Quock Walker, also known as Kwaku or Quok Walker (b. 1753 - d. unknown), was an American slave who sued for and won his freedom in June 1781 in a case citing language in the new Massachusetts Constitution (1780) that declared all men to be born free and equal. The case is credited with helping abolish slavery in Massachusetts, although the 1780 constitution was never amended to explicitly prohibit the practice. Massachusetts was the first state of the union to effectively abolish slavery (although the independent Vermont Republic had done so in 1777). By the 1790 federal census, no slaves were recorded in the state.
Read more about Quock Walker: Early Life, Background, The Cases, Aftermath of The Trials
Famous quotes containing the word walker:
“If a walker is indeed an individualist there is nowhere he can’t go at dawn and not many places he can’t go at noon. But just as it demeans life to live alongside a great river you can no longer swim in or drink from, to be crowded into safer areas and hours takes much of the gloss off walking—one sport you shouldn’t have to reserve a time and a court for.”
—Edward Hoagland (b. 1932)