On March 5th, 1770, one of the major events leading up to the American Revolution occurred.

A confrontation between Boston civilians and British soldiers resulted in the deaths of five Americans.

While the events of that day help spur the cause of American independence,

the events which happened after help determine what kind of country it was going to be.

Learn more about the Boston Massacre, its causes, and its aftermath

on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. To understand how and why the Boston Massacre happened, you have to understand the climate in Boston in 1770.

The years leading up to 1770 were one of increasing consternation amongst the American colonists.

The British government passed a series of laws such as the Stamp Act, the Quartering Act, and the

Townsend Act, which increased taxes and placed in positions on the colon colonists without their consent.

Boston became a hotbed of anti-British activity in the Americas.

To try and control the situation, the British station 2,000 soldiers in Boston,

which at the time only had a population of about 16,000 people.

These soldiers were quartered in the homes of Bostonians without their consent.

And if you ever wanted to know the reason behind the Third Amendment of the Constitution, this is it.

Skirmishes, fights, and vandalism became common occurrences between Patriot Colonists and the British,

as well as between Patriot Colonists and loyal Colonists.

In the weeks leading up to March 5th, things had gotten particularly tense.

On February 22nd, a mob of Patriots began throwing rocks at the store of a loyalist named Theophilus Lily.

His neighbor, a customs official by the name of Ebenezer Richardson, fired his gun through

his window at the crowd, killing an 11-year-old boy named Christopher Sider.

The death of the young boy outraged the people of Boston.

His murder was covered extensively in the local newspapers, and an estimated 2,000 people attended his funeral, the largest crowd ever

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