Elizabeth Freeman (Mumbet)

             Mum Bett was born in 1742 to enslaved parents in Claverack, NY. Her master was a Dutchman named Pieter Hogeboom. Colonel John Ashley of Sheffield, Massachusetts acquired Mum Bett and her sister, Lizzy, from their owner when he married Hogeboom's daughter, Hannah.
             While in the house one day Ashley, attempted to strike Mum Bet's sister, Lizzy, with a heated kitchen shovel. Mum Bett interceded and received a blow to the arm from which she never regained full use. Afterwards, she left the Ashley house and refused to return.
             Mum Bett worked as a server during a committee meeting and listened' while committee members talked about the Bill of Rights and the new state constitution, she decided that if all people were born free and equal then she deserved to be free also. She decided to sue for her freedom.
             She appealed to Theodore Sedgewick, a lawyer from Stockbridge. Massachusetts and committee member to represent her in her judicial quest for freedom. She heard him speak out against slavery while at Ashley's home and was able to persuade him to take the case. Later, another one of Ashley's slaves joined the law suit creating Brom & Bett vs. Ashley.
             Brom & Bett vs Ashley was argued before a county court. Mum Bett decided to have a jury trial while Mr. Sedgewick argued that:
             1. Massachusetts had no law in existence that supported the institution of slavery
             2. If there was a law, it would have been annulled because the Massachusetts Constitution of 1780 stated that "all people were born free and equal"
             The jury ruled in favor of Brom and Bett and Mom Bett won her freedom. She was the first enslaved African American to sue for her freedom and win. This case was later used as a precedent for other cases and contributed to the termination of slavery in Massachusetts.
             Mom Bett changed her name to Elizabeth Freeman and worked as a paid Domestic helper
             ...

More Essays:

APA     MLA     Chicago
Elizabeth Freeman (Mumbet). (1969, December 31). In MegaEssays.com. Retrieved 21:26, March 28, 2024, from https://www.megaessays.com/viewpaper/28626.html