Massachusetts Emancipation Day

Cities and states across the country are considering making Juneteenth aka Texas Emancipation Day a paid holiday. Our state legislature is following suit. I urge our legislators to modify the legislation to include the recognition of Massachusetts Emancipation Day, aka Quock Walker Day.

Quock Walker was born to enslaved Black people in Massachusetts in 1753. In 1754, there were approximately 4,500 enslaved people listed in the Massachusetts census. Quock Walker and his family were considered the property of James Caldwell of Worcester County. Like many enslaved people, Quock Walker was promised manumission. And as was often the case, an enslaver refused to fulfill the promise of freedom.

When Quock Walker turned 28, he self-emancipated. Nathaniel Jennison, his former enslaver, beat him. Quock Walker sued Jennison for battery. A jury found that Quock Walker was a free man under the Massachusetts constitution and awarded him 50 pounds.

The case was appealed up to the Massachusetts Supreme Court. William Cushing, the chief justice of the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts, wrote regarding the Quock Walker case,

“… there can be no such thing as perpetual servitude of a rational creature.”

The Massachusetts Supreme Court decisions in Walker v. Jennison and Commonwealth v. Jennison established the basis for ending slavery in Massachusetts on constitutional grounds. In addition, the jury found Jennison guilty of assault and battery against a freeman. He was sentenced to pay the commonwealth 40 shillings as well as the cost of prosecution and be imprisoned until said costs were paid.

The decisions on Quock Walker cases were delivered on July 8, 1783. Cushing wrote of Commonwealth v. Jennison that “The proceeding Case was the one in which by the foregoing Charge, Slavery in Massachusetts was forever abolished.” There were no slaves listed in the 1790 Massachusetts census.

With the Quock Walker decision, Massachusetts became the first state in the nation to abolish slavery. Massachusetts Emancipation Day, aka Quock Walker Day, should be a time to commemorate this historic first and proud moment in our state’s history. It can also be an opportunity for citizens to reflect on how they can continue to be the leaders in erasing racial inequities and advancing anti-racism in our country. Similar to Patriots Day, Quock Walker Day marks a seminal moment in the march towards freedom for all in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

I hope that our legislators and governor will join me in celebrating Quock Walker Day on July 8 and every year thereafter.

— Sean Osborne, Lexington