11/10/2021: After CALex members participated in the Quock Walker Day Hike for Freedom organized by ABCL on July 10th, CALex members again testified in the public hearing to support Bill H.3117 / S.2059 (An Act designating July 8 as Massachusetts Emancipation Day a.k.a. Quock Walker Day) proposed by Rep. Michelle Ciccolo and Senator Cindy Friedman.
The members learned a lot in the process of preparing the speeches for this hearing, which made them admire the Massachusetts Constitution. The Massachusetts Constitution served as a model of the US Constitution, and then the US Constitution served as a model of constitutions of many nations, including Germany, Japan, India, and South Africa. The Massachusetts Constitution is the earliest written constitution in the world. The formulation process of the Massachusetts constitution was quite unsmooth. At first, it was a proposed constitution issued by the Massachusetts legislature, but it failed in the referendum. People opposed the legislature to formulate the constitution, saying that the constitution, as the basic law, must be formulated by the people. Later, the Massachusetts government elected 312 representatives from the towns to make this constitution. These representatives elected John Adams to draft the entire constitution. Another person to be mentioned is Theophilus Parsons, a young lawyer at the time. He was a leader in opposing the proposed constitution of the legislature. His declaration of rights, embodied in the Massachusetts Constitution, (is all men. are born free and equal) has become the most direct legal basis for the judge to abolish slavery. The CALex members really admire the founding fathers. They formulated the constitution, set checks and balances of the three powers, and restricted the power of the government. They were really farsighted.
Regarding Quock Walker, when he was 9 months old, his parents were sold to a family. The owner told his parents that he would become a free man when he was 25 years old. Later, the owner died, and the owner’s wife said that he would be free when he was 21 years old. When he was almost 21 years old, the owner’s wife passed away unfortunately. The new owner (the wife remarried before she died) broke the promise. Quock Walker ran away when he was 28 years old. The new owner caught him, attacked and whipped him. Quock Walker went to court. He won the first trial. The owner refused to accept the judgement. The case went to the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court. On July 8, 1783, the judge not only made Quock Walker a free man, but also ruled slavery unconstitutional. This judge William Cushing was the Massachusetts chief justice at the time, and later became one of the original five associate justices of the United States Supreme Court. Theophilus Parsons, who called for the Massachusetts Constitution to include a declaration of rights, later became Chief Justice of the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts. The Emancipation Day of Massachusetts occurred 7 years after the independence of the United States, 80 years earlier than the Emancipation Day of the Federal Government.
In the process of preparing for the hearing, CALex members also learned the legend of another slave, Elizabeth Freeman. She was the first to use legal weapons to liberate herself, which was very helpful towards the Quock Walker case that followed. Elizabeth Freeman was a genius. She was illiterate, but when she heard others talk about the new constitution of Massachusetts, she went to consult with a lawyer. The lawyer was willing to help her, and she won. This vision is too rare. If she was educated, you can imagine how she would’ve been even more of a hero who influenced the course of history.
