Item
Agent
Elizabeth Freeman (1744-1829)
- Name
- Elizabeth Freeman (1744-1829)
- Date of Birth
- 1744
- Date of Death
- 1829
- State Assigned Gender
- Female
- Hometown or Region
- Sheffield, Massachusetts.
- Freedom Status
- Transition
- Occupation
- Domestic
- Biography
- Ashley’s household about the new Massachusetts Constitution stating, “all men are born free and equal,” Freeman decided to fight for her freedom. She sought help from the attorney and abolitionist Theodore Sedgwick. Freeman and another enslaved man, Brom, became plaintiffs in the Brom & Bett v. Ashley case, arguing that slavery violated the state constitution. The court ruled in their favor, granting them freedom. Freeman then worked for Sedgwick’s family as a paid employee for over 20 years. Her case not only secured her own freedom but also set a powerful legal precedent for future freedom in Massachusetts.
- Revolution Observed
- Elizabeth Freeman’s fight for freedom unfolded during the American Revolution (1775–1783), a period marked by intense ideological and political upheaval. While the Revolution was framed as a struggle for liberty and natural rights, many of its leaders continued to uphold slavery, exposing a glaring contradiction in their ideals. In Massachusetts, where Freeman lived, revolutionary rhetoric about equality and unalienable rights began to challenge not only British rule but also the institution of slavery itself. Amid this climate of growing tension and debate, Freeman took an extraordinary and courageous step: she used the very language of the Revolution to claim her own freedom, becoming one of the first enslaved African Americans to successfully sue for emancipation under the new Massachusetts Constitution
- Student Researcher
- Glory Dada
- Connected Historical Actor(s)
- A key figure in Elizabeth Freeman’s journey to freedom was Theodore Sedgwick, a Massachusetts lawyer and outspoken critic of slavery. When Freeman decided to challenge her enslavement, she turned to Sedgwick for legal support. Recognizing the power of the Massachusetts Constitution’s promise that “all men are born free and equal,” Sedgwick agreed to represent her in court. Alongside another enslaved man named Brom, Freeman became a plaintiff in a case against their enslaver, John Ashley. Sedgwick argued that slavery was incompatible with the principles of the state’s new constitution. The court ruled in their favor, setting a precedent for other freedom suits. After winning her case, Freeman remained close to the Sedgwick family, working for them as a paid employee and earning their lifelong respect.
- Source(s)
-
Emilie Piper and David Levinson, One Minute a Free Woman: Elizabeth Freeman and the Struggle for
Freedom, (Salisbury, Connecticut: Upper Housatonic Valley National Heritage Area, 2010), 27-79.
• Sari Edelstein, “Good Mother Farewell: Elizabeth Freeman’s Silence and the Stories of Mumbet,” The
New England Quarterly, Vol. 92, (2019): 584-614.
• Linebaugh Peter, and Marcus Rediker, The Many-Headed Hydra: Sailors, Slaves, Commoners, and the
Hidden History of the Revolutionary Atlantic, (Boston, Massachusetts: Beacon Press, 2000) 193-194; 209-
210.
• Andrew Maginn, “The Struggle for Reparations in the United States,” In The Black Atlantic’s Triple
Burden: Slavery, Colonialism, and Reparations, ed. Adekeye Adebajo (Auckland, South Africa: Jacana
Media, 2024) 533-547.
• Sue Peabody and Keila Grinberg, “Slavery, freedom, and the Law in the Atlantic World,” (Boston:
Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2007) 3, 7.
• Adam Rothman, “Union, Capitalism, and Slavery in the “Rising Empire” of the United States,” in New
Countries: Capitalism, Revolutions, and Nations in the Americas, 1750–1870, ed. John Tutino (Durham:
Duke University Press, 2016), 124-125
• Christopher Schmidt-Nowara, “The Resurgence and Destruction of Slavery,” in Slavery, freedom,
abolition in Latin America and the Atlantic World, (Albuquerque: The University of New Mexico Press,
2011) 133. - Click here to review material history sources connected to Elizabeth Freeman