The Fifth Of March: A Story of the Boston Massacre

Rachel’s relationship with Matthew grows the most in these final chapters, as both characters reconcile with one another and with themselves. Rachel learns that all people, regardless of their political affiliations, want peace and freedom for themselves and their loved ones. With this knowledge, she resolves to accept The Responsibility that Comes with Choice, acting according to her own sense of right and wrong regardless of the personal consequences. Though she knows helping Matthew will reflect poorly on the Adams home, she does it anyway because she feels it is the right thing to do, both for Matthew and for her own sense of right and wrong. She doesn’t act with the intention to bring disfavor to the Adamses, but she understands and accepts that this is a consequence of her actions. This forces John and Abigail to dismiss her in order to preserve what is left of their reputation so they can continue to provide aid for those who need it. Their termination of Rachel’s employment is not done to hurt her, even though it will have this effect temporarily as she transitions to a new life in Pennsylvania and leaves behind the people she’s grown to care for.

The discussion at the bookstore in Chapter 17, combined with the court proceedings in Chapter 18, offers commentary on the benefits and drawbacks of liberty and war. Rachel’s anger in Chapter 17 comes from her feelings of helplessness. She wants to have the freedom to do as she wishes, but the events of the Boston Massacre have shown her that true freedom can only exist in a context of rule of law. Rachel grapples with the relationship between liberty and authority, and while she does not arrive at any firm conclusions by the end of the book, her thoughts open up a discussion about personal and societal freedoms, including whether people have the right to torment others in the name of their own wants. John Adams defends the soldiers with a concept from one of his law books that suggests soldiers are caught between two worlds—the one where they must defend their country and the one where they are hated for doing so. His argument is enough to clear the soldiers of murder charges, and this restores Rachel’s faith in books and learning, though that faith has changed.

The changes Rachel experiences while watching the trial complete her character arc and make her see that the answers are within her, not within books. At the beginning of the novel, Rachel believed books held the answers to all her questions, but as she entered the world, she realized that books and learning would not give her all the answers she needed; instead, they equipped her to find those answers in her own experience. The understanding gained through education allows people like her and John Adams to approach problems from multiple angles and to see issues from different perspectives. Understanding The Necessity of Seeing Both Sides, such people are unable to fully blame any single party for events like the massacre. John convinces the jury that there is reasonable doubt of murder because he sees how the Patriots bear some responsibility for what happened, while Rachel chooses to continue her friendship with Matthew because she knows that despite his violent actions, he is not a bad person. John absolves the soldiers of murder charges, but Matthew and one other are convicted of manslaughter. These two soldiers acted more violently than the others, and the jury makes an example of them to show that while the soldiers are not murderers, their actions were not acceptable.

Rachel’s final actions in the book show she has found who she is and is comfortable with what she wants. Though she cares for Matthew, she does not follow him to England because she knows she wants more than to be his wife. She doesn’t know what she wants, but she will take the time to find it before she makes any choices about the rest of her life, showing that she finally understands what liberty is. She has the ability to make her own choices so long as those choices do not harm others, and she is willing to set out on her own to build herself independently. Her choice to leave her dowry behind shows that, while she appreciates what the Adamses have done, she is determined to support herself. She also knows that, if she earned a dowry once, she can do it again, which represents the confidence she has found as a result of standing up for herself and helping Matthew when everyone told her not to. Rachel also finally rids herself of Uncle Eb’s influence. She no longer feels indebted to him because she knows she is worth more than he ever gave her.