Crispus Attucks is remebered as America's first African-American war hero. However, Attucks was in reality a mulatto having a father of African decent and a mother of Indian decent. Attucks lived with his family who was owned by their master, Coloniel Buckminster until the age of sixteen. Because he was a slave, Attucks never went to school or recieved an education. He was luckier than most slaves, though, because his master treated him and his family with kindness and respect (Robin).

At the age of sixteen Attucks became difficult for his master to control as he frequently wandered off from his duties and rarely payed attention to the tasks at hand. His master had no choice but to sell him to Deacon William Brown, also of Framingham, Massachusetts. Under Brown's direction Attucks' new duties included buying and selling cattle, working in a chandler shop, and traveling widely to look for business. He continued to work for Brown for the next eleven years of his life. At the age of twenty-seven Crispus Attucks traveled to Boston, Massachusetts on business. Unknowing to his master he secretly applies for a job on a whaling ship (Robin). Despite the fact that "all masters of vessels, are hereby cautioned against concealing or carrying off any said servant on penalty of law" Attucks was still able to find a boat that would take him (Attucks). In response to the disappearance of his slave, Deacon Brown made an add in the Boston Gazette which read:

"Ran away from his master William Brown of Framingham, on the 30th of Sept. last, a Mulatto Fellow, about 27 Years of Age, named Crispus Attucks, 6 feet 2 inches high, short curl'd hair, his knees nearer together than common; had on a light colour'd Bear Skin Coat..."(Boston Gazette, October 2, 1750)

Attucks was never found by his master and so was able to retain his freedom. Over the next twenty years he became a sailor working on a whaling ship that sailed in and out of Boston Harbor. He was also able to make a living working as a rope maker in Boston while not on the seas (Attucks). The next time Crispus Attucks appears in history is March 5, 1770 when he is shot dead in what came to be known as the 'Boston Massacre'.

In looking at what might have compelled Attucks to lead the uprising against the British soldiers, we see that he had several reasons to dislike the British. His professions as a sailor and a rope maker made him particularly vulnerable to the British presence. "As a seaman he felt the ever-present danger of imprisonment into the British navy. As a laborer, he felt the competition from British troops, who often took part-time jobs during their off-duty hours and worked for lower wages". In fact, a fight between the Boston rope makers on Friday, March 2, 1770 may well have set the stage for a later confrontation three days later that woule be remembered as the 'Boston Massacre' (Attucks).

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