A website from the Massachusetts Historical Society; founded 1791.

II. The Massachusetts Constitution and the Cases to End Slavery

Framing Questions

In what ways do these documents provide evidence about:
  1. The legal end of slavery in Massachusetts?
  2. Attitudes about freedom, rights, and the status of African Americans?
  3. Ways in which people tried to understand the existence and end of slavery here?
  4. Ways in which the legal end to slavery did and did not change the lives of blacks and whites in Massachusetts?


Manuschip of Judge Cushing's Verdict in the Quock Walker Trial Free and Equal?

Queries respecting slavery in Massachusetts with answers by Jeremy Belknap Queries Respecting Slavery