This print depicts a very biased and inaccurate account of the events on King Street shortly after 9PM on March 5, 1770. The wounded and dead on the left are portrayed as peaceful bystanders rather than the angry and rowdy group that cursed, insulted and threatened the lives of the soldiers. The soldiers fired but one round into the group. They did not fire in unison as this engraving illustrates. Numerous accounts and a later jury decided that the commanding officer of the day, Captain Preston, did not order his troops to fire. In fact many colonists testified that Preston did everything he could to calm his soldiers and prevent them from shooting even one round.

This engraving was made and printed in a hurry so that the leaders of the protest against Parliment and the royal officials could get their version of what happened out to the people before any other story reached them. This picture reinforced the idea that English soldiers just like Parliment, were agressors against law-abiding and peaceful citizens. Revere knew what he was doing when he constructed this picture of the events of that evening. He produced an image that many people even today believe accurately depicts what happened.