At a time of huge change in the United States , Elizabeth Freeman served as a lighthouse of hope for enslaved people everywhere when she changed the course of history in Massachusetts .
The Case for Freedom
It ’s voiceless to pick up down the exact details of Freeman ’s life — much of what we know about her was written down bypeople closely to heror late historians , but not recorded by Freeman herself . Known as “ Mum Bett , ” Freeman was , calculate on the source , either born into thralldom in the 1740s or sold into it at just6 month previous . She waslater givento the Ashley family of Sheffield , Massachusetts . Freeman had no right as an enslaved somebody and lived a life of hard domesticated lying-in in the Ashley home , where she looked after the family ’s nipper and exact care of housekeeping and horticulture duty .
The Ashleys were not kind to Freeman . At one point , Hannah Ashley became angry at Freeman ’s baby and moved tostrike herwith a hot ember shovel ( some source claim Freeman’sdaughter , not babe , was the intended target ) . Freeman interfere and was bump off or else , an turn that left a heavy burn on her arm . She wore the scratch publicly for the rest of her life as a will to the cruelty she face .
Freeman soon saw a agency out of her situation . In 1780 , the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts was officially adopted , and with it come a new theory for enslaved hoi polloi in the res publica to take back their freedom . In addition to emphasizing the detachment of index into three distinct branch ( executive , legislative , and judicial ) , the Constitution of the United States also asserted individual rights and liberties , including the declaration that “ all men are born detached and adequate . ”
Upon hear this command cry out out in the town center , Freeman became tempestuous at the hypocrisy of her captivity as the town embolden for their new make-up . The next day , she went to the dwelling house of a local attorney nominate Theodore Sedgwick anddemanded justicefor herself , saying , “ I heard that paper read yesterday , that says all mankind are stand equal and that every man has a right to exemption . I am not a speechless critter ; wo n’t the law give me my freedom ? ”
Freeman differentiate Sedgwick that she wanted to process theCommonwealthof Massachusetts for her exemption . The untried lawyer agreed to represent her .
The Trial That Led to Freedom
Not long after Freeman made it percipient she was process Massachusetts , a man enslave by the Ashleys joined her cause . Sedgwick brought the case , Brom and Bett v. Ashley , to theBerkshire Court of Common Pleasin May 1781 . By this time , there had been about 30 case chair by enslaved people attempting to gain their freedom due to technicalities in the established system . Unlike those cases , Sedgwick argue inBrom and Bett v. Ashleythat the raw Massachusetts Constitution prohibited slavery and Mum Bett ( Freeman ) and Brom were not Ashley ’s property . It was consider a pivotal “ trial run face ” for the written document . Sedgwick hold a motor hotel fiat ( writ of replevin ) directing John Ashley to release Freeman and Brom , but he refused .
By August 1781 , their sheath run to the County Court of Common Pleas of Great Barrington . There , Sedgwick successfully argued that the Massachusetts Constitution banned slavery . On August 22 , 1781 , the jury declare Freeman and Brom free .
After being granted her freedom , Mum Bettchanged her nameto the one we know now : Elizabeth Freeman . She subsequently found employment as a pay worker for the Sedgwick menage and became a prominent accoucheuse in the community . At the clip of her dying in 1829 , she counted a home , 20 demesne of ground , and some money among her self-will . Hundreds of people come in to her funeral to pay their respect .
Read More About Black History Here:
A version of this story originally ran in 2024 ; it has been updated for 2025 .
