 Letter from Dorinda to Hamilton R. Gamble (1827) |
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Dorinda, "a free woman of color," wrote to her attorney in the midst of her freedom suit to tell him that her enslaver had violated the court's order not to remove her from the court's jurisdiction and planned to "keep me out of your reach if possible."
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| Letter from Thirteen Choctaw and Chickasaw Freedmen Pleading for Federal Assistance in Emancipating their Kin (1865) |
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This letter, formulated by a group of thirteen men who fled enslavement in the Choctaw and Chickasaw Nations, details how Choctaw and Chickasaw enslavers continued to hold Black people in bondage. The letter includes a plea for federal assistance in ensuring the freedom of the authors' family members, an exhibit with the names and locations of eighty people who were still enslaved in the Choctaw and Chickasaw Nations, and an accounting of how self-emancipated Black people were under threat of immediate death if they were to return to either nation.
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| Lord Dunmore's Proclamation (1775) |
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In this proclamation, Lord Dunmore, the last Royal Governor of Virginia, declared martial law in the colony at the start of the American Revolution. He incentivized enslaved people to join the British Army by offering them freedom in exchange for service, which in turn helped mobilize American enslavers against the British Army.
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| Massachusetts Body of Liberties (1641) |
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The Massachusetts Body of Liberties was the first legal code formed in the New England colonies. It established individual rights and protections that would later influence the U.S. Bill of Rights.
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| Massachusetts Personal Liberty Act (1855) |
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Passed in reaction to the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, the Massachusetts Personal Liberty Act was among laws passed by Northern states in an attempt to protect Black residents from unwarranted arrest.
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| Matilda v. Isaac Vanbibber (1815) |
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Matilda was a Black girl, aged twelve or thirteen, who was brought into Indiana Territory and later forcibly removed to Missouri Territory and sold as a slave. In her petition for freedom, Matilda argued that she earned her freedom while in Indiana Territory by virtue of the Northwest Ordinance of 1787 which banned slavery in the new territories.
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| Milly v. Mathias Rose (1819) |
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In this freedom suit, Milly sued for her freedom on behalf of herself and her two children Eliza and Bob. Milly argued that she should be free on account of being held in slavery in the free Illinois Territory.
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| 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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| Missouri Compromise (1820) |
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The Missouri Compromise admitted Missouri into the Union as a slave state and Maine as a free state. The compromise also suggested that slavery be prohibited north of the 36°30' latitude, which was followed until the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854.
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| Missouri v. Celia - Newspaper Coverage (1855) |
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In 1855, the Callaway County Circuit Court in Missouri convicted eighteen-year-old Celia of murdering her enslaver. Her case considered whether she was guilty of murder or if she could be acquitted due to self-defense from sexual assault. The court ruled that Celia's enslaved status prevented her from being eligible to protect herself, and she was sentenced to death. Newspapers in Missouri reported on the murder and resulting trial.
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| Opinion of Chief Justice Hornblower on the Fugitive Slave Law (1836) |
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Justice Hornblower’s opinion in the State v. Sheriff of Burlington County called into question the authority of the Fugitive Slave Act. The opinion calls into question discrepancies between the federal law and state statute. This opinion is over the case of the Helmsley family. Alexander Helmsley and his wife, Nancy, were a free black couple living in New Jersey. Someone accused them of being fugitive slaves. Under the Fugitive Slave Act, the family should have been sent back to their former enslaver; however, New Jersey’s Personal Liberty Law protected them from being extradited from the state. Hornblower’s opinion advocated for following the state personal liberty law over following the federal law.
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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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| Paul Jones v. George W. Jones (1840) |
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Paul Jones initiated a suit in a Wisconsin Territory court against George W. Jones for several sums of money owed to him for labor, goods, wares, and merchandise. George argued that Paul was purchased as a slave for life from French inhabitants who were entitled to hold slaves according to the Northwest Ordinance of 1787.
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| Peonage Act of 1867 |
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Following the passage of the 13th Amendment, this act officially abolished peonage, or debt slavery, in the United States. It specifically targeted New Mexico Territory, where this form of involuntary servitude was historically practiced. This act was later codified at 42 U.S.C. § 1994.
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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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| Prigg v. Pennsylvania (1842) |
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The case of Prigg v. Pennsylvania evaluated the legality of Pennsylvania's personal liberty laws. Margaret Morgan moved from Maryland to Pennsylvania after being granted her freedom. When relatives of her previous enslaver wanted to reclaim her, they sent Edward Prigg to Pennsylvania to find her. Pennsylvania courts found Prigg guilty of violating the state's personal liberty laws, but the Supreme Court ruled that the federal fugitive slave laws overrule state laws.
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| Queen Anne's Speech in Parliament (1712) |
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In a speech by Queen Anne before Parliament, she described a contract granted to England by Spain for slave trading rights and emphasized peace with France, as England received the contract from Spain.
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| Regulated Slave Trade Act (1788) |
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This act, also known as Dolben's Act, placed limits and regulations on the slave trade, and illustrates the attempts to regulate the numbers of children in the slave trade.
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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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| Slaves and Free Negroes (1849) |
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This act passed by the Virginia General Assembly reflects the racialization of the antebellum legal code.
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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 on Mansfield's ruling.
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| State of Missouri v. Celia (1855) |
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In this case, eighteen-year-old Celia was convicted of murdering her enslaver. The case considered whether Celia was guilty of murder or if she could be acquitted due to self-defense from sexual assault. The court ruled that Celia's enslaved status prevented her from being eligible to protect herself, and she was sentenced to death.
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 Stowage of the British slave ship "Brookes" under the Regulated Slave Trade Act (1788) |
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This image was used by English abolitionists to demonstrate the terrible conditions aboard slave ships.
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| Sworn Affidavit of Alexander Harlin Regarding His Continued Enslavement Until the 1866 Treaty as Part of His Application for Enrollment as a Choctaw (1896) |
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In this sworn affidavit, Alexander Harlin attested that he, as a "Choctaw Freedman, of African Blood," was enslaved by a Choctaw woman Sarah Harlin until the Treaty of 1866 was signed. The statement was made in support of his application for enrollment in the Choctaw Nation under the Act of June 10, 1896 which authorized the Dawes Commission to add names to existing tribal rolls.
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| Sworn Statement of W. L. Cochran as to the Enslavement of Margaret Clark in 1866 in Support of Her Application for Enrollment as a Choctaw (1896) |
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In this sworn statement, W. L. Cochran attested that Margaret Clark, "an African woman," was enslaved by R. L. Cochran in the Choctaw Nation until the Treaty of 1866 was signed. The statement was made in support of Margaret Clark's application for enrollment in the Choctaw Nation under the Act of June 10, 1896 which authorized the Dawes Commission to add names to existing tribal rolls.
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