Who was the slave who sued for his freedom after being taken into free territory by his owner?

wahoowa94

Dred Scott The Supreme Court case was the Dred Scott v. Sandford case of 1856. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dred_Scott Mar 28 08, 1:53 PM

rxbigdawg

Dred Scott. In 1856 the Supreme court favored against him since at the time African's could not be citizens and thus could not bring the case before the court. Pretty pathetic in hindsight. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dred_Scott Mar 28 08, 1:56 PM

lammas1

An earlier and more signifcant case is that of Thomas Somersett, who was taken to England by his master, and later, with the help of the philanthropist Granville Sharp, successfully sued for his freedom. This case, decided in 1772, determined that all slaves 'who shall reach English territories shall be free'. This meant that slavery was thenceforth formally declared illegal in England, and technically also in the American colonies. This badly upset Washington, Jefferson et al., and was an important consideration in events leading to the American Revolution. Mar 28 08, 4:08 PM

queproblema

Here's a link for Lammas1's post. The slave's given name was James, though he seems to have gone by his surname alone until he was at least in his twenties. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Somersett However, the word "territory" in the question points to Dred Scott, whose case in the US more immediately affected American slavery. Mar 28 08, 9:13 PM