TRIAL BRITISH SOLDIERS Boston Massacre John Adams 1824

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THE TRIAL OF THE BRITISH SOLDIERS

OF THE 29TH REGIMENT OF FOOT

FOR THE MURDER OF CRISPUS ATTUCKS, SAMUEL GRAY, SAMUEL MAVERICK, JAMES CALDWELL, AND PATRICK CARR, ON MONDAY EVENING, MARCH 5, 1770,

BEFORE THE HONORABLE BENJAMIN LYNDE, JOHN CUSHING, PETER OLIVER, AND EDMUND TROWBRIDGE, ESQUIRES, JUSTICES OF THE SUPERIOR COURT OF JUDICATURE, COURT OF ASSIZE, AND GENERAL GAOL DELIVERY, HELD AT BOSTON, BY ADJOURNMENT, NOVEMBER 27, 1770.

The Boston Massacre - Very Rare

First Edition Thus, Published by William Emmons, Boston, 1824. Hardcover, 3/4 leather over marbled paper cover, gilt titles and design on spine, 146 pages, marbled endpapers, small book measuring approx. 4.75 x 7.25 inches. This book was previously owned by Joseph J. Cooke, the well known 19th Century, Americana book collector. His bookplate is inside the front cover.

CONDITION
Ex-library with a bookplate and a couple blindstamps. The cover shows heavy wear, heavy rubbing, chipping scuffing, some loss of material at top of spine (about an inch), the front cover separating along the spine (about half separated), the rear cover is firmly attached, the title on the spine is chipped. There are numerous pencil notes on the blank pages and on the bookplate, there are also two small newspaper clippings pasted to the blank pages. A former owner obviously was very keen on the subject and has done extra research. There are a few marks and a bit of underlining in the text, otherwise the pages are clean (all very readable), a couple pages have been folded. All pages are present and securely held. This book has obviously been well read but is still in decent and very readable condition. A valuable addition to any collection.

CONTENTS
The Boston Massacre was an incident that led to the deaths of five civilians at the hands of British troops on March 5, 1770, the legal aftermath of which helped spark the rebellion in some of the British American colonies, which culminated in the American Revolution. A tense situation because of a heavy British military presence in Boston boiled over to incite brawls between soldiers and civilians and eventually led to troops discharging their muskets after being attacked by a rioting crowd. Three civilians were killed at the scene of the shooting, and two died after the incident.

Crispus Attucks, a black merchant seaman, was the first to fall in the celebrated "Boston Massacre" of 1770. Four other Americans died that night from the action. Samuel Adams used the incident to incite the colonists to further rebellion. Although only five people were killed, Adams termed it a "massacre" of innocent citizens by the tyrannical mother country. Paul Revere published a poem and a drawing of this famous incident in the Boston Gazette on March 12, 1770.

This very rare book contains copies of reports and court proceedings for the famous trial of British soldiers that became known as the Boston Massacre and was a contributing factor pushing America to declare independence and revolt against Great Britain. John Adams (1735-1826), a young lawyer and future president ,served as counsel for the defense in the trial of eight British soldiers accused of murder during a riot in Boston on March 5, 1770.  William Wemms, James Hartegan, William McCauley, Hugh White, Matthew Killroy, William Warren, John Carrol, and Hugh Montgomery, soldiers in the English 29th regiment of foot, were accused of murdering Crispus Attucks, Samuel Gray, Samuel Maverick, James Caldwell, and Patrick Carr.  The case was heard at the Superior Court of Judicature, Court of Assize, and General Goal Delivery, on November 27, 1770, by adjournment, before justices Benjamin Lynde, John Cushing, Peter Oliver, and Edmund Troweridge.  The Law Library of Congress has copies of reports and transcripts of the court proceedings published in 1770, 1807, and 1824. Adams’s impassioned speech in defense of the soldiers resulted in their acquittal: it was reprinted in a “character sketch” by John Willard published in 1903.

In the trial of the soldiers, which opened November 27, 1770, Adams argued that if the soldiers were endangered by the mob they had the legal right to fight back, and so were innocent. If they were provoked but not endangered, he argued, they were at most guilty of manslaughter. The jury agreed with Adams and acquitted six of the soldiers. Two of the soldiers were found guilty of murder because there was overwhelming evidence that they fired directly into the crowd. However, John Adams used a loophole in British common law: by proving to the judge that they could read by having them read aloud from the Bible, he had their crimes reduced to manslaughter (see Benefit of clergy). The two privates were thus found guilty of manslaughter and punished by branding on their thumbs. The jury's decisions suggest that they believed the soldiers had felt threatened by the crowd.

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