In the eighteenth century new thinking about “natural rights” animated Massachusetts politics and helped to fuel the American Revolution.
“All men are created equal.”
- Declaration of Independence, 1776
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- Massachusetts Historical Society
Ending Slavery in Massachusetts
The contradiction between slavery and revolutionary ideals was obvious, particularly to the African-American community in Massachusetts. After independence, law suits brought by Mum Bett (later known as Elizabeth Freeman) and Quock Walker were instrumental in ending slavery. Massachusetts was the first of the thirteen states to do so. The process was uneven. Some enslavers secretly sold their “servants” out of state to minimize financial losses.
Ashley House Kitchen.
- Trustees of Reservations
Turning Point
It is said that, as an enslaved woman, Mum Bett, heard discussions about constitutional rights in the parlor of the Ashley house in Sheffield, Massachusetts. While in the kitchen, she was struck and burned with a hot shovel. She won her freedom through a lawsuit after the ratification of the Massachusetts constitution.
John Adams, Samuel Adams and James Bowdoin drafting the Massachusetts Constitution. - Massachusetts State Library
The Massachusetts Constitution of 1780
In 1778 Massachusetts towns rejected a draft constitution for the “State of Massachusetts.” Many objected to the exclusion of Native Americans and African Americans from voting. In 1780 a new constitution for the “Commonwealth of Massachusetts” was adopted. Influenced mainly by the ideas of John Adams, it allowed all men (but not women) to vote without racial or religious qualifications. The Massachusetts Constitution is on display in the Commonwealth Museum’s Treasures Gallery.
Thinking about History
Progress in the development of human rights has often been measured slowly - in centuries not only in years and decades. While not a proud history, gradual progress was made in colonial Massachusetts, more than in many places in America (and across the globe). While equality did not follow, slavery was ended. Religious tensions remained, but law mandated freedom of worship. A tradition of free elections took hold. Nationally, documents, like the Bill of Rights, continue to inspire claims that expand the scope of human freedom.
“The arc of the moral universe is long but it bends toward justice.”
- Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
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