Who was Crispus Attucks?
Attucks’ occupation made him particularly vulnerable to the
presence of the British. As a seaman, he felt the ever-present danger of
impressment into the British navy. As a laborer, he felt the competition from
British troops, who often took part-time jobs during their off-duty hours and
worked for lower wages. Historians definitely place Attucks in Boston in March
of 1770. Assuming that the Boston Gazette advertisement did refer to him, he
would have been about 47-years old.
A fight between
Boston rope makers and three British soldiers on Friday, March 2, 1770 set the
stage for a later confrontation. After dusk on Monday, March 5, 1770, a crowd
of colonists confronted a sentry who had struck a boy for complaining that an
officer was late in paying a barber bill. As anger escalated, a church bell
rang, which drew people out of their homes. The British soldiers of the 29th
Regiment of Foot were called to duty. In turn, townspeople responded by hurling
snowballs and debris at the soldiers. A group of men led by Attucks approached
the vicinity of the government building with clubs in hand. Violence soon
erupted, and a soldier was struck with a thrown piece of wood. Some accounts
named Attucks as the person responsible. Other witnesses stated that Attucks
was “leaning upon a stick” when the soldiers opened fire.
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