On a chilly night in the snow-covered streets of Boston, Edward Archbald, a young barber's apprentice, shouted an insult at a British sentry on duty in front of the Customs House. The soldier struck the boy with the butt of his rifle. Archbald ran off, but returned with a group of young boys, who John Adams would later describe as "a motley rabble of saucy boys." The unruly youths taunted the British sentries and threw iced snow balls. Eventually, adults joined the boys, carrying sticks and clubs and jeering at the "lobster backs." The months of tension between soldier and civilian, England and colony, was about to erupt. Church bells rang, a usual signal for fire, but this time only served to bring more civilians into the streets. "Cowards, cowardly rascals" the mob shouted as they pressed closer to the terrified sentries, who were well aware that a mere 400 solders were quartered in a town with a population of 16,000 well-armed inhabitants.

The surging crowd relentlessly continued their harassment — "You dare not fire; fire, you cowards" — as the terrified and enraged British soldiers readied their muskets. No one knows if an order to fire was ever given, but a shot rang out. In the crowd, Crispus Attucks, a former slave, lay dead. More shots echoed in the narrow streets of Boston. Three more civilians were shot down and six others wounded (a fifth victim died four days later).

Paul Revere's engraving was a handy bit of propaganda. He did not witness the event, but his engraving shows British soldiers lined up in formation. This depiction was not accurate. The night was more a moment of confusion, disorganization and high emotion rather than an exercise of military precision. In Revere's engraving, the snow is gone and there is a bright blue sky, although a quarter moon does give the impression that the event occurred at night. The sign over the Customs House reads "Butcher's Hall" and leaves no room for misinterpretation. Crispus Attucks, who has been called the first person to die in the War for Independence, is white.

Paul Revere made the famous engraving, but the drawing was done by Harry Pelham who later wrote: … I thought I had entrusted it [the drawing] in the hands of a person who had more regard to the dictates of Honour and Justice than to take the undue advantage you have done of the Confidence and Trust I reposed in you. But I find I was mistaken …