Person · 1630–1665
Elizabeth Key
The daughter of an enslaved African mother and a free English father who, in 1656, won one of the earliest freedom suits in the English colonies.
Her 1656 freedom suit sits at the very origin of American slave law.
Elizabeth Key was born in Virginia to an enslaved African woman and Thomas Key, a free Englishman. When she was held as a slave after her father's death, she sued for her freedom — arguing that she was the baptized Christian child of a free Englishman, and that under English common law a child's status followed the father.
She won. But her victory helped provoke a backlash: in 1662 Virginia passed a law declaring that a child's enslaved or free status would instead follow the mother (partus sequitur ventrem) — deliberately closing the path Key had used and ensuring slavery would be inherited down the maternal line for generations.
On the timeline
- 1656Elizabeth Key wins her freedom
An enslaved woman sues for her freedom — and wins — arguing she was the baptized daughter of a free Englishman, in one of the earliest freedom suits in the colonies.
- December 1662Virginia makes slavery hereditary
Virginia law declares that a child's status follows the mother, making slavery inheritable and permanent.
Resources
The web
Connections to other moments, systems, and investigations — the links rarely drawn together.
- led to·EventVirginia makes slavery hereditary
Key won her freedom through her father; Virginia responded by tying status to the mother, closing that path.