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This is a paddle.

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By 1763 Britain had emerged from the turmoil of war on top as the highest colonial power. Although this victory was great, George's government wasn't very stable and it was in major debt. As a result of this, he decided to raise the taxes on his American colonies. He also began taxing things such as tea, stamps, and papers.

This outraged the colonies. They began writing letters to him, expressing their disapproval of being taxed without their consent. Most of these letters were simply tossed aside, or sent to the waste bin. Almost none of them were actually read.

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Whose fault was it?

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The redcoats were simply doing their duty and following commands. At approximately 9:00 pm an angry crowd approached sentry Hugh White standing on guard outside of the Customs House. By this time the agitators have already been in another street brawl were ready for action. One of the leaders, Edward Garrick started insulting private White, saying among other things that his company commander was a cheat and did not pay him for a wig. The redcoat was then struck on the arm and accidentally fired which led to other soldiers firing as well.

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The troops, constantly tormented by irresponsible gangs, finally on Mar. 5, 1770, fired into a rioting crowd and killed five men: three on the spot, two of wounds later. The funeral of the victims was the occasion for a great patriot demonstration. The British captain, Thomas Preston, and his men were tried for murder, with Robert Treat Paine as prosecutor, John Adams and Josiah Quincy as lawyers for the defense. Preston and six of his men were acquitted; two others were found guilty of manslaughter, punished, and discharged from the army.

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The violent clash on March 5, 1770 began when Private White, on guard at the Customs house on King Street (now State Street) struck young Edward Garrick in the face with the butt of his musket for insulting White's commanding officer. White soon found himself surrounded by an angry mob of Bostonians that hurled taunts and snowballs at him.

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The tensions that led to the Boston Massacre were the product of the occupation of Boston by Redcoats (British soldiers) in 1768. Redcoats were sent to Boston to calm riots in the wake of the Townsend Duties and to protect customs officials. With 2,000 soldiers occupying a town with a population of about 16,000, friction was inevitable. This would occasionally produce fist fights and angry confrontations.

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In 1768, Britain stationed military troops in Boston to maintain control among colonists and help to enforce the Townshend Acts of 1767. After Parliament repealed the Stamp Act, they wanted no more trouble like that. It still needed to pay for the army in America, though. So, the king’s finance minister, Charles Townshend, came up with a way to tax the colonies “without offense,” as he put it. This way was the Townshend Acts. These placed import taxes on glass, paint, paper, lead, and tea. The colonists were forced to pay in coins. The patriots believed that the British were not only taxing them excessively, but also not giving them the independence they desired.