Explanation: In the prelude to the American Revolution, the Boston Massacre happened in Colonial America. In this event, a crowd of Bostonians agitating against British soldiers (’redcoats’) on occupation duty in Boston were fired upon, and several Bostonians died.

This was, naturally, not a popular move in Boston, and most of the city was in favor of seeing the Brits hanged for excessive force (if only we could get support for that kind of oversight for policing forces in the modern US). In fact, the mood was so sour on the soldiers in question that no lawyer in Boston dared take up their case, for fear of retribution by an angry Bostonian mob.

Enter John Adams. John Adams is traditionally considered one of the Founding Fathers of the USA for his massive contributions to the political foundation of the country, and even at the time he was known as a massive Patriot (supporter of American independence). It was precisely for this reason that he could take up the defense of the British soldiers - no anti-British mob dared touch him or seriously malign his motives when he was already Public Enemy #1 of British rule.

His justification, thus, was taken at face value - that he genuinely believed that trying the accused without a proper legal defense was barbaric and could not be endured in any civilized society. And as a lawyer, he argued vehemently and to the best of his ability regardless of his personal feelings on the massacre - managing to save all the accused Redcoats from the noose, with only two of the soldiers who could be proved to have fired directly into the crowd in a panic being convicted and branded (instead of hanged).