Woman who sued for freedom emancipates

Elizabeth Freeman, an enslaved woman in Massachusetts, challenged her captivity by suing for her freedom after the state's new constitution declared that "all men are born free and equal." Her case, supported by lawyer Theodore Sedgwick, led to a court ruling in 1781 that declared her and another enslaved person free, marking an early legal rejection of slavery in Massachusetts. Freeman's success inspired future abolition efforts and highlighted the contradiction between America's founding ideals and the practice of slavery.

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