There is much confusion surrounding the Boston Massacre, as to what truly happened. After reading through and considering each person’s testimony in the trial of Captain Thomas Preston, I believe that I have an accurate idea of the events that occurred.
             It all began on the evening of March 5, 1770 when a small group of boys began taunting a British Sentinel inside of his Sentry Box in front of the Custom House. The Sentinel could only take so much, and eventually struck one of the children with his musket. Soon after, a crowd of 50 or 60 gathered around the Sentry Box. The Sentinel called for help, and soon after, Captain Preston arrived with eight men. By this time, the crown had built up to more than 100.
             After this point, people’s testimonies tend to vary, but I believe that I know the truth. Captain Preston, Cunningham, Morton, Fosdick, Palmes, Murray, and Prince all state that Preston was standing in front of the second soldier from the right. There are no statements contradicting the placement of Preston before firing took place.
             As Preston was talking with several people from the crowd, many others were throwing iceballs, snowballs, and sticks at the British officers. Whitehouse, Prince, Palmes, Bliss, Wyatt, Hinkley, and Woodall either saw the ice, snow, or sticks being thrown. They also heard the taunting of the soldiers. The only person to say that nothing was being thrown, is Fosdick, whose testimony seems unlikely. The fact of things being thrown is indisputable, since both the prosecution witnesses and the defense witnesses agree on it.
             The start of the firing began when some object (probably a stick), hit the soldier on the far right. As he was hit, he most likely staggered a bit, then fired. Burdick, Palmes, Bliss, and Hinkley all agree to this. Wyatt has the only statement which says that the soldier just fired for no reason. Therefore, Wyatt’s statement can be thro
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