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Secondary sourceBook1855

The Colored Patriots of the American Revolution

William Cooper Nell · 1855

An 1855 history by William Cooper Nell that presents Crispus Attucks as a Black patriot hero, with an introduction by Harriet Beecher Stowe.

This book made Crispus Attucks into a celebrated symbol of Black patriotism, placing him first among its subjects.

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Front cover of a dark brown cloth-bound book with faded embossed decorative scrollwork and an oval ornamental frame in the center. No title text is visible in the image.
William Cooper Nell, The Colored Patriots of the American Revolution, 1855.

About this source

What it is

This 396-page book, written by African American author and activist William Cooper Nell and published in 1855, documents the contributions of Black soldiers and citizens in the American Revolution and War of 1812. It includes an introduction by Harriet Beecher Stowe, author of Uncle Tom's Cabin.

Why it matters

The book's first chapter highlights Crispus Attucks as the first casualty of the Revolution. Nell wrote it to counter claims that Black Americans lacked courage and to preserve their role in the nation's founding story, using it as part of the abolitionist movement. Stowe's introduction argued that bravery and virtue belong to all races.

Look closer

  • Why might Nell have chosen to open the book with Attucks's story?
  • How does Stowe's introduction try to change readers' attitudes about race?
  • What does the book's publication in 1855, before the Civil War, suggest about why this history needed telling?

This book 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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