 Mima Queen & Louisa Queen v. John Hepburn (1813) |
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This unsuccessful freedom suit reflects the legal challenges to slavery and hinged on the Supreme Court's decision that hearsay about family genealogy could not be used as evidence, setting later precedent. Mina (spelled Mima in the court record) Queen petitioned for her freedom and that of her daughter on the grounds that her great grandmother Mary Queen was a free woman of color. When the lower court disallowed critical testimony about Mary Queen's origins and status, Queen appealed the decision to the U.S. Supreme Court on a writ of error, arguing that hearsay testimony should be allowed in a petition for freedom case. The Supreme Court denied the appeal, upholding the lower court's ruling.
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| Opinion of Judge Hays on Slavery in California (1856) |
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In the decision in this case, a California judge ruled that Biddy Mason and her three children, as well as a woman named Hannah and her nine children and grandchildren, were "free forever" after their enslaver brought them into the free state of California to reside. The judge's opinion was published in the official newspaper of the American Anti-Slavery Society.
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| Peter and others v. Susanna Elliott and Rachell Elliott (1787) |
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This freedom suit was brought forth by 22 enslaved people who were freed by a deed of manumission that was then contested by the executrixes of the former enslaver upon his death. The court found in favor of the re-enslavement of Peter and the other 21 freedmen.
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| She's Been Her Own Mistress: The Long History of Charlotte Dupee v. Henry Clay, 1790-1840 (2020) |
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This essay refocuses the story of Charlotte Dupee v. Henry Clay on Charlotte herself, detailing her long struggle navigating the strategies and pathways to freedom.
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| Somerset v. Stewart (1772) |
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This case heard before the English Court of King's Bench determined that slavery was unsupported by English Common Law and that no enslaved person could be forced out of England to be sold into slavery. James Sommerset was an enslaved person who had been purchased by Charles Stewart in Boston, Massachusetts, then taken to England. Sommerset later escaped, and Stewart had him captured and imprisoned on a ship headed to Jamaica. Sommerset's godparents applied for a writ of habeas corpus. Following the court’s decision, enslaved people in the American Colonies filed freedom suits based on Mansfield's ruling.
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| Statement of Facts in Dred Scott v. Sanford (1854) |
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The parties in Dred Scott v. Sandford agreed to a "Statement of Facts" about the timeline of events in Scott's life that were relevant to his freedom suit. This agreed upon evidence downplayed Dred Scott's active role in putting his case before the court.
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| The Slave, Grace (1827) |
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In this freedom suit, an enslaved woman who had spent time in England was re-enslaved once she voluntarily returned to her home in Antigua. The court found that while she became free once she set foot on English soil, her status reverted to that of enslaved once she returned to Antigua.
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| The Timing of Queen v. Hepburn: An exploration of African American Networks in the Early Republic (2015) |
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This essay explores the phenomenon of multigenerational networks of freedom-making through the petition for freedom cases of the Queen family in Washington, D.C.
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| Unis et al. v. Charlton's Administrator et al. (1855) |
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In this freedom suit, the descendants of a Black woman named Flora claimed their freedom on the grounds that Flora was free before being abducted and sold into slavery in Virginia. Between 1826-1855, a series of cases bounced around county and appellate courts in Virginia before finally being decided against freedom for Flora's descendants.
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| United States v. The Amistad (1841) |
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This freedom suit originated after 53 Africans revolted and took control of the Spanish slave ship that intended to enslave them in Cuba. The ship was eventually seized by the U.S. Navy off the coast of Long Island and the Africans were taken into custody and charged with mutiny and murder. After a series of court appearances, the Supreme Court ruled that the Africans were "free negroes" who had been "unlawfully kidnapped, and forcibly and wrongfully carried on board" the Amistad. They were ordered to be released. After obtaining their freedom, missionary groups helped the surviving Africans return to Sierra Leone.
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| Winny v. Phebe Whitesides alias Prewitt (1824) |
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This case was the first freedom suit heard by the Missouri Supreme Court. Winny claimed her freedom on account of being brought into the free territory of what would become Illinois before being removed to Missouri. The court found in favor of her freedom, establishing a "once free, always free" precedent that was eventually overturned by the decision in Dred Scott v. Sandford.
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