American slave court cases
Encyclopedia
The following is a list of American court cases concerning slavery
Slavery
Slavery is a system under which people are treated as property to be bought and sold, and are forced to work. Slaves can be held against their will from the time of their capture, purchase or birth, and deprived of the right to leave, to refuse to work, or to demand compensation...

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Date Case Court Ruling
1781 Brom and Bett v. Ashley Berkshire County Court of Common Pleas Slaves Brom and Bett (Elizabeth Freeman) were freed on the basis that the Massachusetts constitutional provision that "all men are born free and equal" abolished slavery in the state.
1781 Quock Walker
Quock Walker
Quock Walker, also known as Kwaku or Quok Walker , was an American slave who sued for and won his freedom in June 1781 in a case citing language in the new Massachusetts Constitution that declared all men to be born free and equal...

 v. Jennison
Worcester County Court of Common Pleas Jennison's slave, Quock Walker
Quock Walker
Quock Walker, also known as Kwaku or Quok Walker , was an American slave who sued for and won his freedom in June 1781 in a case citing language in the new Massachusetts Constitution that declared all men to be born free and equal...

, was found to be a freedman on the basis that slavery was contrary to the Bible and the Massachusetts Constitution.
1783 Commonwealth v. Jennison
Quock Walker
Quock Walker, also known as Kwaku or Quok Walker , was an American slave who sued for and won his freedom in June 1781 in a case citing language in the new Massachusetts Constitution that declared all men to be born free and equal...

Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Justice William Cushing
William Cushing
William Cushing was an early Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court, from its inception to his death. He was the longest-serving of the Court's original members, sitting on the bench for 21 years...

 instructs jury that "slavery is in my judgment as effectively abolished as it can be by the granting of rights and privileges wholly incompatible and repugnant to its existence."
1818 Harry v. Decker & Hopkins
Harry v. Decker & Hopkins
Harry v. Decker & Hopkins , a decision by the Supreme Court of Mississippi, and the first among southern states, to free a slave solely on the basis of prior residence in a free territory...

Supreme Court of Mississippi Decker's slave Harry was freed, and slaves residing in the Northwest Territory become free as per the Ordinance of 1787, and may assert their rights in court
1820 Polly v. Lasselle
Polly v. Lasselle
Polly v. Lasselle was an 1820 state supreme court case in the US state of Indiana where abolitionists attempted to free a slave from her master...

Supreme Court of Indiana Indiana gave freedom to blacks who had been slaves prior to Indiana's constitutional ban on slavery
1830 North Carolina v. Mann
North Carolina v. Mann
North Carolina v. Mann, 13 N.C. 263 , is a decision in which the Supreme Court of North Carolina ruled that slaveowners had absolute authority over their slaves and could not be found guilty of committing violence against them.-Background:In 1829, Elizabeth Jones, who owned a slave named...

Supreme Court of North Carolina Where slaveowners had absolute authority over their slaves and could not be found guilty of committing violence against them
1834 Rachel v. Walker
Rachel V. Walker
Rachel v. Walker was a "freedom suit" filed by Rachel, an African-American slave in the St. Louis Circuit Court. She petitioned for her freedom and that of her son James Henry from William Walker , based on having been held illegally as a slave by a previous master, an Army officer, in the free...

Supreme Court of Missouri A lawsuit involving a slave who, in 1834, sued for her freedom from John Walker in the Supreme Court of Missouri, and won
1838 Hinds v. Brazealle
Hinds v. Brazealle
Hinds v. Brazealle was a case decided by the Supreme Court of Mississippi, which denied the legality in Mississippi of deeds of manumission executed by Elisha Brazealle, a Mississippi resident, in Ohio to free a slave woman and their son...

Supreme Court of Mississippi Denied a deed of manumission in Ohio for a citizen of Mississippi's mixed race son and his slave mother, because it was against Mississippi statutes, and was considered fraud
1841 United States v. Libellants and Claimants of the Schooner Amistad
Amistad (1841)
The Amistad, also known as United States v. Libellants and Claimants of the Schooner Amistad, 40 U.S. 518 , was a United States Supreme Court case resulting from the rebellion of slaves on board the Spanish schooner Amistad in 1839...

Supreme Court of the United States As the Africans in questions were never legal property, they were not criminals, but rather unlawfully kidnapped, and were directed to the President to be transported to Africa
1842 Prigg v. Pennsylvania
Prigg v. Pennsylvania
Prigg v. Pennsylvania, , was a United States Supreme Court case in which the court held that the Federal Fugitive Slave Act precluded a Pennsylvania state law that gave procedural protections to suspected escaped slaves, and overturned the conviction of Edward Prigg as a result.-Federal Law:In June...

Supreme Court of the United States Overturned the conviction of slavecatcher Edward Prigg based on the ruling that Federal law supersedes State law
1851 Strader v. Graham
Strader v. Graham
Strader v. Graham, 51 U.S. 82 , was a case in which the Supreme Court of the United States held that the status of three slaves who went from Kentucky to Indiana and Ohio depended on Kentucky law rather than Ohio law...

Supreme Court of the United States The status of three slaves who traveled from Kentucky to Indiana and Ohio depended on Kentucky law rather than Ohio law
1953 Holmes v. Ford
Holmes v. Ford
Holmes v. Ford was an American court case in the Oregon Territory that freed a slave family in the territory in 1853. The decision re-affirmed that slavery was illegal in the territory as outlined in the Organic Laws of Oregon that were continued once the region became a U.S. territory. In the...

Oregon Territorial Supreme Court Granted freedom to a family of slaves who had come to Oregon with their master from Missouri, as it violated the Organic Laws of Oregon
Organic Laws of Oregon
The Organic Laws of Oregon were two sets of laws passed in the 1840s that established a structure for government in the Oregon Country in the northwest corner of North America. These laws were created by a legislative committee formed after the Champoeg Meetings...

1852 Lemmon v. New York
Lemmon v. New York
Lemmon v. New York , a decision by the Superior Court of the City of New York, granted freedom to slaves who were brought into New York by their Virginia slave owners, while in transit to Texas.-Background:...

Superior Court of the City of New York Granted freedom to slaves who were brought into New York by their Virginia slave owners, while in transit to Texas
1857 Dred Scott v. Sanford Supreme Court of the United States People of African descent imported into the United States and held as slaves, or their descendants — whether or not they were slaves — were not protected by the Constitution and could never be citizens of the United States.
1859 Ableman v. Booth
Ableman v. Booth
Ableman v. Booth, , is a case in which the Supreme Court of the United States held that state courts cannot issue rulings that contradict the decisions of federal courts, overturning a decision by the Supreme Court of Wisconsin....

Supreme Court of the United States held that state courts cannot issue rulings that contradict the decisions of federal courts, in this case concerning unconstitutionality ruling of the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850
Fugitive Slave Law of 1850
The Fugitive Slave Law or Fugitive Slave Act was passed by the United States Congress on September 18, 1850, as part of the Compromise of 1850 between Southern slave holding interests and Northern Free-Soilers. This was one of the most controversial acts of the 1850 compromise and heightened...

by Wisconsin Supreme Court
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