Jenny Slew Wins Freedom Suit in Massachusetts

Jenny Slew, an enslaved woman in Ipswich, Massachusetts, sued John Whipple for her freedom, arguing she was born of a free white mother. The Essex County Superior Court ruled in her favor in 1766, awarding her freedom and four pounds damages. Slew's case was the first successful freedom suit in Massachusetts and established that personal liberty could be litigated in court — a precedent for later suits by Quock Walker and Elizabeth Freeman.