Freedom Suits

Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online. Freedom suits is the term for legal petitions filed by slaves for freedom in the United States and its territories, including during the colonial period. Most were filed during the nineteenth century. As most northern states and territories had abolished or prohibited slavery, the travel and residency changes of slaves with masters between free and slave states provided grounds for some slaves to sue for freedom. Free states and territories generally held that slaveholders forfeited their rights to "property" by bringing slaves into the state for extended travel or residency. Missouri, Kentucky, Louisiana and Mississippi freed numerous slaves on these grounds. By 1846, several hundred cases had been tried in state courts across the country, and slaves had won freedom in 57 percent of the 575 freedom suits decided in state appellate courts.