Why was crispus attucks important to history

When a contingent of British redcoats came to the defense of their fellow soldier, more angry Bostonians joined the fracas, throwing snowballs and other items at the troops. Attucks was one of those at the front of the fight amid dozens of people, and when the British opened fire he was the first of five men killed.

His murder made him the first casualty of the American Revolution. Quickly becoming known as the Boston Massacre, the episode further propelled the colonies toward war with the British. The flames were fanned even more when the eight soldiers involved in the incident and their captain Thomas Preston, who was tried separately from his men, were acquitted on the grounds of self-defense. John Adams , who went on to become the second U. During the trial, Adams labeled the colonists as an unruly mob that forced his clients to open fire.

Adams charged that Attucks helped lead the attack, however, debate has raged over how involved he actually was in the fight. Future Founding Father Samuel Adams claimed Attucks was simply "leaning on a stick" when the gunshots erupted.

Attucks became a martyr. His body was transported to Faneuil Hall, where he and the others killed in the attack were laid in state. City leaders waived segregation laws in the case and permitted Attucks to be buried with the others. In the years since his death, Attucks' legacy has continued to endure, first with the American colonists eager to break from British rule, and later among 19th-century abolitionists and 20th-century civil rights activists.

Martin Luther King Jr. We strive for accuracy and fairness. If you see something that doesn't look right, contact us! Fearing for his life, he called for reinforcements from the nearby garrison for assistance. Captain Thomas Preston and seven soldiers joined the sentry at the Custom House. The crowd only grew larger. As the crowd threw chunks of ice and clubs at the soldiers, one found its mark and knocked a British soldier to the ground.

He stood back up, yelled and fired his musket into the crowd. Immediately all the other British soldiers opened fire in a ragged volley. Five men immediately fell dead, the first among them was Attucks with two musket balls in his chest.

His ire toward the British apparently was intense. Attucks was among the patrons who cursed the soldier and harassed him until he fled the establishment. His brazen defiance took considerable courage, since he had escaped slavery, he faced the risk of being arrested and returned to servitude. Instead, according to trial testimony, Attucks brandished two wood sticks, one of which he gave to a witness named Patrick Keaton.

The jury acquitted the soldiers of murder in the deaths of the five Americans, though two of them—Matthew Kilroy and Hugh Montgomery—were convicted of the lesser crime of manslaughter and branded on their hands as a punishment and then released. Four coffins bearing a skull and crossbones motif decorate the broadside article, published by American engraver Paul Revere. Though some accounts describe him as being killed instantly, he may have lingered for at least a short time after.

In death, Attucks was afforded honors that no person of color—particularly one who had escaped slavery—probably had ever received before in America.

As civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr. Today, schools and public parks are named after Attucks, and his face has appeared on a commemorative silver dollar. But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! Twice a week we compile our most fascinating features and deliver them straight to you. Live TV.