- Crispus Attucks was born circa 1723.
- His father, Prince, was from Africa and brought as a slave to America.
- His mother, Nancy, was a slave of Indian descent.
- Attucks was raised as a slave in Colonel Buckminster farm.
- He was sold to Deacon William Brown when he was 16 years old.
- He was 6 feet 2 inches tall.
- Crispus escaped slavery on September 30, 1750 when he was about 27 years old.
- Deacon William Brown published a first notice in The Boston Gazette and Country Journal on Tuesday, October 2, 1750 offering a reward of £10 for his return.
- A second and a third notice dated November 13 and November 20, 1750 appeared in the Boston Gazette and Country Journal also offering a detailed description of Attucks and a reward for his return.
- As a ran-away slave he used the alias Michael Johnson.
- He worked in a whaler for about 10 years.
- He worked as a sea merchant for the next 10 years and as a rope maker between sailings.
- Citizens were angry at the soldiers’ occupation of Boston and altercations were common occurrence leading up to the Boston Massacre.
- On the night of March 5, 1770 Crispus led a group of sailors, who either stood up for what they believed or were just troublemakers.
- The Boston Massacre was the killing of five civilians on the night of March 5, 1770.
- Crispus Attucks was the first one shot by two bullets on the chest by Hugh Montgomery.
- The other victims of the massacre were Samuel Gray, Samuel Maverick, James Caldwell and Patrick Carr.
- John Adams led the prosecution team convincing the jury that they were provoked by the public.
- John Adams became the second president of the United States from 1797 to 1801.
- The jury acquitted six of the soldiers on all charges; William Wemms, William M’Cauley, Hugh White, William Warren, John Carrol and James Hartegan were found not guilty. Hugh Montgomery and Matthew Killroy were found not guilty of murder but guilty of manslaughter.
- British soldiers retreated to Castle Williams.
- Samuel Adams and the Sons of Liberty used the event as propaganda to gain the minds of the citizenry.
- Abolitionists in 1858 declared a “Crispus Attucks Day”.
- In 1888 a monument to the victims of the Boston Massacre was erected in Boston Common. The monument was opposed by some members of the Massachusetts Historical Society and many city officials arguing about its appropriateness, historical distortion and political opportunism.
- In 1998 the US government issued a silver dollar to honor of the black Revolutionary War patriots and the 275th anniversary of the birth of the first black Revolutionary War patriot, Crispus Attucks.
- There were some 5,000 black patriots who fought for freedom.
- Many schools, parks, playgrounds, community centers and museums have adopted the name of Crispus Attucks.