Somerset v Stewart

In 1772, a very important legal case changed how people thought about freedom in England. The case was called Somerset v Stewart. It involved an enslaved African man named James Somerset. A man named Charles Stewart had bought Somerset in Boston, which was a British colony in North America. Stewart later brought Somerset to England in 1769. After Somerset escaped in 1771, Stewart tried to force him onto a ship. He wanted to send Somerset to Jamaica to be sold to work on a plantation.

Many people worked hard to help Somerset during this difficult time. A man named Granville Sharp was a major supporter of the case. He helped find lawyers to argue for Somerset's rights. Somerset's godparents also asked the court to look into his imprisonment. The case went to the Court of King's Bench, which was a high court in London. The judge in charge was Lord Mansfield. He was the Chief Justice and had to decide if Stewart's actions were lawful.

The lawyers for Somerset presented many arguments during the hearings. They argued that English laws did not recognize slavery. They said that no person could be forced into such a situation without their consent. They also noted that English contract law did not allow for slavery. On the other side, Stewart's lawyers argued that people could be treated as property. They believed it would be dangerous to free all the Black people living in England. At that time, there were about 14,000 or 15,000 Black people in the country.

Lord Mansfield thought deeply about the decision for over a month. He eventually gave his judgment on June 22, 1772. He decided that Stewart could not use force to take Somerset out of the country. The ruling did not say that slavery was totally illegal in England. Instead, it said a master could not force an enslaved person to leave the kingdom. This was a very specific legal rule. However, it still meant that Somerset was set free from his captors.

This case had a huge impact on the world and the history of justice. People in London celebrated when they heard the news of Somerset's freedom. Many people in the thirteen American colonies followed the case closely. Even though the ruling was narrow, it challenged the idea that people could be owned like property. It showed that the law could protect people from being taken away by force. This helped lead to much bigger changes in how people were treated in the years that followed.