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Elizabeth Freeman Research Paper

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Elizabeth Freeman more commonly known as Mum Bett was born into slavery around the year of 1742. She spent most of her childhood and early adult years as a slave to a man named John Ashley and his wife, Hannah in Sheffield, Massachusetts alongside what historians believe to be her sister Lizzie. That was until Hannah, the wife, tried violently attacking and abusing Freeman’s sister in 1781. Mum Bett reported the incident to a local abolitionist who then brought her case to the courts. After a surprisingly short trial she became one of the first slaves to sue for her freedom and became a key factor in the abolishment of slavery in Massachusetts. Like most slaves of this era, the exact time and place of the birth of Elizabeth Freeman is undocumented but Bett’s is estimated to be around 1742. Slaves were treated as cattle not humans, birthdays were only important to their family and themselves. To the slave owners the only paper work that mattered were the ones that lead to the purchase and selling of slaves that they could profit out of in some way. However, what is documented is …show more content…

She died on December 28th 1829 in her mid 80’s and was buried on the Sedgewick farm along with man who freed her and the family that loved her as their very own. As we have learned about all the civil problems that Africans Americans have faced upon building this nation, our class has been able to track the slow but gradual steps taken towards the progress for freedom. From our reading where Equiano’s describes America as “having little or no law for free Negros” (Equaino.123) meaning that when he came here around the same Elizabeth Freeman was emancipated the free black population was so little there wasn’t even laws for them to abide by too. Elizabeth Freeman correlates to the learning of our class because once Mum Bett was announced free legally, Massachusetts

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