Quok Walker, Mumbet, and the Abolition of Slavery in Massachusetts

Datos Bibliográficos

ID3293293
AutoresArthur Zilversmit (autor de correspondencia)
Año1968
Volumen25
Número4
Páginas614
Fecha de publicación1968-10-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessNo
TipoARTICLE
RevistaThe William and Mary Quarterly (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0043-5597 • E-ISSN: 1933-7698
EditorialJSTOR (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.2307/1916801
OpenAlexW2322644060
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas10

HE history of the abolition of slavery in Massachusetts is shrouded T in obscurity. standard textbook story, that slavery was held to be unconstitutional by the Massachusetts courts in the case of Quok Walker, has been seriously questioned in two provocative articles: William O'Brien, S.J., Did the Jennison Case Outlaw Slavery in Massachusetts? and John D. Cushing, The Cushing Court and the Abolition of Slavery in Massachusetts.' These articles have raised a series of questions about the nature and the finality of the Walker case and have thereby undermined the traditional interpretation of the abolition of slavery in Massachusetts. Father O'Brien and Mr. Cushing both point out that there was not a single Quok Walker case, but rather several related legal actions: two civil suits and a criminal case. These cases began in the spring of I78I when Nathaniel Jennison of Barre discovered that his runaway slave, Quok Walker, was working in the fields of John and Seth Caldwell. When Walker resisted Jennison's command to return to his service, Jennison beat the recalcitrant Negro, brought him home and locked him up for several hours. Walker thereupon successfully sued Jennison for assault and battery-the Worcester Court of Common Pleas ruled that Walker was not a slave and therefore not subject to Jennison's discipline. But Jennison also took his grievances to court. He sued the Caldwells for enticing away his servant and the same court that ruled for the Negro in Walker v. Jennison awarded damages to the master in the case of Jennison v. Caldwell. Because these verdicts were apparently contradictory2 and because

Economic history · Law and economics · Political science · Sociology · American Constitutional Law and Politics · History