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The incident, which was later called the "Boston Massacre," took place on March 5, 1770. Even though it was much too small to be called a "massacre," patriot leaders such as Samuel Adams, John Hancock, and Paul Revere turned the minor struggle into a major issue. Patriots wrote pamphlets that exaggerated the violence in Boston. Paul Revere drew a cartoon which falsely showed British troops shooting at passive colonists. After the incident, the commanding officer of the British troops, Captain Thomas Preston, was charged with murder along with his troops. They were tried and found not guilty, although some people claim that the jury was unfairly pro-British.
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