Episode 4: The Boston Massacre

On the evening of the 5th of March 1770, a ragged volley of shots rang out on the streets of Boston, Massachusetts. That volley would change the history of the world. The incident, in which British troops fired into an angry crowd, killing five civilians, would become known as the ‘Boston Massacre’. Thanks to figures such as Sam Adams and Paul Revere, it would also become part of America’s founding myth. In today’s show, we’re going to look at why tensions in Boston were so high in 1770. We’ll dig beneath the confused accounts and look at what actually happened that fateful night. And we’ll also look at the myth and reality of what followed, and why the ‘Boston Massacre’ remains such a powerful part of the American national story today. Guest: Caitlin DeAngelis https://bsky.app/profile/caitlindeangelis.bsky.social Reading List: Gary B. Nash, "The Urban Crucible": https://uk.bookshop.org/a/9424/9780674930599 Hiller B Zobel, "The Boston Massacre": https://archive.org/details/bostonmassacre00hill Serena Zabin, "The Boston Massacre, A Family History": https://serenazabin.com/book/ Fred Anderson, "A People's Army: Massachusetts soldiers and society in the Seven Years War": https://archive.org/details/peoplesarmymassa00ande John Phillip Reid, "A Lawyer Acquitted: John Adams and the Boston Massacre Trials": https://www.jstor.org/stable/845085 Farah Peterson, “Black Lives and the Boston Massacre”: https://theamericanscholar.org/black-lives-and-the-boston-massacre/ Joanne Freeman, "The American Revolution" (Yale Lecture Series): https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDA2BC5E785D495AB Caitlin DeAngelis, "The Caretakers": https://uk.bookshop.org/a/9424/9781633888999 Do you like our podcast? Then please leave us a review, it helps us a lot! Host: Gareth Edwards More about Gareth Edwards: ⁠⁠⁠https://battleguide.co.uk/untitled-history#host⁠⁠⁠ To comment and ask questions, please join our community:⁠ ⁠⁠https://untitled-history.com/supporters⁠⁠ Use our code: Rabbit and get one month free as a Captain, or join as a free member. Support via Paypal:⁠⁠⁠ http://battleguide.co.uk/untitled-paypal⁠⁠⁠⁠ Merchandise and Shop: ⁠⁠⁠https://untitled-history.com/collections/all⁠⁠ Our WW1 Podcast:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠https://listen.not-so-quiet.com/⁠⁠ Our WW2 Podcast:⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://listen.both-sides-of-the-wire.com⁠⁠⁠ Battle Guide YouTube Channel:⁠⁠⁠ https://www.youtube.com/@BattleGuideVT⁠⁠⁠ If you want to keep your finger on the pulse of what the team at Battle Guide have been getting up to, why not sign up to our monthly newsletter:⁠⁠⁠ ⁠https://battleguide.co.uk/newsletter⁠⁠⁠ Gareth socials BlueSky: ⁠⁠https://bsky.app/profile/garius.bsky.social⁠⁠ Mastodon: ⁠⁠https://mastodon.me.uk/@garius⁠⁠ Battle Guide Twitter:⁠⁠ https://x.com/BattleguideVT⁠⁠ General Enquiries: ⁠⁠⁠[email protected]⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Credits: - Host: Gareth Edwards - Production & Editing: Linus Klaßen Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices