Paul Revere's engraving of the Boston Massacre<span>, 1770. By the beginning of 1770, there were 4,000 British soldiers in </span>Boston<span>, a city with 15,000 inhabitants, and tensions were running high. ... A shot rang out, and then several soldiers fired their weapons.</span>
The colonial policies and practices that played a part in peaceful or violent transitions to self-rule were very complex. One major one which had a very important role here was Apartheid. This was an important policy which had at its core racial segregation between black and white people.
The president during 1812 was James Madison, his presidential term was 1809 to 1817.