Editing Boston Massacre (section)

==Legacy==

===Contribution to American Revolution===
{{See also|American Revolutionary War#Background and political developments}}
The Boston Massacre is considered one of the most significant events that turned colonial sentiment against King George III and British Parliamentary authority. John Adams wrote that the "foundation of American independence was laid" on March 5, 1770, and Samuel Adams and other Patriots used annual commemorations ([[Massacre Day]]) to encourage public sentiment toward independence.<ref>Zobel, ''Boston Massacre'', pp. 301–302.</ref> Christopher Monk was the boy who was wounded in the attack and died in 1780, and his memory was honored as a reminder of British hostility.<ref name=Miller395>Miller, ''Origins of the American Revolution'', p. 395.</ref>

Later events such as the [[Gaspee Affair]] and the [[Boston Tea Party]] further illustrated the crumbling relationship between Great Britain and its colonies. Five years passed between the massacre and outright war, and Neil York suggests that there is only a tenuous connection between the two.<ref>York, ''The Boston Massacre'', pp. 46–47.</ref> It is widely perceived as a significant event leading to the [[American Revolutionary War|violent rebellion]] that followed.<ref>Woods, ''Exploring American History'', p. 149.</ref><ref>Wheeler et al, ''Discovering the American Past'', pp. 101–102.</ref> [[Howard Zinn]] argues that Boston was full of "class anger". He reports that the ''Boston Gazette'' published in 1763 that "a few persons in power" were promoting political projects "for keeping the people poor in order to make them humble."<ref>{{Harvnb|Zinn|1980}}.</ref>

===Commemorations===
{{See also|Massacre Day|Freedom Trail}}
[[File:Boston Massacre Memorial - IMG 9560.JPG|thumb|The [[Boston Massacre Monument]], built by [[Adolph Robert Kraus]], on display in [[Boston Common]] since 1889]]
The massacre was remembered in 1858 in a celebration organized by [[William Cooper Nell]], a black abolitionist who saw the death of Crispus Attucks as an opportunity to demonstrate the role of [[African Americans in the Revolutionary War]].<ref name=Nell515>Nell et al, ''William Cooper Nell'', 515.</ref> Artwork was produced commemorating the massacre, changing the color of a victim's skin to black to emphasize Attucks' death.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Fitz|first=Karsten|title=Commemorating Crispus Attucks: Visual Memory and the Representations of the Boston Massacre, 1770–1857|journal=American Studies|volume=50|issue=3|year=2005|jstor=41158169|pages=463–484}}</ref> In 1888, the [[Boston Massacre Monument]] was erected on the [[Boston Common]] in memory of the men killed in the massacre, and the five victims were reinterred in a prominent grave in the [[Granary Burying Ground]].<ref name=York46>York, ''The Boston Massacre'', p. 46.</ref>

The massacre is reenacted annually on March 5<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thefreedomtrail.org/visitor/boston-massacre.html |title=The Boston Massacre |publisher=The Freedom Trail Foundation |access-date=November 21, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111125211125/http://www.thefreedomtrail.org/visitor/boston-massacre.html |archive-date=November 25, 2011 }}</ref> under the auspices of the [[Bostonian Society]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bostonhistory.org/?s=osh&p=reenactorreg|title=Massacre Reenactment Registration|publisher=Bostonian Society|access-date=November 21, 2011}}</ref><ref>Young, p. 20</ref> The Old State House, the massacre site, and the Granary Burying Ground are part of Boston's [[Freedom Trail]], connecting sites important in the city's history.<ref name=York46/>