Snow Balls in 1770
To the editor:
I was reminded of an event that occurred more than 250 years ago in our nation’s history when I saw citizens throwing snowballs at ICE vehicles after the recent fatal shooting of a US citizen in Minneapolis. That earlier event occurred on March 5, 1770, six years before the Declaration of Independence and four years before the Continental Congress first met on September 5, 1774. That Congress commissioned the committee that drafted the Declaration which was proclaimed on July 4, 1776.
On March 5, 1770, nine of King George III’s Red Coats shot several colonists in a crowd of 300 to 400 who were protesting by hurling insults, sticks, stones, snowballs and ice at them. The King had sent troops to Boston to control unrest and support Crown-appointed officials whose job was to implement legislation of the British Parliament which colonists thought was unfair and unpopular. In protest, crowds, perhaps mobs, were in the streets. On the fateful day, they harassed a sentry. Seven soldiers came to his rescue. Without an order to do so, one soldier fired into the crowd. More shooting occurred. Three colonists were killed instantly by musket fire; eight others were wounded, two of whom died from their wounds, a total of five.
The crowd dispersed after Governor Thomas Hutchinson promised that an inquiry would be conducted. The impatient crowd did not wait. The next day they pressed for arrest. Eight soldiers, one officer, and four civilians were arrested and charged with murder. They were effectively defended by John Adams who would eventually be one of the drafters of the Declaration and the second president of the USA. Six of the soldiers were acquitted, largely based on self-defense and no apparent overt acts of hostility. Two were found guilty. This event was captured in news accounts and one colored engraving which heightened tensions between the King, Parliament, and those colonists who were concerned that their rights were being trampled, especially those to assemble, speak, write, and protest. That was grist for the Declaration and the Constitution which affirmed citizen’s rights to peaceably assemble and speak out against government policies and actions which displease them.
The 1770 event was called the Boston Massacre by leading colonists, including Samuel Adams and Paul Revere. In England, it was known as the Incident on King Street. Whatever its name and however controversial it was, as well as Adams’ defense, the events of March 5, 1770 quickly became imbedded in the Patriots’ narrative of what restraint government must exhibit and what powers come naturally and from God to we the people.
What is important to remember during this 250th Anniversary is that the event in Boston started when a 13year old boy, Edward Garrick, mistakenly accused Captain-Lieutenant John Goldfinch of refusing to pay a shop keeper’s bill. Private Hugh White, who was standing duty at the Boston Custom House, defended Goldfinch and exchanged insults with Garrick. Garrick poked Goldfinch in the chest with his finger. White joined the argument, challenged the boy, and struck the side of his head with his musket. Garrick cried out, attracting supporters, one of whom was Henry Knox, a 19year old bookseller who would eventually serve in the Continental Army as a general. Knox warned White that if he fired, “he must die for it.” A crowd of protestors formed. The Massacre or Incident on King Street occurred. Further protest challenged the King’s government. A Congress was formed. An army was raised, and independence was declared.
Key moments in our history, especially this anniversary year, are best honored as demonstrating how important the moral and factual opinions of citizens are, especially when they criticize governmental patrimonialism. God Bless America. We join “in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the blessings of Liberty to ourselves and to our Posterity.”
By celebrating our nation on July 4, 2026, we honor our heritage including the hurling of snowballs in Minneapolis. Such events are grist for reconsidering the purpose of the Declaration by recalling what Lincoln said at Gettysburg about “a government of the people, by the people, for the people.”
Bob Heath Carmine