It's the evening of March 5th, 1770, in the city of Boston in the British colony of Massachusetts.

An angry crowd is gathered outside the customs house.

52-year-old Captain Thomas Preston pushes his way through the mob

with a small squad of British soldiers following behind.

But the sight of their guns and bayonets does nothing to calm the locals

who only jeer more loudly and start flinging snowballs at Captain Preston and his men.

Tensions between British troops and Boston's locals have been simmering for months.

The American colonists want more freedom to rule themselves,

but their rulers in London want to maintain direct control.

An hour ago, Captain Preston heard rumors of unrest in this part of the city,

and he's been ordered to diffuse the situation before it gets out at hand. Captain Preston

reaches the front of the crowd. A single sentry stands in front of the Customs House entrance.

Captain Preston hurries over to him to find out what's going on. A young guard visibly sighs with relief.

He reports that the crowd is demanding that he hand over a British officer

who supposedly owes money to a local tradesman.

A terrified officer is sheltering inside the customs house, afraid for his life.

Captain Preston turns and takes in the size of the crowd properly for the

first time. He was only expecting a few hot-headed radicals, but instead there are at least 50

boys and men, many of them carrying clubs, their faces twisted in anger. Plus, the side of the

uniformed British soldiers has only added fuel to the fire.

The number of Bostonians in the street is growing rapidly,

and it's not just snowballs that fly through the air now.

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