hat the people met the troops face to face. This lent force
to the rebellious spirit against the Mother Country, which the people of
the United Northern Colonies had felt called upon to manifest in public
meetings and by written resolutions. The soldiers were regarded as
invaders. And while the leading men of Boston were discussing and
deliberating as to what steps should be taken to drive the British
troops out of the town, Crispus Attucks, a negro runaway slave,[1] led a
crowd against the soldiers, with brave words of encouragement. The
soldiers fired upon them, killing the negro leader, Attucks, first, and
then two white men, and mortally wounding two others. A writer says:

"The presence of the British soldiers in King Street,
excited the patriotic indignation of the people. The whole
community was stirred, and sage counsellors were
deliberating and writing and talking about the public
grievances. But it was not for the 'wise and prudent' to be
first to _act_ against the encroachments of arbitrary power.
A motley rabble of saucy boys, negroes and mulattoes, Irish
Jeazues, and outlandish Jack tars, (as John Adams described
them in his plea in defence of the soldiers), could not
restrain their emotion, or stop to enquire if what they
_must_ do was according to the letter of the law. Led by
Crispus Attucks, the mulatto slave, and shouting, 'The way
to get rid of these soldiers is to attack the main guard;
strike at the root; this is the nest;' with more valor than
discretion they rushed to King Street, and were fired upon
by Capt. Preston's company. Crispus Attucks was the first to
fall; he and Samuel Gray and Jonas Caldwell were killed on
the spot. Samuel Maverick and Patrick Carr were mortally
wounded. The excitement which followed was intense. The
bells of the town were rung. An impromptu town-meeting was
held, and an immense assembly was gathered. Three days
after, on the 17th, a public funeral of the martyr took
place. The shops in Boston were closed, and all the bells of
Boston and the neighboring towns were rung. It is said that
a greater number of persons assembled on this occasion, than
ever before gathered on this continent for a similar
purpose. The body of Crispus Attucks, the mulatto, had been
placed in Fanueil Hall with that of Caldwell; both being
strangers in