The Boston Massacre

The Boston Massacre

In this Bloodlines and Betrayal episode, hosts David Schuman and Steve Cully dissect the spark that helped ignite the American Revolution — The Boston Massacre of 1770. What began as a tense night of taunts and snowballs between colonists and British soldiers ended in bloodshed on King Street, marking one of the most defining and divisive moments in American history.

Schuman and Cully explore how years of taxation, military occupation, and resentment turned Boston into a powder keg. When the crowd clashed with the British sentries, chaos erupted — five colonists lay dead, including Crispus Attucks, the first man to fall for American liberty.

The hosts reveal how the massacre wasn’t just a street fight — it was a propaganda war. Patriots like Paul Revere and Samuel Adams used the tragedy to rally a movement, while John Adams defended the soldiers in court, arguing that justice must rise above fury.

In the end, Bloodlines and Betrayal frames the Boston Massacre as more than a colonial riot — it was the first blood spilled in a nation’s rebirth, where betrayal, fear, and courage collided to shape the future of freedom itself.