The Boston Massacre was a fundamental event at the start of the American Revolution. The massacre became part of the Boston activists' anti-British propaganda and fueled American fears of the English army in the North and South. The Boston Massacre was the first “battle” of the Revolutionary War. Although it was not until five years after the Boston Massacre that the Revolutionary War officially began, the Boston Massacre foreshadowed the violent storm to come. In the 1760s, Boston was full of disorder. Each new British law was accompanied by protests from American colonists. The people of Boston believed that Britain had no right to tax them because they did not elect their representatives to Parliament. Only the Massachusetts Assembly, whose members were elected annually, had the right to tax its citizens. The Stamp Act of 1765 and the Townshend Acts of 1767 led to boycotts and unrest, led by a group known as the Sons of Liberty. As a result, the British government sent troops to Boston to maintain order. Instead of staying in a fort on an island in Boston Harbor, British troops stayed on the commons and lived in buildings in the middle of the city. The presence of British troops in Boston was unwelcome and Bostonians viewed them as a threat. Because they disliked the English army in their town, fighting between American colonists and British troops was frequent. One night, on March 5, 1770, a street fight took place between a group of American patriots and British soldiers stationed in Boston. . The Americans harassed the troops by shouting and calling them names and throwing snowballs and sticks at them. A crowd formed and amid the noise and confusion, weapons were fired. In the end,...... middle of paper......ks. They ambushed the ship and dumped 342 crates of tea into Boston Harbor. They called this event the Boston Tea Party. Next came the Intolerables Acts, a series of laws passed by Britain to punish Massachusetts for the Boston Tea Party and strengthen British control over the colonies. The Patriots viewed the laws as a violation of Massachusetts' rights, and in September 1774 they organized the First Continental Congress to stage a protest. As tensions increased, the American War for Independence officially began in April 1775. The Boston Massacre was a critical moment in American history and fueled the American Revolution. This caused the royal governor to evacuate occupying British troops from Boston. The Boston Massacre united the colonies in their fight for independence which, coupled with continued propaganda, led to the Revolutionary War..