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Between 1773 and 1777, a group of Black men presented four petitions to the Massachusetts legislature for the abolition of slavery. Although they have been examined for over two centuries, the story of these "freedom petitioners" and their place in their colony's patriot politics has frequently been misconstrued by historians or sidelined in larger histories of American abolitionism. Tracing the political, social, and discursive career of what in fact became the first organized, interracial, and successful abolition campaign in American history, I argue that a reevaluation is needed. The freedom petitions were not used to embarrass the patriot cause. They helped to bring about the downfall of royal government in Massachusetts. The American Revolution's "language of liberty" did not infect these actors. It was a discourse that they contributed to and helped create. And the freedom petitioners did not fundamentally fail to achieve their objectives. Their campaign played a crucial role in the effective as well as legal demise of slavery in their state.
Between January 6,1773, and March 18,1777, a group of Black Bostonians presented at least four petitions to the Massachusetts legislature for the abolition of slavery.! Deploying a language of liberty most often associated with white patriot leaders of the American Revolution, these petitioners demonstrated remarkable acumen and political savvy as they took hold of the revolutionary moment to fight for their freedom. Historian and minister Dr. Jeremy Belknap first collected the petitions in 1795 in an attempt to explain the end of slavery in Massachusetts. Since then, their appeals have become crucial sources for understanding African American experiences during the Revolution. But even though they have been explored extensively, the petitions remain marginalized in histories of American abolitionism and misinterpreted even by the scholars who have studied them most closely. Placing them in their detailed political, social, and discursive context demonstrates the need for a reevaluation. Far from attempting to embarrass the patriot cause, as prior scholars have maintained, the Massachusetts freedom petitions were in fact used to bolster it. Far from being able to do "little to advance the cause of freedom," as many historians have concluded, the petitioners ensured the downfall of slavery in their state." And far from simply exploiting revolutionary rhetoric in various ways, the Americans...