Some say that Crispus Attucks was the "first casualty" of the Revolution, as he is traditionally believed to be the first person killed at the Boston Massacre.  That was March 5, 1770.
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On December 16, 1773, American patriots dressed as Mohawk Indians boarded the vessels of the East Indian Company docked in the Boston harbor and dumped all the tea that was on the three ships into the ocean. They emptied 342 chests of tea which was valued at more than 10,000 pounds. This event became known as the "Boston Tea Party."

The Boston Tea Party was a reaction to the Tea Act of 1773 that was passed by Parliament to save the British East India Company from bankruptcy. The Tea Act essentially eliminated all taxes on tea except the three pence Townshend tax. More importantly, it offered Americans tea at a lower price than that of the colonial smugglers. Hence, the British East Indian Company would be saved from bankruptcy, the colonial smugglers would be out of business, and the principle of parliamentary taxation would be upheld.

However, there were rumors that the Tea Act created an illegal monopoly so resistance to the importation of tea was encouraged throughout the colonies. If the people bought from the East India Company, it would give that company a monopoly of the American tea trade and establish the right of Parliament to raise a colonial revenue by means of port duties. Since the patriots believed that the cheap price of tea would be too much of a temptation to the people, the patriots took steps to maneuver Britain into a difficult position.

The patriots decided to reject tea shipments and they demanded that tea ships be permitted to return to England without paying the duty required by law. Over 5,000 townspeople of Boston and surrounding towns gathered at Old South Meeting House to plead with the governor to send the ships back to England. However, Governor Hutchinson refused and it was that night, December 16, that sixty men dressed as Mohawk Indians and went over to the Boston harbor. There they boarded the three ships of the East India Company and dumped over 10,000 pounds of tea into the Boston harbor. Parliament was furious and retaliated by passing the Coercive Acts, one of which closed the Boston harbor. Thus, the Boston Tea Party marked the beginning of violence in the dispute between mother country and colonies.

The "Boston Massacre" as it is called, was really not a massacre in the sense that a lot of people were slaughtered (because only five people were killed), it was a massacre in the sense that the British government's authority was not going to be tolerated. This incident marked the beginning of the end for England and its presence in the United States of America.

On October 1, 1768 a group of British regulars arrived in Boston, MA. to maintain order. The civilians reacted to the redcoats like they were invaders by taunting them through name calling, spitting, and fighting. The people of Boston had gained control of the reigns of power and prevented the soldiers from carrying out their duties. During the next eighteen months tension mounted between the two sides.

On March 5, 1770 the Twenty-Ninth Regiment came to the relief of the Eighth on duty at the Customs House on King (now State) Street. The soldiers, led by Captain Thomas Preston, were met by a large and taunting crowd of civilians. Captain Preston was unable to disperse the crowd and as they chanted "Fire and be damned" he ordered his troops "Don't Fire!" With all the commotion the soldiers probably did not hear his orders and they opened fire on the crowd killing three men instantly and another two who died later.

Seven months later, in October of 1770, Captain Preston was tried for murder in a Boston courtroom. He was defended by John Adams and Robert Auchmuty and assisted by Josiah Quincy Jr. Captain Preston was acquitted by a Boston jury. It was never satisfactory explained why the radicals Adams and Quincy represented Preston, and later the soldiers, although some surviving documents suggest that the jury in Preston's case was "packed." When the soldiers case came to trial soon after they were defended by Adams, Quincy, and Sampson Salter Blowers. The jurors in their case came from outside of Boston and they won acquittals a month after the trial began.

Thanks everyone for your digging. I'll let you know if the teacher meant 1771 or was mistaken.
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