Home > West's Encyclopedia of American Law > Paine, Robert Treat

Robert Treat Paine was born March 11, 1731, in Boston, Massachusetts. He graduated from Harvard University in 1749 and was admitted to the Massachusetts bar in 1757. After a brief career in the ministry, he became an eminent lawyer, politician, and judge.

Paine first won fame as an associate prosecuting attorney in the BOSTON MASSACRE trial. The Boston Massacre, which occurred in 1770, was a violent response to the passing of the TOWNSHEND ACTS by Great Britain. These acts decreed that CUSTOMS DUTIES would be imposed on the importation of tea, lead, glass, paints, and paper. When British troops were sent to Boston to enforce payment of the duties, the colonists harassed them to such an extent that they fired into a...