How One Woman's Lawsuit Abolished Slavery

Watch the full documentary: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fMpYozsIyX0 Mum Bet, a woman enslaved in Massachusetts, is terrorized by a cruel mistress until she decides to take matters into her own hands. She successfully sues for her own freedom, and the case winds up helping to abolish slavery in the state, completely. Made possible by viewers like you. Support your local PBS station: https://www.pbs.org/donate Subscribe to the PBS channel for more clips: https://www.youtube.com/@PBS Enjoy full episodes of your favorite PBS shows anytime, anywhere with the free PBS app: https://to.pbs.org/2QbtzhR FOLLOW US: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PBS/ X: https://twitter.com/PBS/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/PBS/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@pbs Threads: https://www.threads.net/@pbs #americanrevolution #blackhistory #history Declarations: Black Americans and the Revolutionary War Follow the stories of four Black Americans as they navigate our country’s fight for independence and their individual pursuits of freedom. Discover the stories of James Lafayette, who served as a double agent for the Patriots and helped bring down the British at Yorktown; Harry Washington, who was enslaved by George Washington and escaped Mount Vernon to join the British troops; Elizabeth Freeman, previously known as Mum Bet, who sued one of the most prominent patriots in Massachusetts while living under his roof; and Abraham Peyton Skipwith, an enslaved man who used his proximity to power and his unusual literacy to petition for his own freedom and become one of the first free Black landowners in Richmond, VA.