Crispus Attucks

The First to Fall for American Freedom

Crispus Attucks, born around 1723 to an African father and a Native American mother of the Natick tribe, wasn’t exactly destined for the powdered-wig crowd. He worked the docks, sailed the seas, and—years before the Revolution—made his own daring break for freedom by escaping slavery. Tough, independent, and not easily intimidated, he had the kind of presence that made people pay attention… which, on one fateful March night in 1770, would put him squarely in the pages of history.

Boston at the time was a city with the patience of a cat in a bathtub. British soldiers patrolled the streets, enforcing unpopular taxes and getting under everyone’s skin. On March 5th, a crowd gathered outside the Customs House, snowballs flew (some conveniently upgraded with rocks), and tensions snapped. Attucks was at the front—whether leading the charge, defending his spot, or just trying to get a better look is anyone’s guess. The British, apparently allergic to conflict resolution, opened fire. Attucks took the first shot, making him the first casualty of what would be called the Boston Massacre—and arguably the Revolution’s opening act.

His death became a rallying cry for liberty, a reminder that the fight for freedom was bigger than speeches and signatures. Attucks didn’t plan to be a martyr that night, but history doesn’t always give you the courtesy of penciling it into your calendar. What’s certain is that he lived free, stood firm, and—whether by fate or bad timing—became the man whose sacrifice lit the first spark toward American independence.

“It is something to be the first to fall in the struggle of a people for liberty.”

—Frederick Douglass, honoring Crispus Attucks as the first American to die for the Revolution