WEBVTT - How Did Some Enslaved People Sue for Their Freedom — and Win?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Brainstuff, a production of iHeartRadio, Hey, Brainstuff. Lauren

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<v Speaker 1>Vogelbaum here a Revolutionary War era court case, but granted

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<v Speaker 1>an enslaved woman freedom from her cruel enslavers, a benevolent

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<v Speaker 1>white lawyer turned employer, a name change at a crucial

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<v Speaker 1>turning point. These are all moments in Elizabeth Freeman's life.

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<v Speaker 1>Her story, or at least what we know of it,

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<v Speaker 1>reads like a tale of grit and justice, ripe for Hollywood,

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<v Speaker 1>But in reality, the circumstances of Freeman's triumph were rooted

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<v Speaker 1>in necessity and survival. A Freeman called Bet before she

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<v Speaker 1>chose her new Moniker was born into slavery on an

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<v Speaker 1>unknown date in the seventeen forties, by either inheritance or purchase.

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<v Speaker 1>Freeman was enslaved as a child by Colonel John Ashley

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<v Speaker 1>and his wife Hannah at the Ashley House in Sheffield, Massachusetts.

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<v Speaker 1>Freeman did domestic work, served visitors, and dealt with the

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<v Speaker 1>reported brutality of Hannah Ashley. But by seventeen eighty, Freeman

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<v Speaker 1>had become aware that documents like the Declaration of Independence

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<v Speaker 1>and the Massachusetts Constitution espoused the ideas of freedom and

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<v Speaker 1>equality as birthrights. A freeman determined that she too was

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<v Speaker 1>entitled to freedom by law. In the wake of other

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<v Speaker 1>enslaved black people and abolitionists who took their claims to court,

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<v Speaker 1>a Freeman decided to sue for her freedom. She had

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<v Speaker 1>the help of lawyers Theodore Sedgwick and Tapping Reeve to

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<v Speaker 1>do so. This was not a common course of action.

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<v Speaker 1>Some enslaved people weren't aware that they could petition for

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<v Speaker 1>their freedom and win, nor did they have the resources

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<v Speaker 1>to do so. On top of that, challenging the law

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<v Speaker 1>and ones enslavers could be risky and feudal. However, such

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<v Speaker 1>freedom suits in which enslaved people filed lawsuits against their

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<v Speaker 1>enslavers to their freedom, were not unprecedented in colonial times.

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<v Speaker 1>Many of these suits were brought by men, and many

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<v Speaker 1>of the claimants challenged their own enslavement rather than the

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<v Speaker 1>entire institution of slavery. For instance, Elizabeth Key sued for

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<v Speaker 1>her freedom in Virginia in sixteen fifty six on the

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<v Speaker 1>basis that her father was a free white man and

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<v Speaker 1>that she was a Christian, conditions that entitled her to

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<v Speaker 1>freedom by English common law. Before the article. This episode

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<v Speaker 1>is based on how stuff work spoke with Lamarchie Fraser,

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<v Speaker 1>an artist, educator and director of Education and Interpretation at

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<v Speaker 1>the Museum of African American History, Boston, and Nantuckett. She

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<v Speaker 1>explained that there were many legal reasons enslaved people petitioned

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<v Speaker 1>for freedom, and many levels of awareness about their ability

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<v Speaker 1>to do so. A quote, maybe the enslaved petitioners haven't

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<v Speaker 1>been manumitted, that is, set free when their contract says

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<v Speaker 1>they should be. Maybe they should be at this point

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<v Speaker 1>in time, earning wages for their s. There are distinct

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<v Speaker 1>differences in cases where petitions are brought, but they are

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<v Speaker 1>not without the knowledge that they exist. They're not existing

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<v Speaker 1>in a vacuum. Some enslaved people found ways to organize

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<v Speaker 1>to win their freedom. Freeman asserted that she was free

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<v Speaker 1>according to the rules the United States politicians had enshrined

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<v Speaker 1>in governing documents. Some of what we know today about

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<v Speaker 1>Freeman comes from Catherine Maria Sedgwick, who was the daughter

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<v Speaker 1>of Freeman's lawyer. Theodore Freeman helped raise her, and Catherine

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<v Speaker 1>later wrote about Freeman's life and convictions. She quoted Freeman

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<v Speaker 1>as saying, I'm not a dumb critter. Won't the law

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<v Speaker 1>give me my freedom. Sedgwick went on to say about Freeman,

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<v Speaker 1>I can imagine her upright form as she stood dilating

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<v Speaker 1>with her fresh hope based on the declaration of her

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<v Speaker 1>intrinsic inalienable right. Freedom. Suits were often unsuccessful, resulting in

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<v Speaker 1>neither the emancipation of the plaintiff nor the abolition of

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<v Speaker 1>slavery in the place where the case was brought, but some,

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<v Speaker 1>including Freeman's, were stories of liberation. Of Freeman's lawyers decided

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<v Speaker 1>to add Brahm, one of four other enslaved people at

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<v Speaker 1>the Ashley estate, to the suit, making it Brahm and

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<v Speaker 1>Bett versus Ashley. A Freeman may have sought Sedgwick's help

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<v Speaker 1>since he visited the Ashley house, or Sedgwick and Reeve

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<v Speaker 1>may have pursued Freeman and Brahm in order to test

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<v Speaker 1>whether slavery was legal in Massachusetts under the new state constitution.

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<v Speaker 1>Either way, Sedgwick got a writ of replevin, which is

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<v Speaker 1>an order authorizing the retaking of property by its rightful owner,

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<v Speaker 1>from the court, ordering John Ashley to release Freeman and

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<v Speaker 1>Brahm because they were not his property. Ashley refused to

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<v Speaker 1>release them and was ordered to appear in court on

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<v Speaker 1>August twenty first of seventeen eighty one, Sedgwick and Reeve

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<v Speaker 1>argued before the court that slavery was unconstitutional because the

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<v Speaker 1>Massachusetts Constitute stated that all men are born free and equal.

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<v Speaker 1>The next day, the jury determined that Brahm and Freeman

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<v Speaker 1>should be emancipated. The two were awarded thirty shillings in damages,

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<v Speaker 1>and Ashley had to pay the court costs. Freeman, upon

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<v Speaker 1>her victory, took her new name, an assertation of her

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<v Speaker 1>newfound independence. The outcome of this case and one other

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<v Speaker 1>that year showed that the legal and moral foundations of

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<v Speaker 1>the institution of slavery were disintegrating. These cases marked the

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<v Speaker 1>beginning of the end of slavery in Massachusetts. According to

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<v Speaker 1>seventeen ninety census, no enslaved people lived in the state.

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<v Speaker 1>That said, the state constitution was not amended to outlaw slavery,

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<v Speaker 1>and people remained in bondage as chattel. Slavery became obsolete

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<v Speaker 1>in Massachusetts. Freeman went on to work for the Sedgwicks,

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<v Speaker 1>providing her services in the household and community as a servant, midwife,

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<v Speaker 1>and governess, and, in a reversal almost too improbable for

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<v Speaker 1>a third act, the Freeman became one of the first

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<v Speaker 1>women in Massachusetts to own property herself. She bought a

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<v Speaker 1>home and land of her own, amassing enough wealth and

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<v Speaker 1>property to create a will a couple of months before

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<v Speaker 1>she died in December of eighteen twenty nine at the

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<v Speaker 1>age of about eighty five. The items that she owned

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<v Speaker 1>and chose to pass down, the shawls, gowns, earrings, quilts, spoons,

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<v Speaker 1>and gold beads, among other objects, tell a story about

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<v Speaker 1>her character and what she valued. Despite the lack of

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<v Speaker 1>autobiographical accounts of Freeman's life, Fraser said, as we see

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<v Speaker 1>her life unfolded in the ways that are accessible to us,

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<v Speaker 1>and we find a woman who is not deterred from

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<v Speaker 1>her honesty, her truth, and her will to be free.

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<v Speaker 1>Today's episode is based on the article how Enslaved Elizabeth

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<v Speaker 1>Freeman mum Bett Sued for her Freedom and one on

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<v Speaker 1>Housetofwork dot com, written by Eve's Jeff Cope. Brainstuff is

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<v Speaker 1>production of iHeartRadio in partnership with HowStuffWorks dot Com and

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<v Speaker 1>is produced by Tyler klang A. Four more podcasts to

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