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Primary sourceNewspaper article12 March 1770

The Boston Gazette, and Country Journal, March 12, 1770

12 March 1770

A contemporary Boston newspaper reporting on the funerals of the Boston Massacre victims, naming Crispus Attucks among those killed.

This 1770 newspaper names Attucks among the victims carried to their graves after the Boston Massacre.

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Full front page of the Boston Gazette, and Country Journal dated March 12, 1770, printed in dense columns of black text with advertisements and notices. Near the top center, a column describes the funerals of the victims of the Boston Massacre, illustrated by four coffin drawings with skull and crossbones emblems.
The Boston Gazette, and Country Journal, March 12, 1770. Library of Congress.

About this source

What it is

This is the front page of the Boston Gazette, and Country Journal, dated Monday, March 12, 1770, held by the Library of Congress. It is printed in dense columns of text and includes a report on the funerals of the massacre victims, illustrated with coffin drawings marked with skulls and crossbones.

Why it matters

This newspaper is a primary source written just days after the Boston Massacre. It names Samuel Gray, Samuel Maverick, James Caldwell, and Crispus Attucks as the victims carried to their graves, showing how the event and the deaths, including Attucks's, were reported to the public at the time and stirred public anger against British troops.

Look closer

  • Why do you think the newspaper used coffin illustrations with skulls and crossbones?
  • How does this report try to shape readers' feelings about the British soldiers and the event?
  • What does the newspaper's language suggest about tensions in Boston at the time?

This newspaper article is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Crispus Attucks on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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Hand-colored engraving of the Boston Massacre on King Street: British soldiers in red coats fire volleys through smoke at a crowd of colonists, with people wounded and dead on the ground, a church steeple and Butcher's Hall in the background, and a verse and caption printed below.Painting

Primary source

The Bloody Massacre Perpetrated in King Street

Paul Revere · 1770

Scanned page of the Boston Gazette, March 12, 1770, reporting the funeral of Boston Massacre victims. Four coffin illustrations labeled SG, SM, JC, and CA, each with a skull and crossbones, appear beneath the printed text.Newspaper article

Primary source

Boston Gazette Report on the Boston Massacre Funeral

12 March 1770

A mostly black scanned cover of a book with a white Library of Congress label at bottom left showing a barcode and number 00005705010, and red stamp; top left reads E 215 .4 .B75 in white call number text.Book

Primary source

A Short Narrative of the Horrid Massacre in Boston

James Bowdoin, Samuel Pemberton, Joseph Warren · 1770

Scan of a newspaper column of text with four coffin illustrations in a row, each with initials (SG, SM, JC, CA), a skull and crossbones, and a skull over crossed bones. The coffins are dark with white outlines. Text above and below describes the funerals of victims of the Boston Massacre.Painting

Primary source

Four Coffins of Men Killed in the Boston Massacre

Paul Revere · 12 March 1770

Photograph of a dark gray slate headstone with a rounded top edged with small stones, in a shaded graveyard with grass and other gravestones behind it. The inscription lists the remains of Samuel Gray, Samuel Maverick, James Caldwell, Crispus Attucks and Patrick Carr, victims of the Boston Massacre, March 5th 1770, interred by order of the Town of Boston. It also notes Christopher Snider, aged 12, killed February 22nd 1770, and carries partly worn lines about independence and a 1876 date.Photograph

Secondary source

Boston Massacre Victims Grave

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