Elizabeth Freeman and Brom won a Massachusetts freedom suit against John Ashley. They used the state constitution’s equality principle to challenge enslavement. The decision demonstrates how enslaved people acted as legal claimants and helped undermine slavery rather than waiting for others to liberate them.
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What strategy helped Elizabeth Freeman and Brom obtain freedom?
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Explanation
Their legal action challenged the compatibility of slavery with Massachusetts constitutional language. Enslaved people themselves made rights claims.
Elizabeth Freeman and Brom gained freedom by accepting that constitutional liberty excluded them.
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Explanation
Their court action challenged enslavement through principles of liberty. They contested exclusion rather than accepting it.