By the creation of this web site, I hope to show that Crispus Attucks was a very important
figure in American history. Not only was he the first casualty of the American Revolution in what
came to be known as the 'Boston Massacre,' but he was black. By telling the struggle of his life
as a slave, a runaway slave, a patriot, and then a martyr we can gain some appreciation
of the impact that African-Americans were able to make in the creation of this country.
By creating this site I also hope to show that Crispus Attucks was able to nourish the
'tree of liberty' in two ways. The first was his impact on the American Revolution,
for it was only five years after his death that protest gave way to violence. With the memory of Crispus
Attucks still fresh in their heads as the 'first to die' the Minutmen took there stand at
Lexington and Bunker Hill. The memory of Attucks has also left behind a legacy that has undoubtedly
spurred New England blacks to 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).