Q 01/05

Despite being remembered as a massacre, the 1770 shooting by British soldiers in Boston killed how many colonists?

A) 5

B) 20

C) 80

D) 300

Answer · why

A) 5

Only 5 people died: three on the spot and two later from their wounds. Patriot leaders made the word massacre stick anyway.

Q 02/05

Which future US president served as the lead defense lawyer for the British soldiers charged after the Boston Massacre?

A) Thomas Jefferson

B) James Madison

C) John Adams

D) James Monroe

Answer · why

C) John Adams

John Adams was already a leading Patriot weighing a run for office, yet he took the case and risked his reputation so the trial would be fair.

Q 03/05

On the night of the Boston Massacre, the crowd pelted the British soldiers with clubs, stones and which other missile?

A) Rotten eggs

B) Snowballs

C) Horseshoes

D) Burning torches

Answer · why

B) Snowballs

Snowballs were among the missiles that rained on the soldiers, and one thrown object knocked a private off his feet just before he fired the first sho...

Q 04/05

The two British soldiers convicted after the Boston Massacre were branded with a hot iron on which body part?

A) The forehead

B) The cheek

C) The forearm

D) The thumb

Answer · why

D) The thumb

The thumb was burned with a hot iron in open court, a mark that stopped a convict from ever claiming the same leniency twice.

Q 05/05

Which Boston silversmith made the famous engraving that spread anger over the Boston Massacre across the colonies?

A) Paul Revere

B) John Singleton Copley

C) Nathaniel Hurd

D) Gilbert Stuart

Answer · why

A) Paul Revere

Paul Revere copied the scene from another artist's drawing without permission and had his print on sale three weeks after the shooting.