Admin Table of Contents
How did Mum Bett sue for her freedom?
Mum Bett intervened and received the blow instead. Furious, she left the house and refused to return. When Colonel Ashley appealed to the law for her return, she called on Theodore Sedgewick, a lawyer from Stockbridge who had anti-slavery sentiments, and asked for his help to sue for her freedom.
What slaves sued for their freedom?
Dred Scott
In 1846, a slave named Dred Scott sued for his freedom in St. Louis. He said he had lived in both a free territory and a free state.
Why did Mum Bett sue?
Mum Bett (Elizabeth Freeman) was among the first enslaved people in Massachusetts to successfully sue for her freedom, encouraging the state to abolish slavery.
Why did Mum Bett change her name?
By August 1781, the case went to the County Court of Common Pleas of Great Barrington in the case known as Brom and Bett v. Ashley. During the case, Sedgwick argued that the Massachusetts Constitution outlawed slavery. Once she gained her freedom, Mum Bett changed her name to Elizabeth Freeman.
What did Mum Bett do in the American Revolution?
Elizabeth Freeman
| Elizabeth Freeman (a.k.a. Mumbet) | |
|---|---|
| Nationality | American |
| Other names | Bett, Mumbet, Mum Bett, |
| Occupation | Midwife, herbalist, servant |
| Known for | Brom and Bett v. Ashley (1781), gained freedom based on constitutional right to liberty |
How did slavery impact the Constitution?
Nevertheless, slavery received important protections in the Constitution. The notorious three-fifths clause—which counted three-fifths of a state’s slave population in apportioning representation—gave the South extra representation in the House of Representatives and extra votes in the Electoral College.
Why did Elizabeth Freeman sue?
Walker responded by suing him for assault and battery, claiming that Jennison didn’t own him. Walker would eventually win and Jennison would be forced to pay him damages. Freeman’s case was more radical than that. She wasn’t only saying that her enslavement was unjust, she was saying that all enslavement was unjust.
What did Elizabeth Bett Freeman do for a living?
She became a paid domestic worker in Sedgwick’s household instead. Freeman also worked as a prominent healer, midwife, and nurse. After 20 years, she was able to buy her own house where she lived with her children. Elizabeth “Mum Bett” Freeman died on December 28, 1829 and was buried in the Sedgwick family plot in Stockbridge, Massachusetts.
Who was Mum Bett and what did she do?
Mum Bett (Elizabeth Freeman) was among the first enslaved people in Massachusetts to successfully sue for her freedom, encouraging the state to abolish slavery. Who Was Mum Bett?
Was Elizabeth Bett inspired by the declaration of Independence?
But one woman who heard it wasn’t inspired—she was enraged. Elizabeth Freeman, then known only as “Bett,” was an enslaved woman who understood the irony in the declaration right away. As she watched the men around her declare freedom from oppressive rule, it only stood to reason that she should do the same.
How did Elizabeth Bett change the world?
Bett, or Mumbet, as she was referred to affectionately, was born sometime around 1742. She proved to be a driving force in ending the enslaved people trade in the new Commonwealth of Massachusetts when she successfully sued for freedom in 1781, becoming the first African American woman to win her way out of slavery.