The Freedom Petitions: Black Patriotism, Black Politics, and the Abolition of Slavery in Massachusetts, 1773–1783

Abstract

abstract: Between 1773 and 1777, a group of Black men presented four petitions to the Massachusetts legislature for the abolition of slavery. Although they have been examined for over two centuries, the story of these "freedom petitioners" and their place in their colony's patriot politics has frequently been misconstrued by historians or sidelined in larger histories of American abolitionism. Tracing the political, social, and discursive career of what in fact became the first organized, interracial, and successful abolition campaign in American history, I argue that a reevaluation is needed. The freedom petitions were not used to embarrass the patriot cause. They helped to bring about the downfall of royal government in Massachusetts. The American Revolution's "language of liberty" did not infect these actors. It was a discourse that they contributed to and helped create. And the freedom petitioners did not fundamentally fail to achieve their objectives. Their campaign played a crucial role in the effective as well as legal demise of slavery in their state. Abstract: Between 1773 and 1777, a group of Black men presented four petitions to the Massachusetts legislature for the abolition of slavery. Despite having been examined extensively for nearly two centuries, the story of these "freedom petitioners" and their place in their colony's patriot politics has frequently been misconstrued by historians or sidelined in larger histories of American abolitionism. Tracing the political, social, and discursive career of what in fact became the first organized, interracial, and successful abolition campaign in American history, I argue a reevaluation is needed. The freedom petitions were not used to embarrass the patriot cause. They helped to bring about the downfall of royal government in Massachusetts. The American Revolution's "language of liberty" did not infect these actors. It was a discourse that they contributed to and helped create. And the freedom petitioners did not fundamentally fail to achieve their objectives. Their campaign played a crucial role in the effective as well as legal demise of slavery in their state.