ELIZABETH FREEMAN (MUM BETT) (1742-1829)
Elizabeth Freeman was born into slavery in Claverack, New York in 1742. During the 1770s, she lived in the household of Colonel John Ashley of Sheffield, a prominent citizen who at that time also served as a judge of the Berkshire Court of Common Pleas. Colonel Ashley purchased Freeman from a Mr. Hogeboom when she was six months of age. Upon suffering physical abuse from Ashley’s wife, Freeman escaped her home and refused to return. She found a sympathetic ear with attorney Theodore Sedgwick, the father of the writer Catherine Sedgwick. Apparently, as she served dinner to her masters, she had heard them speaking of freedom—in this case freedom from England—and she applied the concepts of equality and freedom for all to herself.
In 1781 Freeman, with the assistance of Sedgwick, initiated the case Brom and Bett v. Ashley that set a precedent for the abolition of slavery in Massachusetts. According to the Massachusetts Judicial Review, the 1781 Berkshire county case of Brom and Bett v. Ashley, often referred to as the Mum Bett or Elizabeth Freeman case, was unique because it occurred less than one year after the adoption of the Massachusetts Constitution and because, in contrast to prior freedom suits, there was no claim that John Ashley, the slave owner, had violated a specific law. This case was a direct challenge to the very existence of slavery in Massachusetts.
Once free, Freeman stayed with the Sedgwick family as a servant in gratitude to Theodore Sedgwick. Sedgwick in arguing a later case used the example of Freeman when he said in defense of the abolition of slavery, “If there could be a practical refutation of the imagined superiority of our race to hers, the life and character of this woman would afford that refutation.” Freeman died on December 28, 1829 at 85 years of age.
-
1:02:27
Forgotten Black History
17 days agoRemembering Our History - The Importance of Understanding Medical Exploitation
701 -
1:18:14
Steven Crowder
3 hours agoDonald Trump’s Dark MAGA Nazi Rally & Exclusive Georgia Election Footage
177K355 -
LIVE
Benny Johnson
1 hour agoI Was in The FRONT Row of Trump's Historic Madison Square Garden Rally | This Is The TRUTH...🇺🇸
10,521 watching -
LIVE
Caleb Hammer
13 hours agoGold Digger Exploits Beta Husband | Financial Audit
360 watching -
LIVE
LFA TV
5 hours agoTHE HOME STRETCH! | LIVE FROM AMERICA 10.28.24 11am EST
5,673 watching -
1:19:06
Graham Allen
4 hours agoTrump Holds HISTORIC MSG Rally! + Breaks The Internet On Joe Rogan!
55.4K114 -
1:42:36
Jeff Ahern
3 hours ago $12.21 earnedMonday Madness With Jeff Ahern
25.8K6 -
2:59:15
Wendy Bell Radio
8 hours agoThe Real Big Tent Party
59.6K72 -
1:17:41
Game On!
12 hours ago $6.48 earnedNFL National Tight End Day Delivered!
52.4K1 -
2:09:10
AP4Liberty
4 hours ago $15.89 earnedTrump's Joe Rogan Interview Trumped By Madison Square Garden Event
40.4K7