II. The Massachusetts Constitution and the Cases to End Slavery

Framing Questions

In what ways do these documents provide evidence about:

1. The legal end of slavery in Massachusetts?
2. Attitudes about freedom, rights, and the status of African Americans?
3. Ways in which people tried to understand the existence and end of slavery here?
4. Ways in which the legal end to slavery did and did not change the lives of blacks and whites in Massachusetts?

Documents

Free and Equal?

Queries Respecting Slavery