In the year of seventeen seventy, it happened in Boston town.
The British opened fire and a black man was shot down.
Crispus Attucks was his name. They laid him in his grave.
He was the first to die for freedom though his people still were slaves.
He was the first to die for freedom, he was the first to die for freedom,
The first to die for freedom, though his people still were slaves.
Some said he was a sailing man. some said he'd run away,
But he loved the taste of the salty wind, the feel of the ocean spray;
And he loved the taste of freedom, and he led that crowd,
And he died the way he lived his life, a free man black and proud.
He was the first to die for freedom, he was the first to die for freedom,
The first to die for freedom, though his people still were slaves.
Many came on sailing ships to these British colonies,
And they came to build a freer life across the stormy seas;
But freedom was most precious to those who came in chains,
So let's not say our brother Crispus Attucks died in vain.
He was the first to die for freedom, he was the first to die for freedom,
The first to die for freedom, though his people still were slaves.
The British opened fire and a black man was shot down.
Crispus Attucks was his name. They laid him in his grave.
He was the first to die for freedom though his people still were slaves.
He was the first to die for freedom, he was the first to die for freedom,
The first to die for freedom, though his people still were slaves.
Some said he was a sailing man. some said he'd run away,
But he loved the taste of the salty wind, the feel of the ocean spray;
And he loved the taste of freedom, and he led that crowd,
And he died the way he lived his life, a free man black and proud.
He was the first to die for freedom, he was the first to die for freedom,
The first to die for freedom, though his people still were slaves.
Many came on sailing ships to these British colonies,
And they came to build a freer life across the stormy seas;
But freedom was most precious to those who came in chains,
So let's not say our brother Crispus Attucks died in vain.
He was the first to die for freedom, he was the first to die for freedom,
The first to die for freedom, though his people still were slaves.
Contributed by Alessandro - 2009/9/26 - 07:01
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Album "Steppin' Out"
Lyrics by Mike Glick
Il 5 marzo 1770 a Boston le truppe britanniche spararono sulla folla che manifestava contro i "Townshend Acts", i provvedimenti, varati qualche anno prima dal parlamento britannico, con cui si intendeva imporre nuove tasse alle colonie. 5 civili furono colpiti a morte. Il primo a cadere fu tal Crispus Attucks, un marinaio mezzosangue africano e pellerossa.
L'episodio, noto come "Massacro di Boston", diede impulso alla ribellione in varie delle colonie britanniche in America, processo che ebbe il proprio culmine nella rivoluzione americana.
Crispus Attucks divenne un emblema della lotta per la liberazione dal dominio britannico, per l'abolizionismo e per l'eguaglianza razziale.