Boston Massacre

American  

noun

American History.

1. a riot in Boston (March 5, 1770) arising from the resentment of Boston colonists toward British troops quartered in the city, in which the troops fired on the mob and killed several persons.

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Boston Massacre Cultural  

1. A clash between British troops and townspeople in Boston in 1770, before the Revolutionary War. The British fired into a crowd that was threatening them, killing five, including Crispus Attucks. The soldiers had been sent to help the government maintain order and were resented even before this incident. The killings increased the colonists' inclination toward revolution.

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Example Sentences

In 1768 King George III filled Boston with armed troops, creating a powder keg; in two years the spark of a single rifle shot would explode the Boston Massacre.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 27, 2026

That event was later dubbed the Boston Massacre.

From Salon • Apr. 15, 2025

Then there’s Crispus Attucks, who is best known as a victim in the Boston Massacre of 1770 and is often portrayed as the first martyr of the American Revolution.

From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 25, 2023

Readers will encounter few familiar signposts like the Boston Massacre or the Constitution, and relatively little analysis of treaties and laws.

From New York Times • Sep. 20, 2022

One statue in the Boston Commons astonished me: a Negro named Crispus Attucks, who had been the first man to fall in the Boston Massacre.

From "The Autobiography of Malcolm X" by Alex Malcolm X;Hailey