Boston Massacre Memorial
N 42° 21.269 W 071° 03.841
19T E 330011 N 4691198
This is a memorial with a bronze plaque by Robert Krans in 1888. It is located in the Boston Common on Tremont Street. It "represents the Revolution breaking the chains of tyranny by depicting the events before the Old State House on March 5, 1770". (Text copied from descriptive sign at the Common.)
Waymark Code: WM20E
Location: Massachusetts, United States
Date Posted: 09/28/2005
Views: 273
The five men shot and killed by British Troops on March 5, 1770 in downtown Boston helped start the American Revolution. One of them, Patrick Carr, was an Irishman who was shot at the scene but who lingered for several days before dying. During the trial of the British soliders, a doctor who treated Carr claimed the dying Irishman told him the soldiers fired in self-defense, and as a result the soldiers were acquitted. In 1888 a monument dedicated to the five men was dedicated on the Boston Common, despite ardent opposition from local Brahmins who didn't want to honor these commoners. John Boyle O'Reilly was a featured speaker at the unveiling. The Boston Massacre Five are buried at the Granary Burial Ground on Tremont Street, and a cobblestone marker of the actual site of the Massacre is located in front of the Old State House on State Street.