the redcoats on King Street in Boston. This event would later become known as the Boston Massacre.

What We Know about Crispus Attucks’ Early Life

We don’t know a lot about Attucks. He was born of a Native-American mother, and his father was an African-born slave. It is likely that Attucks ran away from slavery at age 27. A reward for a runaway slave named “Crispas” was published on October 2, 1750 offering a 10 pounds for his return. It read: “Ran-away from his Master William Browne of Framingham, on the 30th of September, last, a Mulatto Fellow, about 27 years of age, named Crispas, six feet, two inches high, short curl’s Hair…”

Spelling standards back in the day were more relaxed, and historians have assumed “Crispus” and “Crispas” were thesame name. Attucks became a sailor for whaling vessels, and records show that he often traveled under the alias “Michael Johnson” in certain ports.

As a sailor, Attucks was under constant threat of conscription into the British military. Most sailors did not like conscription, and some writings we have indicate that Attucks did not either. Nor did he enjoy the company of British soldiers. The Friday before the massacre, Attucks and his companions chased a British soldier out of a tavern, and got in a scuffle with three other British soldiers as a result.

What Led to the Boston Massacre

Until the massacre, the British controlled the trade vessels of the American colonies through the Navigation Acts. They also taxed the colonies without representation, and the colonists did not like this.