Boston Massacre Trial

In my English/Social Studies class, we watched the trial scene of the HBO version of the Boston Massacre. In this scene, John Adams was the British soldiers' lawyer.

John Adams was Sam Adams's cousin. Sam didn't approve of what John was doing (standing fo the British), but at the end of the scene, he smiled and bowed to him. I think that by doing this, Sam showed that he still respected the law, and John's decision to protect the innocent.

In the courthouse, there were two lawyers (John and someone else) that asked questions of the witnesses. The witnesses said a number of things, and some of what they said made the other witness' word false. For example, one witness said that the mob of people that were attacking people were only throwing ice. but they did have clubs in their hands. Another witness said that they were throwing their clubs. Captain Preston said that the order to fire came from behind his men, and not from him. This very much contradicted what a previous witness had said, and worked with what a respectable witness had said.

If that makes sense, it was the reason that the British troops were decided to be not guilty.