Podcast appearances and mentions of mitch kachun

Is there anything more we can know about well-researched and reported events like the Boston Massacre? Are there new ways of looking at oft-taught events that can help us see new details about them, even 250 years after they happened? Serena Zabin, a Professor of History at Carleton College in Minnesota and the author of the award-winning book, The Boston Massacre: A Family History, joins us to discuss the Boston Massacre and how she found a new lens through which to view this famous event that reveals new details and insights. Show Notes: https://www.benfranklinsworld.com/296 Join Ben Franklin's World! Subscribe and help us bring history right to your ears! Sponsor Links Omohundro Institute The Ben Franklin's World Shop Seizing Freedom podcast Complementary Episodes Episode 159: Serena Zabin, The Revolutionary Economy Episode 228: Eric Hinderaker, The Boston Massacre Episode 229: Patrick Griffin, The Townshend Moment Episode 230: Mitch Kachun, The First Martyr of Liberty Episode 294: Mary Beth Norton, 1774: The Long Year of Revolution Listen! Apple Podcasts Spotify Google Podcasts Amazon Music Ben Franklin's World iOS App Ben Franklin's World Android App Helpful Links Join the Ben Franklin's World Facebook Group Ben Franklin’s World Twitter: @BFWorldPodcast Ben Franklin's World Facebook Page Sign-up for the Franklin Gazette Newsletter  

This week at In The Past Lane, the American History podcast, we take a look at the Boston Massacre on its 250th anniversary. In particular, we learn about the stories of two of the five men killed in that famous clash, and why we know their names today.   And we also take a look at some key events that occurred this week in US history, like the 1807 law that ended the US participation in the African slave trade, the controversial election of 1876, and the Bloody Sunday clash that occurred in Selma, Alabama 55 years ago. And birthdays, including March 2, 1904 Theodor Geisel, a.k.a. Dr. Seuss March 3, 1847 inventor Alexander Graham Bell March 4, 1888 football legend Knute Rockne Feature Story: The Boston Massacre at 250 On March 5, 1770 – 250 years ago this week - British troops stationed in Boston found themselves face to face with a jeering crowd of men. The soldiers had been sent to rescue one of their number who had been cornered by the crowd near the Customs House. Bostonians hurled epithets, as well as snow and ice, at the soldiers, but there was little about the incident to suggest that blood would soon flow.  That changed when one of the soldiers fired his musket – likely by mistake.  Immediately his fellow soldiers, thinking an order to fire had been given, opened fire on the crowd, killing five and wounding six more. The Boston Massacre, as the incident became known, did not come out of nowhere. Tensions had been rising steadily in colonial cities like Boston at least as far back as 1765, the year the British government imposed the Stamp Act to compel the colonies to pay some of the costs of their defense by the British military during the recently concluded French and Indian War. The colonists, having grown accustomed to little British interference in their affairs for most of the eighteenth century, protested the act and the many more that followed. Although the Stamp Act was repealed in 1766, Parliament followed it with the Townsend Acts of 1768 which also imposed taxes and fees.  This act likewise touched off protests and acts of vandalism in Boston. It also led to a boycott of British goods that was organized by the Sons of Liberty. In response to these disturbances, the British government sent 2,000 troops to Boston to maintain order.  For a city of just 16,000 residents, 2,000 soldiers represented a major show of force and intimidation by Parliament. Not surprisingly, Bostonians treated the soldiers with scorn from the very start. Minor altercations on the streets between citizens – usually young tradesmen and dock workers – and soldiers occurred frequently. By early 1770, tensions were running high. In early March several brawls broke out between workers and soldiers, fueling rumors of an impending crackdown by the soldiers on Sons of Liberty activity and a plan to cut down the Liberty Tree in South Boston. This was the essential background to what led to the events of March 5, 1770. The “Boston Massacre,” as the more zealous patriots termed this clash, enraged colonists from New Hampshire to Georgia. This fury was stoked by skilled propagandists who quickly wrote and distributed a pamphlet titled, “A Short Narrative of the Horrid Massacre.” As the title indicates, they framed the incident not as one marked by confusion and miscommunication, but rather one where the British soldiers acted with malice and intentionally murdered the five victims. Paul Revere then added the final touch – an engraving that purported to show what happened on the night of March 5, 1770. It shows a crowd of well-dressed and well-behaved Bostonians on the left being shot – as if by firing squad – by a tightly organized line of British soldiers on the right. Both the pamphlet and image circulated widely throughout the thirteen colonies. In Boston, officials moved quickly to prosecute the soldiers.  The commander of the British soldiers, Captain Thomas Preston, and eight of his men were arrested and charged with murder. Samuel Adams, a leading figure in the Sons of Liberty movement, led the prosecution.  His cousin John Adams defended the soldiers – not because he sympathized with British rule, but rather because he believed the defendants deserved a fair trial. Despite raging public hostility toward the defendants, John Adams succeeded in demonstrating that all the conflicting eye-witness testimony meant that the defendants could not be found guilty. Preston and six soldiers were declared not guilty, while two others were convicted of manslaughter but were soon released.  And soon, despite all the fury and angry talk against “British oppression,” the city of Boston returned to calm, as did the rest of colonial America. The five victims were buried in the Granery cemetery and then kind of forgotten. And here’s where things got interesting. Many decades later – long after the American Revolution - two of the men became famous. Alright, one of them became famous and the other somewhat better known. Let’s start with the case of the better known man, Crispus Attucks. Surely you’ve heard of him. He’s the African American man who was the first to die the night of the Boston Massacre. Little is known about Attucks’ life, except that he likely was a slave who had either earned his freedom or simply run off from his owner. In any case, he was living as a free man in Boston when things between locals and British soldiers got sticky. We know his name today because his story highlighted the contradiction at the heart of the American founding: a nation that professed to be dedicated to liberty was also the world’s largest slaveholding society.  How ironic, many a historian and commentator has noted, that the first blood shed in the cause of liberty was that of a man born into slavery and whose enslaved brothers and sisters represented fully 20% of the American population. But here’s the thing: this observation about the significance of Crispus Attuck’s death did not emerge until the 1840s and 1850s – 70 to 80 years later – when African American abolitionists began to celebrate Attucks as an original American patriot as a way to bolster their demand for an end to slavery and the inclusion of blacks as full citizens of the republic. And from that point forward, through the Civil War and Reconstruction, the return of white supremacy under Jim Crow, and then into the 20th century, the legend of Crispus Attucks continued to grow, as African Americans pushed for civil rights and full membership in American life. If you want the full story about the life and legend of Crispus Attucks, check out ITPL Episode 079 where I speak with historian Mitch Kachun about his book on the topic. The less-well known victim of the Boston Massacre was Patrick Carr. He was born in Ireland and later emigrated to the colonies where he took up the trade of leather work. The reason we know about Patrick Carr is that he was Irish. His name and story remained forgotten until the late-19th century when Irish Americans began digging into the historical record looking for colonial and Revolutionary heroes. Irish immigrants, of course, did not face anything like the oppression experienced by African Americans. Nonetheless, when they began to arrive in massive numbers in the 1840s and 1850s, they were confronted by seething anti-Irish and anti-Catholic nativism. The whole Know Nothing movement of this period was aimed at stopping the influx of Irish immigrants and making life very hard for those already here. The Irish were denounced for bringing crime, poverty, disease, election fraud, and godless popery to America. After a few decades, as an Irish American middle class emerged, the Irish began to enjoy rising levels of income, education, and political power. But the one thing they lacked was respectability. Thus began the quest to find Irish heroes in the American past who would give the Irish a claim on American belonging. Irish American historians discovered that 3 of the men who signed the Declaration of Independence were born in Ireland. They also touted Timothy Murphy as the hero sharpshooter whose helped win the pivotal Battle of Saratoga. They likewise wrote about George Washington’s favorite spy, Hercules Mulligan. And, of course, they celebrated Patrick Carr for his martyrdom at the Boston Massacre. Some writers even went so far as to claim – without any evidence - that as an Irishman and an American, Patrick Carr had TWO reasons for hating British tyranny. These two stories from the Boston Massacre remind us that history has many uses. And one of them is as a tool for group advancement. African Americans and Irish Americans are hardly the only groups in America to seek acceptance by finding representative figures in the American past. German Americans, Jewish Americans, Italian Americans – you name it – have identified and celebrated people and moments in American history that reflect positively on them as early contributors to the American experiment.  ___________ If you live anywhere near Boston, lots of events commemorating the 250th https://revolution250.org/2020-boston-massacre-events/ https://www.masshist.org/features/massacre1770-2020 https://www.bpl.org/blogs/post/250th-anniversary-of-the-boston-massacre-highlights-from-our-collections/ For more information about the In The Past Lane podcast, head to our website, www.InThePastLane.com  Music for This Episode Jay Graham, ITPL Intro (JayGMusic.com) The Joy Drops, “Track 23,” Not Drunk (Free Music Archive) Borrtex, “Perception” (Free Music Archive) John Bartman, "African Bliss" (Free Music Archive) Doc Turtle, "The Talons of Adventure, The Antlers of Romance" (Free Music Archive) Blue Dot Sessions, "Pat Dog" (Free Music Archive) Jon Luc Hefferman, “Winter Trek” (Free Music Archive) The Bell, “I Am History” (Free Music Archive) Production Credits Executive Producer: Lulu Spencer Graphic Designer: Maggie Cellucci Website by: ERI Design Legal services: Tippecanoe and Tyler Too Social Media management: The Pony Express Risk Assessment: Little Big Horn Associates Growth strategies: 54 40 or Fight © In The Past Lane, 2020 Recommended History Podcasts Ben Franklin’s World with Liz Covart @LizCovart The Age of Jackson Podcast @AgeofJacksonPod Backstory podcast – the history behind today’s headlines @BackstoryRadio Past Present podcast with Nicole Hemmer, Neil J. Young, and Natalia Petrzela @PastPresentPod 99 Percent Invisible with Roman Mars @99piorg Slow Burn podcast about Watergate with @leoncrawl The Memory Palace – with Nate DiMeo, story teller extraordinaire @thememorypalace The Conspirators – creepy true crime stories from the American past @Conspiratorcast The History Chicks podcast @Thehistorychix My History Can Beat Up Your Politics @myhist Professor Buzzkill podcast – Prof B takes on myths about the past @buzzkillprof Footnoting History podcast @HistoryFootnote The History Author Show podcast @HistoryDean More Perfect podcast - the history of key US Supreme Court cases @Radiolab Revisionist History with Malcolm Gladwell @Gladwell Radio Diaries with Joe Richman @RadioDiaries DIG history podcast @dig_history The Story Behind – the hidden histories of everyday things @StoryBehindPod Studio 360 with Kurt Andersen – specifically its American Icons series @Studio360show Uncivil podcast – fascinating takes on the legacy of the Civil War in contemporary US @uncivilshow Stuff You Missed in History Class @MissedinHistory The Whiskey Rebellion – two historians discuss topics from today’s news @WhiskeyRebelPod American History Tellers ‏@ahtellers The Way of Improvement Leads Home with historian John Fea @JohnFea1 The Bowery Boys podcast – all things NYC history @BoweryBoys Ridiculous History @RidiculousHSW The Rogue Historian podcast with historian @MKeithHarris The Road To Now podcast @Road_To_Now Retropod with @mikerosenwald © In The Past Lane 2020

It wasn’t always fireworks on the fourth. John Adams predicted Americans would celebrate the Second of July, the day Congress voted in favor of independence, "with Pomp and Parade, with Shews, Games, Sports, Bells, Bonfires and Illuminations from one End of this Continent to the other." He got the date wrong, but he was right about the festivities in commemoration of Independence Day. And yet July Fourth events have changed a great deal since 1776. How do our fireworks displays, barbecues, parades, and sporting events compare to the first and earliest celebrations of independence? How and why do we celebrate the United States and its independence as we do? Three historical experts take us through the early American origins of Fourth of July celebration. Show Notes: https://www.benfranklinsworld.com/245 Sponsor Links Omohundro Institute The Ben Franklin's World Shop Doing History series Emily Sneff, "The Sounds of Independence" blog post Complementary Episodes Episode 018: Danielle Allen, Our Declaration Episode 141: A Declaration in Draft Episode 119: Steve Pincus, The Heart of the Declaration Episode 166: Freedom and the American Revolution Episode 175: Daniel Epstein, The Revolution in Ben Franklin’s House Episode 193: Partisans: The Friendship and Rivalry of Adams & Jefferson Episode 230: Mitch Kachun, First Martyr of Liberty Episode 243: Joseph Adelman, Revolutionary Print Networks Listen! Apple Podcasts Spotify Google Podcasts Ben Franklin's World iOS App Ben Franklin's World Android App Helpful Links Join the Ben Franklin's World Facebook Group Ben Franklin’s World Twitter: @BFWorldPodcast Ben Franklin's World Facebook Page Sign-up for the Franklin Gazette Newsletter

Samuel Gray, James Caldwell, Samuel Maverick, Patrick Carr, and Crispus Attucks. These are the five men who died as a result of the shootings on Boston’s King Street on the night of March 5, 1770. Of these five victims, evidence points to Crispus Attucks falling first, and of all the victims, Crispus Attucks is the name we can recall. Why is that? To help us answer this question and to conclude our 3-episode series on the Boston Massacre, we’re joined by Mitch Kachun, a Professor of History at Western Michigan University and the author of First Martyr of Liberty: Crispus Attucks in American Memory. Show Notes: https://www.benfranklinsworld.com/230   Meet Ups Albany, New York: April 25 at the New York State Cultural Education Center. Meet up at pre-talk reception.  Milwaukee, Wisconsin: April 29, 6pm at Zaffiro’s Pizza  Milwaukee, Wisconsin: April 30, 6pm free public talk at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Golda Meir Library   Sponsor Links Omohundro Institute OI Books (Use Promo Code 01DAH40 to save 40 percent on any title)   Complementary Episodes Episode 157: The Revolution’s African American Soldiers Episode 212: Researching Biography Episode 228: Eric Hinderaker, The Boston Massacre Episode 229: Patrick Griffin, The Townshend Moment   SUBSCRIBE! Apple Podcasts Spotify Google Podcasts Ben Franklin's World iOS App Ben Franklin's World Android App   Helpful Links Join the Ben Franklin's World Community Ben Franklin’s WorldTwitter: @BFWorldPodcast Ben Franklin's World Facebook Page Sign-up for the Franklin Gazette Newsletter *Books purchased through this link will help support the production of Ben Franklin's World.

This week at In The Past Lane, the history podcast, I speak with historian Craig Bruce Smith talks about his new book, American Honor: The Creation of the Nation’s Ideals during the Revolutionary Era. Throughout the era of the American Revolution, Americans spoke of honor all the time, most famously in the Declaration of Independence, the last sentence of which reads, “we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor.” But what did the Founders mean by “honor”? Craig Bruce Smith explains that honor was a crucial concept that shaped the way Americans came to understand their struggle for independence and to establish an enduring republic.  In the course of our discussion, Craig Bruce Smith: What honor meant in 18th century American political culture – and why it was such an important concept in the era of the American Revolution.   How GW and the patriots framed the Am Rev as a struggle to defend the honor of the Americans against a dishonorable attempt by the British to oppress them. And how GW likewise depicted the treason of Benedict Arnold as evidence of the dishonorable nature of the British cause. How women and the enslaved, and not just elites, appealed to honor to gain greater respect and rights. How at the end of the war, Washington defused a potential mutiny of Continental Army officers by invoking their sense of “sacred honor.” How honor in the young republic was gradually transformed from something tied to high birth and status, into something one could earn by honorable conduct. Why honor, in the era of the Revolution, denounced dueling as a thoroughly dishonorable practice – and then how that changed as a very different definition of honor emerged in the early 1800s. Recommended reading:  Craig Bruce Smith, American Honor: The Creation of the Nation’s Ideals during the Revolutionary Era (University of North Carolina Press, 2018) More info about Craig Bruce Smith - website   Follow In The Past Lane on Twitter  @InThePastLane Instagram  @InThePastLane Facebook: InThePastLanePodcast YouTube: InThePastLane   Related ITPL podcast episodes: 014 The Declaration of Independence 023 Stephen Knott on Alexander Hamilton and George W 028 Carol Berkin on the fractious politics of the 1790s and how they led to the formation of an American nationalism 041 Saratoga – tipping point of the Am Rev 065 Andrew O’Shaughnessy on why the British Lost the Revolution 079 Mitch Kachun on the life and legend of Crispus Attucks   Music for This Episode Jay Graham, ITPL Intro (JayGMusic.com) Kevin McCleod, “Impact Moderato” (Free Music Archive) Andy Cohen, “Trophy Endorphins” (Free Music Archive) Philipp Weigl, “Even When We Fall” (Free Music Archive) Jon Luc Hefferman, “Winter Trek” (Free Music Archive) The Bell, “I Am History” (Free Music Archive) Production Credits Executive Producer: Lulu Spencer Technical Advisors: Holly Hunt and Jesse Anderson Podcasting Consultant: Dave Jackson of the School of Podcasting Podcast Editing: Wildstyle Media Photographer: John Buckingham Graphic Designer: Maggie Cellucci Website by: ERI Design Legal services: Tippecanoe and Tyler Too Social Media management: The Pony Express Risk Assessment: Little Big Horn Associates Growth strategies: 54 40 or Fight © In The Past Lane, 2018 Recommended History Podcasts Ben Franklin’s World with Liz Covart @LizCovart The Age of Jackson Podcast @AgeofJacksonPod Backstory podcast – the history behind today’s headlines @BackstoryRadio Past Present podcast with Nicole Hemmer, Neil J. Young, and Natalia Petrzela @PastPresentPod 99 Percent Invisible with Roman Mars @99piorg Slow Burn podcast about Watergate with @leoncrawl The Memory Palace – with Nate DiMeo, story teller extraordinaire @thememorypalace The Conspirators – creepy true crime stories from the American past @Conspiratorcast The History Chicks podcast @Thehistorychix My History Can Beat Up Your Politics @myhist Professor Buzzkill podcast – Prof B takes on myths about the past @buzzkillprof Footnoting History podcast @HistoryFootnote The History Author Show podcast @HistoryDean More Perfect podcast - the history of key US Supreme Court cases @Radiolab Revisionist History with Malcolm Gladwell @Gladwell Radio Diaries with Joe Richman @RadioDiaries DIG history podcast @dig_history  The Story Behind – the hidden histories of everyday things @StoryBehindPod  Studio 360 with Kurt Andersen – specifically its American Icons series @Studio360show Uncivil podcast – fascinating takes on the legacy of the Civil War in contemporary US @uncivilshow Stuff You Missed in History Class @MissedinHistory The Whiskey Rebellion – two historians discuss topics from today’s news @WhiskeyRebelPod American History Tellers ‏@ahtellers The Way of Improvement Leads Home with historian John Fea @JohnFea1 The Bowery Boys podcast – all things NYC history @BoweryBoys Ridiculous History @RidiculousHSW The Rogue Historian podcast with historian @MKeithHarris  The Road To Now podcast @Road_To_Now Retropod with @mikerosenwald    

This week at In The Past Lane, the history podcast, I speak with historian Mitch Kachun about his book, The First Martyr of Liberty: Crispus Attucks in American Memory.  Attucks was the man of African American and Native American heritage who was among the five people killed in the Boston Massacre on March 5, 1770.  To this day, very little is known about Crispus Attucks. So Mitch Kachun’s book focuses, as the subtitle suggests, on the memory of Attucks and how it’s changed and evolved over nearly 250 years of history.     In the course of our discussion, Mitch Kachun explains: Who Crispus Attucks was and what we know about why he was killed in the Boston Massacre.   How for many decades after the Boston Massacre and American Revolution, Crispus Attucks was a forgotten figure in US history. That is, until African American abolitionists in the 1840s and 1850s began to celebrate Attucks as a patriot as a way to bolster their demand for an end to slavery and the inclusion of blacks as full citizens of the republic.   How and why in the decades after the Civil War, as the freedoms won by African Americans were stripped away and replaced by Jim Crow white supremacy, black Americans clung to Crispus Attucks as a hero. As part of this process, they embellished his biography to make him appear every bit a patriot as Paul Revere and Samuel Adams.    How the US government used this image of Crispus Attucks the patriot as a way to recruit African Americans to fight in US wars.   How African American historians worked to have Crispus Attucks included in US history textbooks, something that finally began to happen in the 1960s during the era of the civil rights movement.   How some radical African American civil rights activists like Stokely Carmichael rejected Crispus Attucks as a model for black liberation.   How the story of Crispus Attucks and his presence – along with many other people of color – at the Boston Massacre serves as a reminder that American society has been diverse from the very beginning. Recommended reading:  Mitch Kachun, The First Martyr of Liberty: Crispus Attucks in American Memory. Eric Hinderaker,  Boston’s Massacre Holger Hoock, Scars of Independence: America's Violent Birth Gerald Horne, The Counter-Revolution of 1776: Slave Resistance and the Origins of the United States of America Robert Middlekauff, The Glorious Cause: The American Revolution, 1763-1789  Alan Taylor, American Revolutions: A Continental History, 1750-1804  Related ITPL podcast episodes: 065 Andrew O’Shaughnessy on How the British Lost the American Revolution 049 Gordon Wood on the relationship between John Adams and Thomas Jefferson 041 Dean Snow on the pivotal Battle of Saratoga 028 Carol Berkin on the Crisis of the 1790s 023 Stephen Knott on the relationship between Alexander Hamilton and George Washington 017 Alan Taylor, American Revolutions Music for This Episode Jay Graham, ITPL Intro (JayGMusic.com) Kevin McCleod, “Impact Moderato” (Free Music Archive) Jon Luc Hefferman, “Going Home” (Free Music Archive) Doc Turtle, “Thought Soup” (Free Music Archive) Jon Luc Hefferman, “Winter Trek” (Free Music Archive) The Bell, “I Am History” (Free Music Archive) Production Credits Executive Producer: Lulu Spencer Technical Advisors: Holly Hunt and Jesse Anderson Podcasting Consultant: Dave Jackson of the School of Podcasting Photographer: John Buckingham Graphic Designer: Maggie Cellucci Website by: ERI Design Legal services: Tippecanoe and Tyler Too Social Media management: The Pony Express Risk Assessment: Little Big Horn Associates Growth strategies: 54 40 or Fight © In The Past Lane, 2018 Recommended History Podcasts Ben Franklin’s World with Liz Covart @LizCovart The Age of Jackson Podcast @AgeofJacksonPod Backstory podcast – the history behind today’s headlines @BackstoryRadio Past Present podcast with Nicole Hemmer, Neil J. Young, and Natalia Petrzela @PastPresentPod 99 Percent Invisible with Roman Mars @99piorg Slow Burn podcast about Watergate with @leoncrawl The Memory Palace – with Nate DiMeo, story teller extraordinaire @thememorypalace The Conspirators – creepy true crime stories from the American past @Conspiratorcast The History Chicks podcast @Thehistorychix My History Can Beat Up Your Politics @myhist Professor Buzzkill podcast – Prof B takes on myths about the past @buzzkillprof Footnoting History podcast @HistoryFootnote The History Author Show podcast @HistoryDean More Perfect podcast - the history of key US Supreme Court cases @Radiolab Revisionist History with Malcolm Gladwell @Gladwell Radio Diaries with Joe Richman @RadioDiaries DIG history podcast @dig_history The Story Behind – the hidden histories of everyday things @StoryBehindPod Studio 360 with Kurt Andersen – specifically its American Icons series @Studio360show Uncivil podcast – fascinating takes on the legacy of the Civil War in contemporary US @uncivilshow Stuff You Missed in History Class @MissedinHistory The Whiskey Rebellion – two historians discuss topics from today’s news @WhiskeyRebelPod American History Tellers ‏@ahtellers The Way of Improvement Leads Home with historian John Fea @JohnFea1 The Bowery Boys podcast – all things NYC history @BoweryBoys Ridiculous History @RidiculousHSW The Rogue Historian podcast with historian @MKeithHarris The Road To Now podcast @Road_To_Now Retropod with @mikerosenwald

First Martyr of Liberty: Crispus Attucks in American Memory (Oxford University Press, 2017) explores how Crispus Attucks’ 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 Boston 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. First Martyr of Liberty traces Attucks’ 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. Mitch Kachun is Professor of History at Western Michigan University. He studied anthropology at Penn State University and studied history at Illinois State University before earning his M.A. and Ph.D. in history from Cornell. Kachun’s research focuses on how African Americans during the 19th and 20th centuries used historical writing and public commemorations to work for equal rights, construct a sense of collective identity, and claim control over their status and destiny in American society. His first book was Festivals of Freedom: Memory and Meaning in African American Emancipation Celebrations, 1808-1915, and he was the co-editor of The Curse of Caste; or the Slave Bride: A Rediscovered African American Novel by Julia C. Collins. After First Martyr of Liberty Mitch Kachun’s next book-length project will be a biographical accounting of the early 20th Century African-American journalist Charles Stewart, tentatively titled The Life and Times of Colonel J. O. Midnight. James P. Stancil II is an educator, multimedia journalist, and writer. He is also the President and CEO of Intellect U Well, Inc. a Houston-area NGO dedicated to increasing the joy of reading and media literacy in young people. He can be reached most easily through his LinkedIn page or at james.stancil@intellectuwell.org. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

First Martyr of Liberty: Crispus Attucks in American Memory (Oxford University Press, 2017) explores how Crispus Attucks’ 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 Boston 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. First Martyr of Liberty traces Attucks’ 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. Mitch Kachun is Professor of History at Western Michigan University. He studied anthropology at Penn State University and studied history at Illinois State University before earning his M.A. and Ph.D. in history from Cornell. Kachun’s research focuses on how African Americans during the 19th and 20th centuries used historical writing and public commemorations to work for equal rights, construct a sense of collective identity, and claim control over their status and destiny in American society. His first book was Festivals of Freedom: Memory and Meaning in African American Emancipation Celebrations, 1808-1915, and he was the co-editor of The Curse of Caste; or the Slave Bride: A Rediscovered African American Novel by Julia C. Collins. After First Martyr of Liberty Mitch Kachun’s next book-length project will be a biographical accounting of the early 20th Century African-American journalist Charles Stewart, tentatively titled The Life and Times of Colonel J. O. Midnight. James P. Stancil II is an educator, multimedia journalist, and writer. He is also the President and CEO of Intellect U Well, Inc. a Houston-area NGO dedicated to increasing the joy of reading and media literacy in young people. He can be reached most easily through his LinkedIn page or at james.stancil@intellectuwell.org. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

First Martyr of Liberty: Crispus Attucks in American Memory (Oxford University Press, 2017) explores how Crispus Attucks’ 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 Boston 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. First Martyr of Liberty traces Attucks’ 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. Mitch Kachun is Professor of History at Western Michigan University. He studied anthropology at Penn State University and studied history at Illinois State University before earning his M.A. and Ph.D. in history from Cornell. Kachun’s research focuses on how African Americans during the 19th and 20th centuries used historical writing and public commemorations to work for equal rights, construct a sense of collective identity, and claim control over their status and destiny in American society. His first book was Festivals of Freedom: Memory and Meaning in African American Emancipation Celebrations, 1808-1915, and he was the co-editor of The Curse of Caste; or the Slave Bride: A Rediscovered African American Novel by Julia C. Collins. After First Martyr of Liberty Mitch Kachun’s next book-length project will be a biographical accounting of the early 20th Century African-American journalist Charles Stewart, tentatively titled The Life and Times of Colonel J. O. Midnight. James P. Stancil II is an educator, multimedia journalist, and writer. He is also the President and CEO of Intellect U Well, Inc. a Houston-area NGO dedicated to increasing the joy of reading and media literacy in young people. He can be reached most easily through his LinkedIn page or at james.stancil@intellectuwell.org. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

First Martyr of Liberty: Crispus Attucks in American Memory (Oxford University Press, 2017) explores how Crispus Attucks’ 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 Boston 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. First Martyr of Liberty traces Attucks’ 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. Mitch Kachun is Professor of History at Western Michigan University. He studied anthropology at Penn State University and studied history at Illinois State University before earning his M.A. and Ph.D. in history from Cornell. Kachun’s research focuses on how African Americans during the 19th and 20th centuries used historical writing and public commemorations to work for equal rights, construct a sense of collective identity, and claim control over their status and destiny in American society. His first book was Festivals of Freedom: Memory and Meaning in African American Emancipation Celebrations, 1808-1915, and he was the co-editor of The Curse of Caste; or the Slave Bride: A Rediscovered African American Novel by Julia C. Collins. After First Martyr of Liberty Mitch Kachun’s next book-length project will be a biographical accounting of the early 20th Century African-American journalist Charles Stewart, tentatively titled The Life and Times of Colonel J. O. Midnight. James P. Stancil II is an educator, multimedia journalist, and writer. He is also the President and CEO of Intellect U Well, Inc. a Houston-area NGO dedicated to increasing the joy of reading and media literacy in young people. He can be reached most easily through his LinkedIn page or at james.stancil@intellectuwell.org. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

First Martyr of Liberty: Crispus Attucks in American Memory (Oxford University Press, 2017) explores how Crispus Attucks' 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 Boston 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. First Martyr of Liberty traces Attucks' 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. Mitch Kachun is Professor of History at Western Michigan University. He studied anthropology at Penn State University and studied history at Illinois State University before earning his M.A. and Ph.D. in history from Cornell. Kachun's research focuses on how African Americans during the 19th and 20th centuries used historical writing and public commemorations to work for equal rights, construct a sense of collective identity, and claim control over their status and destiny in American society. His first book was Festivals of Freedom: Memory and Meaning in African American Emancipation Celebrations, 1808-1915, and he was the co-editor of The Curse of Caste; or the Slave Bride: A Rediscovered African American Novel by Julia C. Collins. After First Martyr of Liberty Mitch Kachun's next book-length project will be a biographical accounting of the early 20th Century African-American journalist Charles Stewart, tentatively titled The Life and Times of Colonel J. O. Midnight. James P. Stancil II is an educator, multimedia journalist, and writer. He is also the President and CEO of Intellect U Well, Inc. a Houston-area NGO dedicated to increasing the joy of reading and media literacy in young people. He can be reached most easily through his LinkedIn page or at james.stancil@intellectuwell.org. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/african-american-studies

First Martyr of Liberty: Crispus Attucks in American Memory (Oxford University Press, 2017) explores how Crispus Attucks' 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 Boston 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. First Martyr of Liberty traces Attucks' 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. Mitch Kachun is Professor of History at Western Michigan University. He studied anthropology at Penn State University and studied history at Illinois State University before earning his M.A. and Ph.D. in history from Cornell. Kachun's research focuses on how African Americans during the 19th and 20th centuries used historical writing and public commemorations to work for equal rights, construct a sense of collective identity, and claim control over their status and destiny in American society. His first book was Festivals of Freedom: Memory and Meaning in African American Emancipation Celebrations, 1808-1915, and he was the co-editor of The Curse of Caste; or the Slave Bride: A Rediscovered African American Novel by Julia C. Collins. After First Martyr of Liberty Mitch Kachun's next book-length project will be a biographical accounting of the early 20th Century African-American journalist Charles Stewart, tentatively titled The Life and Times of Colonel J. O. Midnight. James P. Stancil II is an educator, multimedia journalist, and writer. He is also the President and CEO of Intellect U Well, Inc. a Houston-area NGO dedicated to increasing the joy of reading and media literacy in young people. He can be reached most easily through his LinkedIn page or at james.stancil@intellectuwell.org.