Somerset case
Somerset case. In 1771 the American master of James Somerset, a negro slave, attempted to send him out of England to be sold. Abolitionists pleaded habeas corpus on his behalf. Blackstone, in his Oxford lectures, had already denied that English law recognized slavery. In a famous judgment on 22 June 1772, which he made with some reluctance, Mansfield declared that slavery was odious and unknown to common law. Somerset was given his freedom. Though the implications of the judgment have been much discussed, it seems clear that slavery was not recognized in England subsequently.
J. A. Cannon
More From encyclopedia.com
Antislavery , Opposition to slavery in British North America began in the late seventeenth century but was limited mostly to a minority of Quakers and a few Purita… Theodore Dwight Weld , Hampton, Connecticut
Died February 3, 1895
Boston, Massachusetts
Religious leader and abolitionist
Author of the influential book
American Slavery as… Frederick Douglass , Born February 1818?
Tolbert County, Maryland
Washington, D.C.
Abolitionist, writer, and speaker
Escaped from slavery to become one of the most
promin… Thomas Clarkson , Clarkson, Thomas (1760–1846). Anti-slavery campaigner. Born in Wisbech (Cambs.), son of a schoolmaster, Clarkson was educated at St Paul's School and… Abolitionists , In colonial North America, the nonviolent Society of Friends stood almost alone in condemning slavery, which has led to the common misperception that… Sir Thomas Fowell Buxton , Buxton, Thomas Fowell (1786–1845). Anti-slavery campaigner and quaker philanthropist, Buxton married Hannah Gurney (sister of Elizabeth Fry). In 1808…
You Might Also Like
NEARBY TERMS
Somerset case