Freedom suit facts for kids

An animation showing when United States territories and states forbade or allowed slavery, 1789–1861.

Freedom suits were special lawsuits in the Thirteen Colonies and the United States. Enslaved people filed these lawsuits against their slaveholders to try and win their freedom. Often, they argued that their mother or grandmother had been free, or that they had lived in a free state or territory for a certain time.

The idea of asking for freedom in court came from old English laws. This allowed people to challenge if they were truly enslaved or forced to work. Even though slaveholders often saw these lawsuits as a way to keep slavery in order, enslaved people used them to fight for their rights.

Over time, laws about slavery changed. After the American Revolution, many northern states ended slavery. The U.S. Congress also made some new territories free. As people traveled more between free and slave states, new reasons for freedom suits appeared. Many free states had rules that said if a slave owner brought a slave into their territory and stayed for a certain time, the slave would become free.

Other reasons for suing included being born free but illegally held as a slave, or being descended from a free woman. A very important rule, called partus sequitur ventrem, meant that a child's status (free or enslaved) was the same as their mother's. This rule started in Virginia in 1662 and was later adopted by all southern colonies and slave states.

In cities like Saint Louis, Missouri, and Washington, D.C., hundreds of freedom suits were filed between 1807 and 1860. Many cases were settled outside of court or never went to trial. In the early 1800s, many top lawyers in these cities helped enslaved people with their cases. In Missouri, courts even assigned lawyers to enslaved people who filed freedom suits.

Some southern states made it harder to file these suits. For example, Maryland and Virginia passed laws that made it more difficult for enslaved people to win their cases in local courts. They also tried to stop people who were against slavery from serving on juries.

However, for a few decades, courts in slave states like Louisiana, Mississippi, and Missouri often followed a rule called "once free, always free." This meant that if a slave had been held in a free state, they would stay free even if brought back to a slave state. Thousands of freedom suits were tried across the country until the Civil War ended slavery. Some cases even reached the Supreme Court.

History of Freedom Suits

Early Petitions for Freedom

People in North America started asking courts for freedom as early as the late 1600s. Some of the first requests were sent to companies like the Dutch West India Company. This company didn't have strict rules about enslaved people's status. Enslaved people could marry and have families as long as they worked for the company. Many early petitions were from enslaved people trying to get freedom for their families.

One of the earliest recorded petitions was in 1644. A group of eleven enslaved people asked the Council of New Netherland for freedom. They argued that they couldn't support their growing families while enslaved. The Dutch West India Company gave them "half-freedom." This meant they were free but had to pay a yearly fee to the company. This led to a settlement of African-owned farms in New Amsterdam. In these early years, slavery wasn't always based on race. Many enslaved people were freed by the Dutch West India Company before England took control in 1664.

In 1655, a Virginia court ruled in a case called Johnson v. Casor. It decided that John Casor was a slave, not a servant, of Anthony Johnson, a free Black man.

In English North America, colonists saw Africans as "foreigners" who couldn't become English citizens. Even after some enslaved Africans became Christians, their race was used to keep them enslaved. In 1662, Virginia passed a law that said a child's status was the same as their mother's. This meant children of enslaved mothers were born into slavery. This was different from English law, where a child's status usually came from the father. This law was passed after Elizabeth Key, a mixed-race woman, won her freedom in court in 1656. She argued that her father was English and free, and she had been baptized as a Christian.

This Roman law principle, partus sequitur ventrem, became part of Virginia law and was soon adopted by other southern colonies. However, it also meant that children of free white women or Native American women were born free, even if they were mixed-race. Enslaved people often tried to prove their right to freedom by showing they were descended from a free mother.

Freedom Suits During and After the Revolution

During the years leading up to the American Revolutionary War, more freedom suits were filed in northern states like Connecticut, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire. Many of these cases referred to an important English case called Somerset v Stewart (1772). In this case, Lord Mansfield ruled that slavery was wrong and illegal on British land because it wasn't supported by English law. This decision was widely known in the colonies. Enslaved people in Virginia and Maryland learned about it and used it to argue for their freedom.

Sir William Blackstone, a famous English law expert, also wrote that slavery didn't fit with free societies. He said that "pure and proper slavery does not, nay cannot, subsist in England."

In 1773, enslaved Black people in Massachusetts sent appeals to the governor asking for freedom. One petition, signed by a slave named Felix, spoke about the "unhappy State and Condition" of enslaved people. After the Revolution, Massachusetts didn't officially ban slavery, but court rulings in cases like those of Mum Bett and Quock Walker showed that slavery didn't fit with the state's new constitution. This effectively ended slavery in Massachusetts.

During the Revolutionary War, thousands of enslaved Black people gained freedom. Some joined the military, others filed petitions, and some were freed by owners who believed in "every man is created equal." By the end of the war, over 5,000 African Americans who served in the military became free, greatly increasing the number of free Black people in the new states.

The United States Constitution and Slavery

After many discussions, leaders from northern and southern states agreed on a federal constitution. It allowed the slave trade to continue for 20 more years until 1808. During this time, many thousands of enslaved people were brought into the southern states. The Constitution also said that states could not free slaves who ran away from other states, and that these enslaved people had to be returned to their owners.

From 1780 to 1804, northern states like Pennsylvania, Connecticut, and New York gradually ended slavery. They often freed children born to enslaved mothers first, and then slowly freed enslaved adults. In New York, the last enslaved people were not freed until 1827.

In the South, some states passed laws that made it easier for slaveholders to free their slaves under certain conditions. For example, Maryland's 1796 law allowed owners to free healthy enslaved people under 45 who wouldn't become a public burden. In the Upper South, many enslaved people were freed in the first two decades after the war. The number of free Black people in the Upper South grew from less than one percent to over 10 percent.

The rise in free Black people, especially in the North, changed ideas about race. Before, being Black was strongly linked to being enslaved. But after the Revolution, with thousands of African Americans gaining freedom, this idea became less clear. Free Black people challenged the idea that slavery was only for Black people.

However, after the invention of the cotton gin, growing cotton became very profitable in the Deep South. This greatly increased the demand for enslaved labor. The U.S. also ended the legal Atlantic slave trade in 1808. Because of this, the rate of freeing slaves dropped sharply in southern states. Most southern states made it much harder to free slaves, often requiring special approval from the government. At the same time, African Americans continued to fight against racial definitions of freedom. Freedom suits were a powerful way to redefine racial categories and claim freedom.

Reasons for Freedom Suits

Enslaved people used different arguments to win their freedom in court.

Being Descended from a Free Woman

In 1662, Virginia passed a law that said a child's status was the same as their mother's. This was different from English law, where the father's status usually mattered more. Other southern colonies adopted this rule, called partus sequitur ventrem. This meant that if a mother was enslaved, her child was also born into slavery, no matter who the father was. Over time, this led to many generations of mixed-race enslaved people.

However, this law also meant that mixed-race children of white women were born free. After Virginia and other colonies ended Indian slavery in the early 1700s, some petitioners argued for freedom based on having a Native American woman in their mother's family line.

Many freedom suits were filed because the person was descended from a free woman. For example, Marguerite Scypion and her sisters in Saint Louis, Missouri, sued for freedom in 1805. They argued that they were descended from a free Native American grandmother.

Promised Freedom (Manumission)

Sometimes, enslaved people sued because a promise of freedom (called manumission) was not kept. Charlotte Dupuy, who worked for Henry Clay, filed a freedom suit in 1829. She claimed her previous owner had promised to free her. The court made Clay leave Dupuy in Washington, D.C., until the case was decided. She even earned wages from Clay's replacement. The court eventually ruled against Dupuy, and she was returned to Clay. He finally freed her and her daughter ten years later, and her son even later.

After the Revolution, many African Americans were freed in Maryland and Virginia. Historians believe this happened because of new ideas about freedom, religious beliefs, and lower tobacco prices, which meant less need for enslaved labor. However, some slaveholders used "term slavery," where enslaved people were freed after a certain number of years. Many African Americans challenged these arrangements in court.

Illegal Sale or Importation

States passed many laws to control the slave trade. For example, a Virginia law from 1785 said that enslaved people brought into Virginia from another state would be freed after one year, unless the owner swore they weren't brought for sale.

A Maryland law from 1796 said that any enslaved person brought into the state for sale would be freed. It also said that if an owner planning to live in Maryland brought slaves, they had to stay in the state for three years. If they were moved before three years, they would be freed. This law also gave enslaved people the right to a jury trial in freedom suits. Many freedom suits were filed based on violations of these laws about moving enslaved people across state lines.

Travel or Residency in a Free State or Territory

After the Revolution, northern states ended slavery, dividing the U.S. into free and slave states. Congress also made some new territories free. As people traveled and moved between states, and military personnel took slaves into free territories, new opportunities for freedom suits arose.

Pennsylvania ended slavery and passed a law that said if a slave owner brought slaves into the state, those slaves would be free after six months. Even President George Washington would move his enslaved people out of Pennsylvania before the six-month limit to prevent them from gaining freedom. At least two of his enslaved people escaped to freedom in the North.

Some freedom suits were filed by enslaved people who were temporarily in New York and Massachusetts because of similar laws. Massachusetts courts ruled that enslaved people brought voluntarily into the state became free immediately upon arrival. Anti-slavery groups in these states helped enslaved people who wanted to gain freedom. They sometimes hid them, testified for them in court, or helped them reach Canada to escape slave catchers.

By 1824, courts in Missouri set a rule called "once free, always free." This meant that if enslaved people were taken voluntarily by their owners into free states, they gained their freedom and couldn't be returned to slavery, even if brought back to Missouri. Courts in Kentucky, Louisiana, and Mississippi also followed this rule. This rule lasted for decades until the Dred Scott v. Sandford decision in 1852.

Filing a Freedom Suit

After the Revolution, many southern states made it harder to file freedom suits. For example, Maryland and Virginia changed laws to make local courts, which were often more favorable to slave owners, the first place to hear these cases. They also banned people who were known to be against slavery from serving on juries.

Thousands of freedom suits were tried. In Saint Louis, Missouri, records show nearly 300 cases between 1807 and 1860. In Washington, D.C., nearly 500 cases were filed in the same period. Often, juries decided in favor of the enslaved. In Saint Louis, enslaved people won freedom in 37 percent of cases. Many cases were settled out of court.

To file these suits, enslaved people showed great knowledge of their rights and took calculated risks. Often, being persistent paid off, and those who filed multiple suits were more likely to succeed. Enslaved people hired important lawyers. In Washington, D.C., these included Francis Scott Key and William Wirt. In St. Louis, the court would assign a lawyer to the enslaved person. Many lawyers in these cities took on freedom suit cases.

Important Laws About Freedom Suits

1662 Virginia Act of Assembly

• This law said that children born in the colony inherited their mother's social status. So, children born to enslaved women were born into slavery.
• This law used the Roman principle of partus sequitur ventrem, meaning a child's status was "bond or free" based on the mother. This made slavery a racial system, as most enslaved women were of African descent. This rule was adopted by all southern colonies and later by slave states.
• However, this law also meant that mixed-race children born to white women were free. Many free Black families in the Upper South can trace their origins to unions between white women and African men in colonial Virginia. Even if these mixed-race children of white mothers had to work as apprentices for a long time, they were still born free.

1785 Virginia Act of Assembly

• This law said that enslaved people born in another state and brought into Virginia would be freed after one year in the state. Many freedom suits were filed based on this law, arguing that owners had held enslaved people longer than allowed.

1795 Virginia Act of Assembly

• This law made it easier for people who believed they were illegally held as slaves to complain in court. They could get a warrant for the owner and be given a lawyer for free.
• However, the new laws also had strict penalties for anyone who illegally helped enslaved people try to gain freedom. Anyone caught helping, forging, or faking documents for a slave's case could be imprisoned for a year without bail. This made it harder for enslaved people to get help.

1796 Maryland Act of Assembly

• This law gave enslaved people more chances to gain freedom. Any slave brought into Maryland for the purpose of sale would be freed.
• If an owner planned to live in Maryland, they could bring their slaves, but the slaves had to stay in the state for three years. If they were moved before three years, they would be freed.
• This law also gave petitioners the right to a jury trial. This allowed enslaved people to sue their owners in court if they were illegally transported into or out of the state.

1824 Missouri Law

• Missouri updated its slave law in 1824, giving enslaved people the right to sue for their freedom.

Courts in Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C., was a unique place for freedom suits because it combined laws from both Maryland and Virginia. The District was divided into two parts, one following Maryland law and the other Virginia law.

Slavery was legal and common in Washington, D.C., especially as it was a center for the domestic slave trade. However, the number of enslaved people decreased over time. By 1860, free Black people outnumbered enslaved people by four to one. Washington, D.C., became an important cultural and political center for free Black communities.

A Maryland law from 1796 tried to stop visitors from selling slaves for profit in the state. This law affected slaveholders moving into Washington and Georgetown, requiring them to live there for three years before selling their slaves. Many enslaved people in Washington, D.C., won their freedom because their owners violated this Maryland law. These cases were heard by the Circuit Court for the District of Columbia.

The National Archives holds the records of this court. A digital project called O Say Can You See: Early Washington D.C., Law & Family has collected and digitized hundreds of freedom suits and thousands of case files from 1800 to 1862. This project helps people learn about the lives of African Americans in Washington, D.C., both free and enslaved.

Courts in Saint Louis, Missouri

Missouri was a slave state, but it was next to free states like Illinois. It was also a hub for military personnel who traveled to free territories and then resettled in Missouri. The Saint Louis circuit court heard hundreds of freedom suits. Saint Louis had a network of people who supported enslaved people seeking freedom. Important lawyers were often appointed by the court to represent enslaved people.

In 1824, Missouri courts set the rule "once free, always free." This meant that if a slave was taken by an owner into an area where slavery was banned, that slave became free, even if later brought back to Missouri. This rule was followed for decades until 1852, when the Dred Scott v. Sandford decision overturned it.

Many freedom suit records from Saint Louis are available today. About 301 files from 1814–1860 were found in the 1990s. These records show that juries in Missouri often sided with the enslaved. Enslaved people won freedom in 57 percent of cases in Saint Louis.

The first freedom suit in Saint Louis was filed in 1805 by Marguerite Scypion, an African-Natchez woman. She argued that her mother should have been freed when Spain ended Indian slavery in 1769, and therefore, she herself was born free. After a long fight, Scypion won freedom for herself and all her mother's descendants in 1836. This decision was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Key People in Freedom Suits

• Edward Bates was a lawyer in St. Louis who later became the U.S. Attorney General under President Abraham Lincoln. Even though he owned slaves, Bates represented enslaved people in some freedom suits. He helped Polly Berry win freedom for her daughter, arguing that since Berry was free when her daughter was born, the child was also born free.
• Francis B. Murdoch filed almost one-third of all freedom suit petitions in St. Louis. He worked on important cases and later filed the famous petitions for Dred and Harriet Scott in 1846.
• Hamilton Gamble was a chief justice of the Missouri Supreme Court and a lawyer who represented both enslaved people and slave owners. He represented Marguerite Scypion but also slave owners in other cases. As chief justice, he often upheld legal precedents. He disagreed with the decision in Scott v. Emerson in 1852, which went against Dred Scott, even though Gamble himself was pro-slavery.

Important U.S. Freedom Cases

• 1656, Elizabeth Key v. Humphrey Higginson. Elizabeth Key, a mixed-race woman, filed the first freedom suit by a woman of African descent in Virginia and won. She argued that her father was a free English subject, she was a Christian, and she had served longer than her required time. The court ruled in her favor. In response, Virginia changed its laws in 1662, stating that children born to enslaved mothers were also enslaved, regardless of the father.
• 1781, Brom and Bett v. Ashley. After the Revolution, Elizabeth Freeman (also known as Mum Bett), an enslaved woman in Massachusetts, sued for her freedom. The court ruled that slavery didn't fit with the state's new constitution, which was based on equality. This case helped set a precedent that effectively ended slavery in Massachusetts, along with the more famous case of Quock Walker v. Jennison (1783).
• 1806, Houlder Hudgins v. Jackey Wright. Jackey Wright and her two children in Virginia sued for freedom, claiming they were descended from Native American women. Virginia had banned Indian slavery since 1705. The court ruled that the Wrights were free because of their recognized Native American ancestry.
• 1805–1836, Marguerite Scypion v. Pierre Chouteau, Sr., St. Louis, Missouri. Marguerite, an African-Natchez woman, sued for freedom based on her Native American grandmother. She argued her mother was illegally held as a slave after Spain ended Indian slavery in 1769. After many years and appeals, Marguerite won freedom for herself and her mother's descendants in 1836, which officially ended Indian slavery in Missouri.
• 1810, Queen v. Hepburn. In 1813, the U.S. Supreme Court heard this case but did not grant freedom to the enslaved people. Chief Justice John Marshall ruled that certain evidence was not allowed, avoiding the question of freedom. This case is famous for establishing the "hearsay rule" in American law.
• 1824, Winny v. Whitesides. This was the first freedom suit in Missouri to reach the state supreme court. Winny had been held as a slave in the free state of Illinois before moving to Missouri. The Missouri Supreme Court ruled that if a slave was taken by owners into an area that banned slavery, that slave became free, even if later returned to a slave state. This began the "once free, always free" era in Missouri.
• 1830, Charlotte Dupuy v. Henry Clay. While living in Washington, D.C., Charlotte Dupuy sued her master, Henry Clay, for her freedom and her children's freedom, based on a promise from a previous owner. The case gained a lot of attention. Although the court ruled against Dupuy, Clay eventually freed her and her children years later.
• 1834, Rachel v. Walker. This case in St. Louis, Missouri, ruled that if a U.S. Army officer took a slave to a territory where slavery was banned, the officer lost ownership of that slave. This made it clear that military officers could not keep slaves in free territories.
• 1835 Marie Louise v. Marot. The Louisiana Supreme Court ruled that a slave taken to a territory where slavery was forbidden could not be made a slave again upon returning to a slave-owning territory. This precedent was later overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court in the 1856 Dred Scott v. Sandford case.
• 1836, Commonwealth v. Aves. When Mary Slater visited Boston, Massachusetts, she brought her enslaved girl, Med. Anti-slavery groups sought Med's freedom, arguing that she became free by being brought voluntarily into a free state. The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled that Med was free immediately upon arrival. This decision angered Southerners.
• 1841, United States v. The Amistad. A group of enslaved Mende people, illegally transported on a ship near Cuba, mutinied and demanded to return to Africa. The ship ended up near New York. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Mende were illegally taken from Africa and had legally defended their freedom. The Court ordered them to be freed and returned to West Africa.
• 1844, Polly Wash v. David D. Mitchell. Polly Berry (filing as Polly Wash) sued for her daughter's freedom. Polly had already won her own freedom because she had been illegally held in the free state of Illinois. Since Polly was legally free when her daughter was born, the jury ruled in favor of Polly and her daughter was freed. Her daughter, Lucy Delaney, later wrote a book about her experience, which is the only first-person account of a freedom suit.
• 1852, Scott v. Emerson. This case was a step toward the famous Dred Scott decision. By the 1850s, southern juries were less likely to grant freedom to slaves who had lived in free states. The Missouri state supreme court ruled that Dred Scott's time in a free state did not make him free after he returned to Missouri. This effectively ended the "once free, always free" rule in Missouri.
• 1853, Solomon Northup v. Edwin Epps. Solomon Northup, a free man from New York, was kidnapped in Washington, D.C., and sold into slavery in Louisiana in 1841. In 1852, he managed to get a letter to his friends in New York. In 1853, an agent from New York brought proof of Northup's free status to Louisiana, and a local lawyer helped him. A judge quickly ruled that Northup was free, and he returned to his family.
• 1857, Dred Scott v. Sandford. This famous case was first filed by Dred Scott and his wife, Harriet, each seeking freedom, partly to protect their two young daughters. The cases were combined under his name. The U.S. Supreme Court made a very harsh ruling. It said that people of African descent, whether enslaved or free, had no legal rights as citizens in federal courts. It also ruled that Congress had no right to ban slavery in any state or territory.

Freedom Suits in Great Britain

• 1772, Somerset v Stewart. In England, Lord Mansfield ruled that slavery had no basis in English law. He said that an owner could not force an enslaved person to leave England against their will. This ruling was widely seen as ending slavery in England.
• 1778, Knight v. Wedderburn. This was a freedom suit in Scotland by Joseph Knight. Like in the Somerset case, the court found that slavery had no basis in Scottish law, which effectively ended slavery there.

See also

• List of court cases in the United States involving slavery
• Jenny Slew
• Coartación (slavery)

Images for kids

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  An animation showing when United States territories and states forbade or allowed slavery, 1789–1861.