It should also be noted that some people feel that Crispus Attucks was not a leader in this attack, or even a participant. There are those who feel that he was simply collateral damage: a bystander who happened to get killed. Two of the British soldiers would later be found guilty of manslaughter and were branded on their thumbs.
In defending the British soldiers on the premise of self-defense, John Adams called the crowd:
"a motley rabble of saucy boys, negros and molattoes, Irish teagues and outlandish jack tarrs."
Two years after the event, Samuel Adams, a cousin of John Adams, dubbed it the Boston Massacre and Boston artist Henry Pelham created an image of the event showing a dark skinned man (Crispus Attucks) with chest wounds.
This image was copied and distributed by Paul Revere.
Learn more: http://www.nativeamericannetroots.net/diary/794/american-indian-biography-crispus-attucks-revolutionary-war-leader
