by Ted Sherman

Created on: August 24, 2009

The role of Crispus Attucks in the American Revolution was as an icon, a martyr who actually didn't survive to fight in the war. He died five years before the Revolution actually began. He was shot down by British soldiers on March 5, 1770, just outside the Customs House on the Boston Common during a confrontation between townspeople and the troops.

The soldiers faced an unruly mob of 30 local men confronting them, at first making fun of the red uniforms. Ordered to disperse, the men's taunts grew louder. A volley of fire from the soldiers' muskets killed five of the mob, including the former slave named Crispus Attucks.

This event forever distinguished him as the first patriot to die in the American Revolution, and the moment would thereafter be called the Boston Massacre. His death became the symbol of revolt, and American advocates of freedom from England's rule used his alleged defiance and sacrifice for the next five years to convince and rally other colonists to join the cause.

In the nearly 240 years since the Boston Massacre, the martyred half-African, half-Native American resident of the Massachusetts town of Natick (or maybe Framingham) continues to be hailed as a patriot hero in history books. Paul Revere painted his post-death portrait, statues have been erected of his likeness, and schools, buildings and streets are named for Crispus Attucks.

Who was this 47-year-old man whose moment of fame enshrined him in Revolutionary War era history books alongside George Washington, John Adams, Nathan Hale and Paul Revere? Was he just accidentally in the area seeking work, and got caught up in the mob's rant? Or, as many writers' colorful tales have claimed, was he the fiery leader of a group of American patriots who no longer would tolerate being ordered around by English Redcoats?

The only truly documented part of the story has an odd twist. After the deadly incident, an American attorney was hired to defend the British soldiers in a Boston court. In his defense oratory, he denounced the mob because several, possibly including Crispus Attucks, cursed and threw stones and pieces of wood at the soldiers just before the gunfire. The American defender got the soldiers acquitted by proving their actions were in self defense.

The attorney was vilified and threatened by Bostonians for siding with the hated British authorities. Five years later, that same attorney, John Adams, became one of the most ardent advocates for freedom and signer of the Declaration of Independence. After the war, he served as Vice President under George Washington, and then was the second President of the United States.

Nothing anywhere near as specific is known of Crispus Attucks' life prior to the moment it ended during the bloody confrontation on Boston Common. He may have worked at William Brown's local grist mill, and as a skilled maker of ship's sails and ropes. Some accounts report that Attucks tried to buy his freedom from Brown, and when it was refused, he escaped to serve on sailing vessels out of Nantucket.

Whether he was an accidental or real hero, the death of Crispus Attucks on the Boston Common served as a rallying cry for American colonists to go forward in their efforts to gain freedom from England.

Learn more about this author, Ted Sherman.
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