On the evening of March 5, 1770, a thirteen year old boy named Edward Garrick deliberately provoked a British soldier who was on guard duty outside the Boston Custom House.

It was a dumb thing to do. Like a lot of teenagers, Garrick didn’t think before running his mouth. He even poked the soldier in the chest with his finger... until the soldier ultimately struck him in the head with a musket.

Now, Boston at the time was a hotbed of revolutionary spirit. Whereas today, people in the northeast seem to be happy to pay outrageous tax rates to incompetent politicians, back in the late 1700s they were ready to go to war over unfair taxation.

So when that British soldier struck Edward Garrick, an angry mob quickly formed at the scene.

By nightfall the soldier had been reinforced by several armed men from his regiment. And the commanding officer, Captain Thomas Preston, pleaded with the crowd to disperse.

But the mob continued to grow… and become increasingly agitated. Someone in the crowd threw an object at the soldiers, knocking one of them down. Another man swung a cudgel at them… and the soldiers opened fire, killing three people instantly. Pandemonium ensued.

Eventually the entire 29th Regiment was called out to help restore order. And the crowd was only satisfied when the governor promised a full investigation.

Nine British soldiers were arrested the following morning and put on trial for murder in the incident that is known to history as the Boston Massacre.

What’s remarkable is that the soldiers actually did receive a fair trial. Most were acquitted, and two of the men were convicted of a lesser charge (manslaughter) rather than murder.

It turns out they had a good lawyer… none other than future US President John Adams.

Adams was a patriot who wanted American independence. He didn’t like the British army and he didn’t particularly want to represent the soldiers.

But he was even more committed to the core principles of justice that everyone should be treated equally in front of the law.

Adams later described being the soldiers’ defense attorney as “one of the best pieces of service I ever rendered my country” precisely because it demonstrated such a strong commitment to the Rule of Law.

He knew the evidence was clear that the soldiers had acted in self-defense. And had they been convicted of murder, it would have been “as foul a stain upon this country” as the Salem Witch Trials in the 1690s.