 Crispus
Attucks
Attucks, Crispus (1723?-1770), American patriot
and the first martyr of the American Revolution.
Information on the birth and early childhood of Crispus Attucks
is inconclusive, but historians believe that he was part African
and part Native American and was once the slave of William Brown
of Framingham, Massachusetts. In November 1750, Attucks escaped.
For the next 20 years, he worked on whaling ships docked in ports
throughout New England.
His fame is attributable largely to a single fateful day in
Boston, March 5, 1770, when anticolonial patriot Samuel Adams
urged dockworkers and seamen in Boston to protest the presence
of British troops guarding the customs commissioners. Attucks
was among an estimated 50 men who gathered that night to confront
the British, and is alleged to have rallied his comrades by declaring,
"Don't be afraid" as he led the ranks. When British
soldiers fired on the protesters, Attucks was the first of five
men killed in what became known as the Boston Massacre.
The colonial protesters carried Attucks's body to Faneuil Hall
in downtown Boston, where it rested for three days before he and
the other four victims were given a public funeral attended by
an estimated 10,000 people. At an ensuing trial, Attucks was blamed
by the defense for inciting the riot, and the British troops who
fired into the crowd were acquitted. Nonetheless, American patriots
hailed Attucks's heroism in the skirmish, and perceived it as
the incident that sparked the American Revolution.
For more than a century, March 5 was celebrated as Crispus Attucks
Day by blacks living in Boston. A monument commemorating the historic
night and honoring Attucks and the other four martyrs was erected
in Boston Common in 1888. Attucks's symbolic importance is exemplified
by the many schools and institutions throughout the country that
bear his name. African American leaders throughout the century
have unsuccessfully lobbied the government to create a national
holiday on March 5.
Contributed By:
Alonford James Robinson
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