Elizabeth Freeman

Elizabeth Freeman (1744December 28, 1829), also known as Bet or MumBet, was the first black slave to file and win a freedom suit in Massachusetts. The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruling, in Freemans favor, found slavery to be inconsistent with the 1780 Massachusetts State Constitution. Her suit, Brom and Bett v. Ashley (1781), was cited in the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court appellate review of Quock Walkers freedom suit. When the court upheld Walkers freedom under the states constitution, the ruling was considered to have implicitly ended slavery in Massachusetts.

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