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About Massachusetts Emancipation Day
On November 1, 2022, an act designating July 8 as Massachusetts Emancipation Day (also known as Quock Walker Day) was approved and added to Chapter 6 of the General Laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The day “[recognizes] the significant contributions made by Quock Walker in 1781 to abolish slavery in the Commonwealth and the supreme judicial court decisions.” The MA Legislature credits Sean Osborne, Founder and President of the Association of Black Citizens of Lexington, with bringing attention to how Quock Walker’s cases helped lead to the liberation of slaves in the Commonwealth.
Elizabeth Freeman Paved the Way for Quock Walker
Elizabeth Freeman was born into slavery as “Mum Bett” in New York and would remain “Mum Bett” until she won her freedom in Massachusetts, where she was enslaved up until 1781. Although Quock Walker filed his suit for freedom before Elizabeth Freeman, her case went to court first and “[she] became the first African American woman to successfully file a lawsuit for freedom in the state of Massachusetts” (Source: “Elizabeth Freeman,” Women’s History Museum). Freeman was said to have heard the following words in the newly published Massachusetts Constitution read in public and then went straight from her enslaver’s house to local attorney Theodore Sedgwick’s house to ask for his help in securing her freedom: “All men are born free and equal, and have certain natural, essential and unalienable rights.” (Source: “How an Enslaved Woman Took Her Freedom to Court,” Smithsonian Magazine).
When Elizabeth won her case, she changed her name to Elizabeth Freeman, Freeman being a common name change at that time to indicate freedom from slavery. To learn more about Elizabeth, watch the following video, “Elizabeth Freeman: Trailblazer for Freedom,” by the History Channel.
Quock Walker’s Journey to Freedom
In 1781, Quock Walker filed suit against his enslaver, Nathaniel Jennison. Walker had originally been promised his freedom at the age of 25 by his first enslaver, James Caldwell. When Caldwell passed away, the widowed Mrs. Caldwell renewed the promise and said she would free Quock at the age of 21. However, when she married Nathaniel Jennison, that promise was revoked by Jennison after Mrs. Caldwell passed away. Eventually, Quock ran away at the age of 28, but was captured and assaulted by Jennison. Quock would file suit against Jennison for assault and battery in the Worcester County Court shortly after.
There would be a total of three court cases, the last one, Commonwealth v. Jennison concluding in 1783. The final case ended with Jennison found guilty of assault and battery of Quock Walker. Two of the court cases, Walker v. Jennison and Commonwealth v. Jennison would provide the needed backing for ending slavery in the Commonwealth, though there would be no formal law – instead, liberation of slaves became voluntary over the next decade and by 1790, there were no recorded slaves in the Commonwealth’s federal census (Source: Population Profile of Our New Nation: A Comparison of the 1790 and 1800 Censuses, Census.gov).
Learn more about Quock Walker and his quest for freedom in Brandeis University employee Jazz Dottin’s video below, “Quock Walker & the Ending of Slavery in Massachusetts,” part of Dottin’s Black Gems Unearthed series.