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The aftermath of the Boston Tea Party helped to radicalize John Adams into realizing (as Thomas Paine would later go on to explain to Americans) that the colonists would never be seen as "English."
He took on the defense of the soldiers who fired on the crowd, contending they had been attacked and were fighting for their own lives. The officer had held up his sword ordering the crowd to fall back, and his men to hold their fire. A tall Black man (Crispus Attucks) swung a rope makers club over the heads of several other men to strike away the sword, but it hit the officer's arm, possibly breaking it, the men then fired, killing Attucks and several others.
Although Adam's defense would lead to confrontations with friends and relatives, he believed we as British Subjects should show that the law, not mob violence, should prevail. Amazingly he got a jury to agree, and the men were found innocent.
Then to his horror and anger, the British Admiralty overruled the decision and because the soldiers had fired after being ordered to hold their fire, they each had the back of a hand branded with a red hot poker. That's when John Adams knew, we would have to seek dissolution from the British.
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