Charlotte Taylor - Crispus Attucks: A Hero of the American Revolution

Crispus Attucks was born a slave in 1723. He and his family lived on a large farm in Framingham, Massachusetts. His father, Prince, had been captured in Africa. He was brought to the colonies on a ship and sold as a slave. Nancy, Crispuss mother, was a member of the Natick Indian tribe. Crispus also had an older sister, Phebe. The family worked for their master, Colonel Buckminster.

By the time he was a teenager, Crispus wanted to be free. He did not like the idea of being owned. Crispus dreamed of becoming a Buckminster had no ships. Later, Crispus was sold to a new master named William Brown. He moved to Boston near the shipping docks.

Naught but a slave was Attucks, And yet how grand a hero, too.

-Olivia Bush, Crispus Attucks

A New Life

William Brown taught Crispus the cattle business. He bought and sold cattle for his master. Crispus became very good at his new trade. But his dreams of becoming a free man had not died. Crispus did not like that black people were forced into slavery. He wanted to be free and become a sailor.

The Boston Harbor was full of ships. Crispus watched them coming and going. Soon he was able to spot a stray ship. It was a whaling ship. One night William Brown was away. Crispus slipped away to talk to the captain. The captain liked that Crispus was a big, strong man. The captain hired him that night.

Crispus went below deck to hide. He worried that he might be captured before the ship left port. The ship sailed out to sea the next morning. Crispuss dreams were coming true.

Soon William Brown discovered that Crispus had run away. On October 2, 1750, Brown placed an announcement in a newspaper called the Boston Gazette. It stated that Crispus Attucks was a runaway slave. From then on, Crispus always had to be careful. If he was caught, he would lose his newfound freedom.

Life at Sea

For the next twenty years, Crispus worked on ships at sea. He learned to hunt and catch whales. Work on whaling ships was dangerous. Crispus learned to throw a harpoon . In those days, whales were worth a lot of money. Whale blubber, or fat, was turned into oil for burning in lamps.

For our freedom now and forever, his head was the first bid low.

John Boyle OReilly, Crispus Attucks

Whaling captains valued Crispuss hard work and courage . He missed his family, though. He was at sea most of the year. Sometimes the ship returned to Boston. At these times, Crispus secretly visited his family. Luckily, he was never caught.

The American colonies were ruled by Great Britain. By the 1760s, many colonists wanted independence . They wanted to be able to make their own laws. Th did not want to pay taxes to the king in England. As the years went on, their need for freedom grew stronger.

King George of England did not like the idea of American independence. In 1769 he sent about a thousand British soldiers to Boston. He hoped the troops would calm the colonists. Instead of the soldiers made the colonists more upset. Life was uneasy between the British and the colonists.

Crispus continued to work on whalers. He often heard about the trouble in the colonies. He understood their strong need for independence. He had been working and hiding for his own freedom. Crispus wanted to help the colonists. But he feared being captured and returned to slavery.

Call it riot or revolution, his hand first clenched at the crown; His feet were the first in perilous place to pull the kings flag down.

-John Boyle OReilly, Crispus Attucks

In the early months of 1770, there were some small fights between the colonists and the British soldiers. But on the evening of March 5, 1770, the trouble grew. A colonist had done some work for a British soldier that night. The soldier refused to pay him. Quickly, news spread through Boston of this injustice .

Colonists gathered in the streets. They yelled and threw snowballs and rocks at the British soldiers. The soldiers fought back. The soldiers hit colonists with sticks and the tips of their muskets . Crispus was in Boston that night. He bravely joined his fellow colonists.