Attucks the Martyr
Attucks had been shot dead by the British soldiers, but in the memories of the Bostonians he was still very much alive. At the trial of the British soldiers, in the newspaper articles, and in the talk of the town, Attucks was singled out as the shaper of the event. It was John Adams, however, the second President of the United States that was able to immortalize Crispus Attucks by what he said about him at the trial of the British soldiers. Defending the British soldiers, Adams told the court that "Attucks was one of a mob" -- "a motley rabble of saucy boys, negroes and mulattos, Irish teagues and outlandish jack tarrs". But it was the closing statement of Adams that made Attucks larger than life: "He had the hardiness to fall upon them and with one hand took a bayonet, and with the other knocked the man down" (Kaplan and Kaplan, pg.10). Attucks was immortalized as a truely brave man who had the determination and resolve to stand up for what he believed in. Even though he died that cold mid-morning day on March 5, 1770, he will forever be remembered as the 'first to defy and the first to die' five years before the American Revolution began and the first ever African-American war hero.
It is surprising that Attucks, a dark-skinned runaway slave was able to inspire and lead so many in a colony that still practiced slavery and heavily decriminated against blacks. But Crispus Attucks was able to break the mold that most African-Americans were cast into. "It was not long after the 'Massacre' the the people found out that the slain leader was in reality a mulatto who went by the name Crispus Attucks. Surprisingly, the radicals did not care, black, red, or white, a martyr was a martyr. Whatever the deceased might have been in life, however insignificant or vicious, in death Attucks and the other four men became murdered monuments to British oppression" (Zobel, pg.214)
The memory of Attucks has lived on in many ways. Initially he was remembered 'as the first to die' in fighting for America's Independence. In honor of his memory, ceremonies were held that summoned the 'discontened ghosts' of the victims'. The purpose of these ceremonies was to stir revolutionary fever and get the people excited about fighting for their independence (Attucks). The ceremonies may have had their desired effect, for it was only five years after his death when protest finally gave way to violence and the Minutemen took their stands at Lexington and Bunker Hill.
Crispus Attucks was remembered as more than just a war hero. For "his spirit doubtless spurred New England Blacks to openly question the anomaly of human bondage in a nation about to be born and fighting for its independence under the slogan 'Liberty or Death!'" (Kaplan & Kaplan, pg.11). This is evident because in the following years there would be many petitions written by slaves living in the Boston area and other towns addressed to the Gonernor, the House of Representatives, and the General Court. Many slaves wrote numerous letters and petitions declaring that they deserved their Liberty and Freedom. In one of these letters addressed to the Governor, one slave wrote, "We expect great things from men who have made such a noble stand against the designs of their fellow-men to enslave them" (Kaplan & Kaplan, pg.11). Attucks was a symbol that enslaved African-Americans could look up to. Here was a man who was born into slavery, but through his own efforts and determination he was able to take his freedom. He was afraid of nothing, not even the powerful British government and its armed soldiers. Attucks did more than just strike the first blow that triggered the American Revolution, he was an example for millions of enslaved African-Americans that freedom and liberty were possible.
On March 5, 1858, black abolishonists in Boston inaugurated a Crispus Attucks Day. This was a festival held in Faneuil Hall that honored the memory of the slain Crispus Attucks. On that day, a man by the last name of Phillips was talking amongst the crowd when he asked the question, "Who taught the British soldiers that they might be defeated? Who first dared to look into his eyes? Those five men! The fifth of March was the baptism of blood... I place, therefore, this Crispus Attucks in the foremost rank of men that dared. When we talk of courage, he rises, with his dark face, in the cloths of a laborer, his head uncovered, his arm raised above him defying bayonets... when the proper symbols are placed around the base at the statue of Washington, one corner will be filled by the colored man defying the British muskets" (Kaplan & Kaplan, pg11).
Thirty years later, in 1888, the Crispus Attucks Monument was erected in the Boston Common which commemorated Attucks for his role in the 'Boston Massacre'. The project was promoted by fifty prominent citizens, and headed by black and white abolitionists. However, there were many in opposition to the Monument including some members of the Massachusetts Historical Society who chose to remember Attucks in the manner that Adams described him in court (Kaplan, pg.11). Despite their ojections, the Monument was erected and still stands today is a tribute to Crispus Attucks and the other four men that died during the 'Boston Massacre,' fighting for America's Liberty.
Crispus Attucks Monument
Crispus Attucks' memory is still with us today as the 'first to defy and the first to die'. He is a true hero not just for African-Americans, but for all Americans. On that cold mid-morning of March 5, 1770 Attucks died as a true martyr who stood up for his dreams of Liberty and Freedom.
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