Missouri Digital Heritage :: Education :: Before Dred Scott ::
History of Slave Freedom Suits in Missouri  Missouri State
Archives Before Dred Scott: Freedom Suits in Antebellum Missouri
History of Slave Freedom Suits in Missouri  An 1807 Missouri
territorial statute said that a person held in wrongful
servitude could sue for freedom. Most of the people using this
law to gain freedom were enslaved Africans. Since these cases
were all brought for the same reason, historians call them
"freedom suits."  Suing for freedom was not easy. The 1807
statute had many requirements and outlined each step slaves had
to take to win their freedom. Slaves had to prove they were free
black persons. They also had to prove they had been physically
abused while being held as slaves.  Freedom suits followed a
general pattern. Many of the same words were used in each one.
Such documents are said to be pro forma – they are issued from
different people but follow the same model and use the same
language. Each suit included a petiti