This is a response to Heather Berube’s letter, “Is history repeating itself?” (June 26).

The Boston Massacre, March 5, 1770, did not “trigger” America’s war for independence. If anything, the incident mirrored today’s daily lawlessness of protestors attacking those assigned to keep the peace. The crowd pelted the soldiers with chunks of ice, oyster shells and other objects, while taunting the soldiers to fire on them.

Several days later an inaccurate and inflammatory engraving of the incident, “The Fruits of Arbitrary Power or The Boston Massacre” by artist Henry Pelham was released to the public. This was followed by an engraving of the incident which was sold to the general public by Paul Revere, fueling anti-British sentiments by Bostonians.

Several years later on Dec. 16, 1773, Bostonians dressed as Indians dumped tea into Boston Harbor. On April 19, 1775, the war for independence started with the armed confrontations at Lexington and Concord.

Faneuil Hall was Boston’s main market. It was built in 1742 by merchant Peter Faneuil and given as a gift to the citizens of Boston. In 1826 the marketplace was expanded by Boston Mayor Joshua Quincy. The addition was appropriately named Quincy Market.

Lastly, in the last half of her letter, Berube states that in 1781 and 1783, the Supreme Court made rulings in cases involving slavery. That would be rather difficult since the U.S. Supreme Court did not come into existence until 1789.

Robert Macdonald, Lewiston

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