The author of the manuscript sermon in this collection is unknown and there is no provenance information associated with the collection. The instigating incident behind the writing of the sermon was the Boston Massacre, also known as the Incident on King Street, which occurred on March 5, 1770. Prior to the event, tensions between civilians and British soldiers in the city of Boston, Massachusetts, had grown significantly. On the evening of March 5, 1770, a mob formed around a lone British sentry and verbally accosted him. Eventually the sentry was backed up by eight additional soldiers. Accounts of what exactly occurred differ greatly, but it is almost certain that the mob tossed snowballs, stones, and possibly clubs, at the soldiers who, in retaliation and/or self-defense, fired upon the crowd. Three civilians were announced dead at the scene and an additional two died later from wounds sustained at the scene. Eight soldiers and an officer were later arrested on charges of murder; they were represented by John Adams and most were acquitted of all charges while two were convicted of manslaughter with a reduced sentence. The "Boston Massacre," as it had been dubbed, was widely reported on, much of it in the form of propaganda, and further increased tensions between the Thirteen Colonies and Great Britain.