The historical event referred to as the "Boston Massacre" took place on March 5, 1770, when British soldiers shot into a crowd of colonists in Boston, Massachusetts, resulting in the deaths of five men. Tensions had been escalating between colonial residents and British troops stationed in the city, primarily due to resentment over British taxation and perceived oppression. The incident fueled anti-British sentiment and became a rallying point for colonial opposition to British rule. Propaganda, including Paul Revere's famous engraving of the event, portrayed the soldiers as villains, contributing to the growing revolutionary fervor leading up to the American Revolution.