Ideals and Realities
Crispus Attucks is known to be the only African American shot in the Boston Massacre.
What is the reality?
Crispus Attucks was indeed the sole African American killed in the incident. He was in a crowd of people heckling British soldiers on March 5, 1770, in Boston. They called the British soldiers “lobsterbacks” because of their red uniforms. The hecklers also threw snowballs, and at some point someone among the soldiers shouted “Fire!” Five civilians, including Attucks, were killed. Attucks is remembered today as a martyr to the American Revolution. In the 19th century, he was a hero of the abolitionist movement to end slavery.