Boston Massacre

"This crowd is a powder keg - we can't allow him to light the fuse."

―Achilles Davenport to Ratonhnhaké:ton during the gathering of the colonial protesters.

The Boston Massacre, also known as the Incident on King Street to the British, was the result of the culmination of several fights between British soldiers and the people of Boston, that organized a riot against the British that occurred on 5 March 1770 in front of the Old State House on King Street.

The fights led to Templar involvement, where Charles Lee shot his pistol into the air to provoke the soldiers. The guards, feeling threatened, opened fire into the crowd against their orders, hitting several of the civilians. This event forced the young Assassin Ratonhnhaké:ton to meet Samuel Adams, who assisted him in diminishing his notoriety, which had struck a high level as a result of the Templar Grand Master Haytham Kenway convincing the guards of his involvement.

Colonial protests

"Tell me - who represented us in Parliament? Spoke on our behalf? Signed in our stead? Give me a name! Only you can't! And do you know why? You can't tell me who represented us because nobody did!"

―A Bostonian to a crowd of his peers before the incident.

Colonists protesting in front of British soldiers

Starting as a public argument over a wig-maker's bill, colonists gathered as a mob around King Street, where they surrounded eight British soldiers for several hours at the steps of the Old State House. During this time, the colonists threw snowballs, taunted and insulted the men, as well as argued their lack of representation. Around the street, several of each party also wrestled against buildings that lined the area, pushing each other against the walls.

While the men argued, the leader of the soldiers, Captain Thomas Preston, attempted to calm the uprising while he was scared and feeling inferior, as well as keep his surrounded soldiers from firing. At one point, Haytham ordered one of his associates to provoke the soldiers. This man quickly made his way to a nearby rooftop, but was killed by Connor before his mission could be completed.

On a rooftop across the street, Charles Lee reinforced the initial provocation attempt by shooting into the air with his pistol. Down below, the soldiers opened fire upon the crowd, killing three immediately, and wounding eight more. Haytham, who had spotted Connor on the roof, pointed the Assassin out to one of the soldiers, marking him as a criminal to the soldiers stationed in Boston.

Aftermath

"One of the most interesting things about the massacre is what happened afterward - that is, how both sides tried to spin it to their advantage."

―Shaun Hastings in his Boston Massacre database entry.

Samuel Adams in front of a wanted poster of Connor

Following the shooting, two more of the men died from their wounds, and a massive propaganda war began between the revolutionists and the British. One result was the famous engraving of the event by Paul Revere, as well as the commonly used name of Boston Massacre that began in the article concerning the incident in the Boston Gazette. Because of these major pieces, the event became a symbol of British oppression, as well as the beginning of an uprising within the Colonies.

Each of the eight soldiers were arrested following the event - six of them being acquitted while the other two found guilty of manslaughter, the latter punished with the branding of their thumbs. The same wig-maker that started the initial conflict lowered his prices, but the calamity of the event still bore down on the revolutionists, who took the chance to gather more followers for their cause.

Ratonhnhaké:ton, branded a criminal, was forced to meet Samuel Adams in order to lay low and retain his lack of notoriety. Learning about the secret network of tunnels beneath Boston, he acquired the knowledge on how to remain unseen whenever he needed within the city. The meeting also began the Sons of Liberty's attempt to pull Ratonhnhaké:ton in as an ally.

Behind the scenes

In Assassin's Creed III, despite only eleven people being shot during the incident, the number of people found on the ground is completely random, and they move as if they were still alive, even though three of them were dead at the start. In some cases, many of the victims on the ground were women, despite men being the only ones shot in the actual event. Also, before the incident occurs, several colonists are already gathered at the side of the store Ratonhnhaké:ton visits, with one speaker rallying their anger at their lack of representation in the British Parliament.

Though the article in Boston Gazette reported that one of the men killed in the incident was a slave of mixed skin complexion, though he was never shown in the game with the others on the ground.

No historian has ever been able to confirm whether the soldiers or the civilians shot first. In Assassin's Creed III, Charles Lee, a British Lieutenant Colonel, shot first.

Appearances

• Assassin's Creed III