First martyr of liberty : Crispus Attucks in American memory /
"First Martyr of Liberty explores how Crispus Attucks's death in the 1770 Boston Massacre led to his achieving mythic significance in African Americans' struggle to incorporate their experiences and heroes into the mainstream of the American historical narrative. While the other victi...
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| Format: | eBook |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
New York, NY :
Oxford University Press,
[2017]
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| Online Access: | Connect to the full text of this electronic book |
| Summary: | "First Martyr of Liberty explores how Crispus Attucks's death in the 1770 Boston Massacre led to his achieving mythic significance in African Americans' struggle to incorporate their experiences and heroes into the mainstream of the American historical narrative. While the other victims of the Massacre have been largely ignored, Attucks is widely celebrated as the first to die in the cause of freedom during the era of the American Revolution. He became a symbolic embodiment of black patriotism and citizenship. This book traces Attucks's career through both history and myth to understand how his public memory has been constructed through commemorations and monuments; institutions and organizations bearing his name; juvenile biographies; works of poetry, drama, and visual arts; popular and academic histories; and school textbooks. There will likely never be a definitive biography of Crispus Attucks since so little evidence exists about the man's actual life. While what can and cannot be known about Attucks is addressed here, the focus is on how he has been remembered--variously as either a hero or a villain--and why at times he has been forgotten by different groups and individuals from the eighteenth century to the present day." -- |
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| Physical Description: | 1 online resource (xi, 308 pages) : illustrations, maps |
| Bibliography: | Includes bibliographical references (pages 239-292) and index. |
| ISBN: | 9780199875726 0199875723 9780190693510 0190693517 |