“The Boston Massacre”: Colorful Stories From Original Sources

Join the Fort Ticonderoga Author Series, which features presentations by authors of books related to the history of the Colonial and Revolutionary War in the Adirondacks.

The story of the Boston Massacre—when, on a late winter evening in 1770, British soldiers shot five local men to death—is familiar to generations.

But the history of the event has always obscured a fascinating truth: that the Massacre arose from conflicts as personal as they were political.

An old tale told new.

In The Boston Massacre: A Family History, historian Serena Zabin weaves colorful stories from original sources.

She follows British troops as they make their way from Ireland to Boston in 1768 to subdue the increasingly rebellious colonists. She also reveals a forgotten world hidden in plain sight: the many regimental wives and children accompanying these armies.

We see these families jostling with Bostonians for living space, finding common cause in the search for a lost child, trading barbs and sharing baptisms – becoming, in other words, neighbors. When soldiers shot unarmed citizens in the street, it was these intensely human, now broken bonds that fueled what quickly became a bitterly fought American Revolution.

About the author.

Serena Zabin is a professor of history and chair of the history department at Carleton College. In addition to “The Boston Massacre,” she is the author of “Dangerous Economies: Status and Commerce in Imperial New York” and “The New York Conspiracy Trials of 1741: Daniel Horsmanden’s Journal of the Proceedings.” She is also the co-designer of a serious video game about the Boston Massacre, Witness to the Revolution.

For more information and to register for this online event, please visit Fort Ticonderoga’s website.