: from 1771 until 1783, the anniversary was observed. Cross carefully, because this is a busy intersection. As you walk on, ask yourself what draws people to this particular spot. Is it a tragedy, a turning point, or a lesson in how a story gets told? The trail ahead has more voices waiting.