Crispus Attucks

Definition

Crispus Attucks was an African American man who is considered the first casualty of the American Revolution. He was killed during the Boston Massacre, a key event that heightened tensions between the American colonies and Great Britain in the years leading up to the Revolutionary War.

5 Must Know Facts For Your Next Test

1. Crispus Attucks was of mixed African and Native American descent, and was working as a sailor and dock worker in Boston at the time of the Boston Massacre.
2. Attucks was one of the first people to confront the British soldiers during the Boston Massacre, and was the first to be killed in the incident.
3. Attucks' death helped galvanize colonial opposition to British rule and was a significant catalyst for the American Revolution.
4. The Boston Massacre was a key event that led to increased colonial protests against the Townshend Acts and other British policies.
5. Crispus Attucks has been celebrated as an early martyr of the American Revolution and a symbol of the fight for colonial independence.

Review Questions

• Describe Crispus Attucks' role in the events leading up to the American Revolution.
  • Crispus Attucks was a mixed-race colonial American who worked as a sailor and dock worker in Boston. He was one of the first people to confront British soldiers during the Boston Massacre in 1770, and was the first casualty of the incident. Attucks' death helped galvanize colonial opposition to British rule and was a significant catalyst for the growing resistance and protests that ultimately led to the American Revolution.
• Explain how the Boston Massacre and Crispus Attucks' death were connected to the Townshend Acts and colonial protest.
  • The Boston Massacre was a key event that heightened tensions between the American colonies and Great Britain in the years leading up to the Revolutionary War. It was a confrontation between British soldiers and a crowd of American colonists that resulted in the deaths of five civilians, including Crispus Attucks. The Boston Massacre was a direct response to the Townshend Acts, a series of laws passed by the British Parliament in 1767 that imposed duties on imported goods and angered the American colonists. Attucks' death and the Boston Massacre helped fuel increased colonial protest and resistance against British policies, ultimately contributing to the outbreak of the American Revolution.
• Analyze the significance of Crispus Attucks as a symbol of the American Revolution and the fight for colonial independence.
  • Crispus Attucks has been celebrated as an early martyr of the American Revolution and a powerful symbol of the fight for colonial independence from Great Britain. As the first person killed during the Boston Massacre, a pivotal event that galvanized colonial opposition to British rule, Attucks' death helped catalyze the growing resistance and protests that ultimately led to the Revolutionary War. Attucks, a man of mixed African and Native American descent, also represented the diverse makeup of the American colonies and the shared struggle for freedom and self-determination. His legacy has endured as a representation of the sacrifices made by colonists in pursuit of independence, and he has been memorialized as an iconic figure in the history of the American Revolution.

Related terms

Boston Massacre: The Boston Massacre was a confrontation on March 5, 1770 between British soldiers and a crowd of American colonists, resulting in the deaths of five civilians.

Colonial Protest: Colonial protest refers to the various forms of resistance and opposition expressed by American colonists against the policies and actions of the British government in the years leading up to the Revolutionary War.

Townshend Acts: The Townshend Acts were a series of laws passed by the British Parliament in 1767 that imposed duties on imported goods like glass, paint, lead, paper, and tea, angering the American colonists.