Patriots and loyalists alike recognized that blame for the Massacre could help either fuel or extinguish revolutionary stirrings in the colonies. 双方都立即采取行动，利用这一机会. Lieutenant Colonel Dalrymple scrambled to gather testimonies that would support the soldiers' case as the smoke cleared. English lawyer Francis 微波激射器 composed a narrative to accompany the soldiers' testimonies. 微波激射器, known now for his controversial views on the algebraic use of the negative sign as well as his work as Attorney-General of Quebec in the 1760s, approached the account aiming to dispel outrage and implored readers to consider the event reasonably. 他的语气流露出一种比那些头脑发热的爱国者优越的神气, 特别是“这些自由之子和善良的人(就像他们自封的那样)”," and he seems to attempt to connect with readers (who initially would have been largely English) on that level. 与此同时, 由詹姆斯·鲍登等三位杰出的殖民地人物组成的委员会, 塞缪尔·彭伯顿, 约瑟夫·沃伦为爱国者们的证词撰写了旁白. 

The results of 微波激射器's 和 colonists' efforts were two very different accounts of the same event—波士顿恐怖大屠杀的简短叙述 同情爱国者的事业，然后呢 新英格兰波士顿最近的不愉快骚乱的公正叙述 哪个支持英国士兵的观点. Both groups of testimonies were sent to England for the King's review less than a month after the Massacre occurred, 与英国人 公平的账户 第一个到达.

加剧紧张局势

每本小册子的叙述都来自士兵的口供, 过路人, and prominent community members; 96 testimonies are reproduced in the patriots' 简短的叙述，和31 公平的账户. Both pamphlets acknowledge that tensions were high in Boston due to the unpopularity of the Stamp and Quartering Acts, 除其他因素外. An altercation on Boston's ropewalks is also cited by both accounts as an important precursor—a few days before the Massacre, a ropemaker suggested that a passing soldier clean his "necessary-house" if he needed work. Naturally this resulted in an argument and quickly escalated into a brawl which attracted reinforcements from both sides. 爱国者的小册子描述了一群报复心强、残忍的英国士兵, already infamous for committing random acts of violence against long-suffering Bostonians since their first day ashore, 是谁密谋谋杀无辜的殖民者，作为在索道上争吵的报复. Those sympathetic to the British soldiers' cause claim the reverse—that the ropemakers 和ir peers responded to the ropewalks incident by stirring up a mob of colonists, all of whom resented the soldiers' presence and took every opportunity to berate and inconvenience them, 袭击海关哨所的哨兵.

“火，见鬼去吧!”

从这里开始，沉积层彼此差别很大. Some claim that the Custom House sentry left his post to randomly attack a boy whom he overheard speaking ill of British soldiers. Some swear to have heard bands of colonists shouting in the streets as they converged on King Street: "murder, 杀了所有的狗，因为我们在波士顿既没有专员，也没有士兵." Others heard groups of redcoats sneer to one another that "the soldiers were not to be trod upon by the inhabitants, 但在天亮之前就知道了, 是由他们还是居民当家作主.不知怎么的，海关大楼前聚集了一群暴民. The lone sentry posted there, pelted with debris and foul language, called for reinforcements. 当普雷斯顿上尉和一群士兵到达时, 两种说法都证实有多次“开火”的喊声, 取笑地, 从暴民侵略者和一个, 爱国者声称, 来自普雷斯顿本人.

两本小册子都承认不幸的生命损失. 士兵们的 公平的账户 用严肃朴素的口吻描述伤亡情况, 在详细描述了暴民的疯狂和普雷斯顿试图恢复和平的徒劳努力之后. 很可能是为了引起情绪反应, 爱国者们对细节的描述达到了令人难以忘怀的技术程度, outlining the injuries of each man and even describing where and at what angle the bullets entered their bodies. 士兵们的说法是出于自卫, stating that their actions were necessary "in defence of a post which it was their duty to defend." The colonists declared that they glimpsed more muskets glinting through the upper windows of the Custom House, 指向一个阴谋. 在阅读了双方的证词后，甚至连开了几枪都不清楚.

口水战

This daunting list of contradictions testifies to the fact that while the 波士顿惨案 is an extremely important point in the early history of our nation, 我们可能永远也无法揭开事情发生的全部真相. 作证人的声音和意图, 写故事, 而且参与的试验太多了，没有可靠的证据就无法展开. 有些说法甚至自相矛盾. 一份证词，波士顿商人理查德·帕尔梅斯的证词，出现在两份 公平的账户 和 简短的叙述. 帕尔梅斯在大屠杀审判期间被传唤出庭作证, 他的证词也出现在 为威廉·温姆斯的审判打印法庭记录. After Palmes himself read the published version of his testimony, he submitted an article to the 波士顿公报 纠正他认为对他的话有误导性的抄写. 虽然类似的, none of these accounts are exactly the same—although it is just as likely that these differences stem from human error as from intentional spin. 在这两本小册子中出现的唯一另一个说法是托马斯·格林伍德的说法, 海关官员. 当它独自屹立在 公平的账户爱国者们把它拆散了 简短的叙述, using every pro-loyalist assertion Greenwood makes to demonize the soldiers in a series of long-winded footnotes.

The crux of the two pamphlets' arguments lies not just in whether or not 普雷斯顿 ordered the soldiers to fire at the climax of the ordeal, 但是为什么以及由谁犯下了第一次侵略行为. This was far from the first time colonists and British soldiers butted heads on the streets of Boston, 早在1770年3月5日事件发生之前，这些团体之间的怨恨就已经形成了. The volume and diverse content of the depositions collected by both sides shows how desperate each was to demonize the other, 通过真理, 小说, 或者是一些组合.

In 波士顿大屠杀Eric Hinderaker称这两本小册子的内容是“一场口水战”." In spite of the immediacy with which the patriots and British soldiers produced their testimonies, 实际的试验直到几个月后才开始, 第一个是 雷克斯v. 普雷斯顿 1770年10月5日. 最终, 然而, it could be argued that the actual truth of what happened during the 波士顿惨案 ended up mattering very little compared to the fervor that grew from the patriots' efforts to spin it in their favor. 事实上，希勒·佐贝尔在 波士顿大屠杀 请求考虑到英国士兵在战争中的困境 公平的账户 对波士顿的民意影响太小，也太迟了.

亚历山德拉·布什，数字制作和网页设计专家