The Fifth Of March: A Story of the Boston Massacre

Content Warning: The source text and guide include discussions of racism, enslavement, and graphic violence.

The Fifth of March takes place in Colonial Boston between 1768 and 1770, just a few years before the American Revolution. Unlike Virginia and others, Massachusetts was not a royal colony, and Boston was founded by the Puritans in the 1630s, meaning the city had a greater loyalty to the religion than to the Crown. As a result, anti-British sentiment grew faster in Boston than in other places. Rinaldi uses this home loyalty as an atmospheric backdrop for The Fifth of March, portraying Boston as a city always on the verge of action and its people as hungry for freedom and change. In the novel as in the historical record, Bostonians gather for town meetings at large buildings like Faneuil Hall (dedicated to the town in 1742 by merchant Peter Faneuil) to discuss issues of the day and, in the case of groups like the Sons of Liberty, to rile the crowd against the British monarchy. As a port city on the Atlantic Ocean, Boston was uniquely positioned to become both a trade leader and an easy target for the British, which Rinaldi shows through Boston’s thriving merchant population and the presence of British ships in the harbor. One of Boston’s most profitable trades was rope-making facilities, such as the one where Matthew takes work.

The novel focuses heavily on the role different groups played in instigating the American Revolution. Chief among these were the Patriots—an umbrella term for those who opposed British rule. Rinaldi most often names the Sons of Liberty, a loosely organized group of rebels who used mob tactics to oppose British taxes—coining the now-famous phrase “no taxation without representation.” Such groups were composed of people from across Boston’s social hierarchy, including Sam Adams (brother to prominent lawyer John Adams) and John Hancock (a wealthy merchant who later became famous for his signature on the Declaration of Independence). In addition to wealthy, influential men, Boston’s lower classes and women also played an important part in the revolution. Rinaldi’s Jane Washburn character, though made up, represents the clandestine movement of information through the ranks of the Patriots, which also reflects the often invisible status of indentured servants and enslaved people at the time. As a respected member of the Adamses’ household, Rachel offers a counterexample to this, as her decisions and alignments directly impact her position, as well as how the city views John and Abigail.