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Primary sourceBook1770

A Short Narrative of the Horrid Massacre in Boston

James Bowdoin, Samuel Pemberton, Joseph Warren · 1770

The Boston town meeting's 1770 official pamphlet account of the massacre, which includes Crispus Attucks among the victims.

This official town account presents Attucks as one of the innocent victims killed by British soldiers.

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A mostly black scanned cover of a book with a white Library of Congress label at bottom left showing a barcode and number 00005705010, and red stamp; top left reads E 215 .4 .B75 in white call number text.
A Short Narrative of the Horrid Massacre in Boston, 1770. Library of Congress / Massachusetts Historical Society.

About this source

What it is

This pamphlet was published by the Boston town meeting in 1770, written mainly by James Bowdoin along with Samuel Pemberton and Joseph Warren. It describes the shooting and earlier incidents, drawing on more than ninety sworn depositions, and is held by the Library of Congress and the Massachusetts Historical Society.

Why it matters

Considered the most influential description of the massacre at the time, this narrative presented the event as an unprovoked attack on peaceful residents, including Crispus Attucks. It shows how Boston's leaders used eyewitness testimony to build a political case against British soldiers and officials.

  • Why would the authors gather so many depositions before publishing?
  • How might a narrative written by town leaders differ from an account written by a soldier?
  • What does this pamphlet suggest about how colonists wanted the massacre to be remembered?

This book is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Crispus Attucks on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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Hand-colored engraving of the Boston Massacre on King Street: British soldiers in red coats fire volleys through smoke at a crowd of colonists, with people wounded and dead on the ground, a church steeple and Butcher's Hall in the background, and a verse and caption printed below.Painting

Primary source

The Bloody Massacre Perpetrated in King Street

Paul Revere · 1770

Scanned page of the Boston Gazette, March 12, 1770, reporting the funeral of Boston Massacre victims. Four coffin illustrations labeled SG, SM, JC, and CA, each with a skull and crossbones, appear beneath the printed text.Newspaper article

Primary source

Boston Gazette Report on the Boston Massacre Funeral

12 March 1770

Scan of a newspaper column of text with four coffin illustrations in a row, each with initials (SG, SM, JC, CA), a skull and crossbones, and a skull over crossed bones. The coffins are dark with white outlines. Text above and below describes the funerals of victims of the Boston Massacre.Painting

Primary source

Four Coffins of Men Killed in the Boston Massacre

Paul Revere · 12 March 1770

Photograph of a dark gray slate headstone with a rounded top edged with small stones, in a shaded graveyard with grass and other gravestones behind it. The inscription lists the remains of Samuel Gray, Samuel Maverick, James Caldwell, Crispus Attucks and Patrick Carr, victims of the Boston Massacre, March 5th 1770, interred by order of the Town of Boston. It also notes Christopher Snider, aged 12, killed February 22nd 1770, and carries partly worn lines about independence and a 1876 date.Photograph

Secondary source

Boston Massacre Victims Grave

Swampyank

Hand-colored engraving titled 'The Bloody Massacre perpetrated in King Street, Boston, on March 5th 1770 by a party of the 29th Regiment.' Red-coated soldiers in a line fire volleys at a crowd before a brick meeting-house with a steeple. Smoke fills the street. Bodies lie on the ground, some in pools of red. Verse appears in columns below, and the caption reads 'Engrav'd Printed & Sold by Paul Revere.'Painting

Primary source

The Fruits of Arbitrary Power, or the Bloody Massacre

Henry Pelham · 1770

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