Belinda Sutton Petitions Massachusetts for Reparations — First Granted in US History

Belinda Sutton, enslaved for over fifty years by Isaac Royall Jr., petitioned Massachusetts in 1783 for a pension from Royall's confiscated estate, describing her capture in West Africa as a child. The legislature granted her fifteen pounds twelve shillings annually — the first reparations payment to a formerly enslaved person in American history. The pension was granted for only one year; she had to re-petition repeatedly.