Harriet Tubman and Sojourner Truth have always been larger than life in my eyes; I now add another incredible person, Elizabeth Freeman to that list of people. I recently watched Black Patriots on the History Channel; it mentioned a black enslaved woman by the name of Mum Bett. She was the first African American to successfully challenge the year old Massachusetts State Constitution. Her lawsuit established case law that eventually led to the abolition of slavery in Massachusetts. The Massachusetts Body of Liberties, (section 12) adopted in 1641, allowed that “every man, whether inhabitant or foreigner, free or not free, shall have liberty to come to any Court, Council, or town-meeting, and either by speech or by writing,...”. It is this document, largely the work of Nathaniel Ward, that allowed Bett to pursue her case. Ironically, it was also the document (section 91) that legalized slavery in Massachusetts. It was based somewhat on the Magna Carta (signed 1215 near Windsor, England) and focused on liberties rather than restrictions.
Mum Bett lived in Sheffield County, MA. Her ‘master’ was a judge who presided over the writing of the Sheffield Declaration. This declaration, approved in 1773, stated that “mankind in a state of nature are equal, free, and independent of each other, and have a right to the undisturbed enjoyment of their lives, their liberty and their property.” Mum Bett decided that those principles should apply equally to her. Along with an enslaved man named Brom, she enlisted an attorney by the name of Theodore Sedgwick, who had helped write the Sheffield Declaration. He and a few other attorneys agreed to use their case as a test case to determine if slavery was constitutional under the new Massachusetts Constitution.
In 1781, Sedgwick et al., filed a “writ of replevin” with the Berkshire Court of Common Pleas, ordering the release of Bett and Brom. The court agreed that they were not Colonel Ashley’s property and ordered their release but he refused. The case, Brom and Bett v. Ashley, then went to the County Court of Common Pleas of Great Barrington. The jury agreed that they were not property. They were set free, and given 30 shillings. Once she gained freedom, Mum Bett changed her named to Elizabeth Freeman. Her former ‘master’ asked her to return as a paid servant but she refused, instead deciding to work in the Sedgwick household instead. After twenty years, she purchased her own residence where she lived with her children until her death in 1829. She was believed to be the only non-Sedgwick buried in the “inner circle” of the Sedgewick family cemetery. Massachusetts abolished slavery on July 8, 1783.
“Any time while I was a slave, if one minute’s freedom had been offered to me, and I had been told that I must die at the end of that minute, I would have taken it just to stand one minute on God’s earth a free woman.”-Elizabeth Freeman. Ponder those words for a minute and realize their full magnitude. Tears fall, but hope springs eternal that we may find the courage to carry on work that needs to be done here in our own country and around the world. We are one.
I was doing a little more digging and found that the Elizabeth Freeman Center in Berkshire, MA helps anyone suffering from domestic and sexual violence, regardless of income, ethnicity, gender/gender identity/age, etc.. Like many enslaved people, Elizabeth Freeman suffered from at least some violence. A great tribute to a woman who would undoubtedly approve as she knew what it felt like to be helpless and on her own. I hope no one here needs it but they serve Berkshire County, MA.
Citations:
Alexander, Kerri Lee. “Elizabeth Freeman”. National Women’s History Museum. National Women’s History Museum, 2019.
The Winthrop Society: Descendants of the Great Migration.
Massachusetts Historical Society: The Case for Ending Slavery
www.goodread.com/quotes