March the 5th, 1770... was a day that would become known as The Boston Massacre.

(pounding drums) (commotion) This was the moment when the British Empire turned its guns on its own people.

But was it murder, or a tragic misunderstanding?

I'm meeting a history professor, who's studied first-hand accounts of that day.

Serena, you're taking me to the Old State House in the centre of Boston, which is very near to where this massacre happened.

How did it all kick off?

There was a sentry standing outside the customs house, and a couple of apprentices come by, and they sort of are chatting, and then they start throwing snowballs at him.

Oh, snowballs.

Snowballs, and then things that are maybe more than snowballs, other things they pick up off the street.

And more and more come, they were throwing more and more stuff.

He calls for backup.

-Yes.

And the captain of the day leads out six or seven other soldiers, at this point, there's somewhere between 50 and 200 people there.

And very soon after that, someone yells, "Fire."

-"Fire!"

-"Fire."

That's the actual trigger.

That's the trigger, but nobody really knows why they yelled, "Fire."

Some people think that it's taunts that the young people are yelling at the soldiers, "You don't dare fire!

You don't dare fire on us."

And some people think, including some soldiers, that what they heard was a command... -To fire.

-...to fire.

And so, all we know is, in fact, there are 11 shots, and when the smoke clears, three people are dead, two more people are dying, bleeding out on the snow, in front of the Old State House, which is the seat of British Imperial power.

The Sons of Liberty, were they causing this?

It's not clear whether they're actually causing the trouble, they definitely exploit it when it's over, though.

So, here's the Old State House, help me visualise the scene.

Well, actually, I can show you an image engraved just a couple of weeks after the shooting.

Lucy: "The Bloody Massacre!"

It's not a neutral image, but it is really, very interesting.

Lucy: The British look like Stormtroopers.

Serena: They've got their bayonets pointing straight out into the crowd.

They look really mean.

And the captain is safely standing behind them, so he's out of the line of fire, waving a sword, urging them on.

And then, they're shooting at this group of Bostonians who are all really quite nicely dressed, not a mob, they are not hooligans.

So, he's making very clear who is to blame.

And that's how it comes to be called The Boston Massacre.

Yeah, it's not called The Boston Skirmish, or The Boston Brawl, it's called The Boston Massacre.

It's all in, yes.

Serena, this is real violence on the streets of Boston, what happens next?

Does it get worse?

No, this is actually the opening salvo in a propaganda war.

But there's no more violence.

The violence ends.

Instead, both sides are trying to make an argument for who actually is to blame for the violence that already did happen.