The Fifth Of March: A Story of the Boston Massacre

The next day, Rachel goes shopping with Abigail and has the best day she can recall in a long time. The day after, one of Jane’s friends is killed in a riot. Rachel and Jane march in the funeral procession, which is hundreds strong. Rachel can’t believe so many people knew a street urchin, and Jane explains that they didn’t. The procession is to rally sympathies for the Patriots and to paint the British soldiers as the enemy. Rachel is horrified by this. Try as she might, she cannot make sense of using death for a cause, and she wonders if “perhaps I am not a true American at all” (182).

Rachel goes to see Matthew, intending to make things right between them. Matthew isn’t happy to see her and blames her for driving him to work at such a violent place. He tells her why he joined the army: His older brother owed gambling debts and traded Matthew into service to pay them off. Since then, he hasn’t trusted friendship, which is why he rejects Rachel’s offer to be his friend. Rachel begs him to quit his job before he gets hurt. Matthew refuses, and Rachel realizes he likes the violence because “it’s the way to settle the misery inside him” (189).

On March 5th, Jane informs Rachel that the Patriots are planning a battle with the soldiers that night. Rachel implores Jane to tell her mistress—whose brother is the lieutenant governor—so the attack can be stopped, and Jane is impressed with how much Rachel has grown since they met. The attack is not stopped, and that night, Rachel sneaks out to witness the trouble, both afraid and excited by what it may bring. British soldiers come out to break up the rabble, Matthew among them. The Patriots taunt the soldiers until Henry arrives and tries to calm the crowd. Despite his efforts, the fever of the night only grows, and Rachel realizes the people are no longer individuals, but “a headless mass with thousands of arms and legs and a voice that was like the sound of rushing floodwaters” (205).

Rachel moves to a safer place at the edge of the crowd. From there, she watches the mob continue to throw objects at the soldiers. The word “fire” rings through the night, and the world explodes with musket shots. Rachel watches Matthew shoot a man at point-blank range and then stab him repeatedly. Rachel screams at him to stop until Henry pulls her away.

Back home, Rachel confides to the house’s cook about what happened, the two women finding solace in each other’s sorrow. In the morning, men gather at the Adamses’ house to discuss what to do in the aftermath of the attack. Four people were killed, including the man Matthew shot and stabbed, and Rachel wonders what there is left of her relationship with Matthew now. A man who was present at the massacre arrives to beg John Adams for help. He’s sure the leader of the British soldiers didn’t give the order to fire last night and needs John to prove the man’s innocence. If John Adams does this, he will lose any remaining sway he has in Boston, but he still considers it.

Rachel goes out to market and runs into Jane, who is full of excitement over the night’s events. Rachel can’t understand how Jane is excited about murder and asks Jane if she is at all tired of the fights, to which Jane replies “there’s no wearying of it, Rachel. Once you start something like this you don’t turn back” (221). Conflicted, Rachel visits Matthew in jail, where he says he isn’t afraid because he was only defending himself and doing what he’d been trained to do. Rachel will ask John Adams to defend the soldiers. When Matthew asks why she would risk her situation for him, she tells him they are friends and that this is the right thing to do.

Back home, Rachel finds John Adams preparing to stand guard in the citizens’ watch for the night. She confesses that she was present at the massacre and begs him to defend the soldiers, arguing that they were provoked and don’t deserve to hang. John tells her that he has already agreed to defend the soldiers, and when Rachel asks why, he says he is doing it because “good legal counsel should be the very last thing a person should be in want of in a free country” (232).

When news of John Adams defending the soldiers gets out, the people of Boston turn on the family. The next day, Abigail and Rachel go shopping, and several vendors charge them more than their signs say. Paul Revere is the only person who doesn’t, and Abigail buys three pots for Rachel’s dowry. Revere has also made an engraving of the night of the massacre, which shows the soldiers lined up and shooting into an unarmed crowd. Rachel argues that the mob had sticks and provoked the soldiers. Rachel realizes that the engraving will be how the event is remembered, even if it isn’t true.

Rachel asks John Adams if she could testify on behalf of the soldiers. She feels guilty for pushing Matthew away and sad about his difficult past. John Adams refuses her request, as her testimony will do Matthew no favors, and he reminds Rachel of her position in the Adams house. He asks Rachel to promise she will not visit Matthew in jail again. Rachel bids him goodnight, but does not promise.