Defense and prosecution teams The defense team was headed by John Adams who was assisted mainly by Josiah Quincy who was the younger brother of prosecutor Samuel Quincy. Josiah Quincy became the main spokesman for the Boston chapter of the Sons of Liberty before the revolution.Jan 24, 2013
Although a devout patriot, John Adams agreed to risk his family's livelihood and defend the British soldiers and their commander in a Boston courtroom.Apr 2, 2020
Captain Thomas Preston, commander of the guard watch, sent a non-commissioned officer and six enlisted men, Corporal William Wemms, Hugh Montgomery, John Carroll, William McCauley, William Warren, and Matthew Kilroy to assist and if need be protect Private White and the Custom House.Mar 5, 2021
Drowne was one of 96 residents of Boston to give sworn testimony to justices of the peace about what happened between the British soldiers and residents of Boston. These accounts were taken by ship to London on April 1, 1770.
Samuel AdamsThe Sons' most prominent leader was Samuel Adams, the son of a wealthy brewer who was more interested in radical rabble-rousing than commerce. Adams wrote his masters thesis at Harvard on the lawfulness of resisting British rule.Aug 19, 2019
John Adams Defends the British It took seven months to arraign Preston and the other soldiers involved in the Boston Massacre and bring them to trial. Ironically, it was American colonist, lawyer and future President of the United States John Adams who defended them.Mar 4, 2021
Ultimately, Adams was proud of his service to the British soldiers. Later in his life he wrote: "The Part I took in Defence of Cptn. Preston and the Soldiers, procured me Anxiety, and Obloquy enough.
Adams and the defense argued that the crowd was endangering the soldiers' lives and they acted in self-defense. He called witnesses that described how the crowd verbally threatened the soldiers and threw objects at them. Witnesses recalled how the mob had repeatedly called for the British soldiers to be killed.Sep 17, 2020
Without hesitation Adams agreed to defend the soldiers and their captain. Above all, John Adams believed in upholding the law, and defending the innocent. Adams was convinced that the soldiers were wrongly accused, and had fired into the crowd in self-defense.
Captain Thomas Preston was an officer in the British army. While in jail, he wrote this narrative. A British tax collector brought this account to London on a ship that left Boston on March 16, 1770.
Captain Preston was tried separately. The main issue was weather or not he had called the order to fire, he was found not guilty. After his trial, Preston retired from the army. He reportedly settled in Ireland.
The incident itself was instigated by the anger of rope makers against British soldiers taking their jobs. A crowd gathered, British soldiers fired into the crowd, killing five people, including Crispus Attucks, a mulatto worker.