March 5

Crispus Attucks

The first American to die in the American Revolutionary War, Crispus Attucks was killed on March 5, 1770 during the Boston Massacre in Boston, Massachusetts.

On a Friday night in Boston, Attucks stood in front of a group challenging British domination and was the first of five to die when British soldiers opened fire on the Americans.  It is believed that Attucks had escaped slavery a couple of decades earlier and worked as a seaman.   Attucks whose father was of African descent and mother was Native American from the Wampanoag Tribe is not only one of the most important persons in African American history, but American history.  The death of a man who truly knew what it meant not to be free became an integral part of the beginning of freedom for America.