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Legacy

The Quock Walker Cases have been heralded as the turning point in Massachusetts slavery. When writing for the public it is tempting to provide a view of events that is founded more in solid dates than to detail the subtleties of ongoing cultural and political movements. Especially on a local history level this has been the case for Quock’s story. Fueled by local pride and a desire to link Barre’s history to United States history, Quock’s story is typically presented as one of good versus evil. Quock, the protagonist and Jennison the antagonist—the story falls on ears eager to hear about good triumphing over evil. Even in a broader sense Massachusetts likes to pride itself in being trail blazers in the abolitionist movements. Later, in the 1830’s The Barre Gazette uses words like unjust, odious and inhumane to describe the institution of slavery.

            Looking into what is known about Quock’s life he acts less of a hero for slavery and more like a manumitted slave. Quock did not tour the countryside telling his tale, Quock did not parade through town meetings, run for offices, or self-promote. There are no surviving bulletins or news stories that either seethe with racism or glorify Quock. Then, the idea that Quock’s cases brought an end to slavery was an idea that was adopted long after the cases were concluded.

            While no single book publication exists that focuses on Quock and the specifics of his case, many scholarly journals have been dedicated to the topic. Other book publications cover slavery in Massachusetts from a social, statistical, and political standpoint. The two major authorities on slavery in the state are Lorenzo Greene’s “The Negro in Colonial New England” [1] and William D. Piersen’s “Black Yankees”. [2] Greene provides a very thorough examination of the history and mechanisms of slave control in New England between the years of 1620 and 1776. Greene was an African American professor of history who wrote several books regarding slavery in America in the 1940’s and 50’s.  The final chapter, “The Free Negro” is of great use in investigating the life of Quock and other FPOC. Greene shows that many agreements of freedom were made privately between masters and slaves as early as 1647. This supports the idea that the Quock Cases were not as ground breaking to the history of slavery as may be simply understood. Several salves had the ability and means to seek representation from lawyers that were skilled enough to win their cases. Greene’s book also offers a comprehensive look into statistics and census data and has provided many citations that are used throughout this project.

            Piersen’s book focuses less on a mechanism of slavery in terms of judicial, legislative, and moral arguments and instead focuses in on the culture of slaves and free people of color in New England. This publication won the Old Sturbridge Village Research Library prize in the year it was published—which speaks highly to its quality of sources, accuracy of information and contribution to the field of Massachusetts history. Though Piersen only mentions the Quock Walker cases in passing, the value of this book is high. Understanding the complex web of social and cultural norms proactive by African Americans, FPOC and whites during this period is essential to understanding why a famous black man like Quock Walker could have so little primary resources available to describe his life.

            Another authority on the Quock cases is Dr. Emily Blanck. In her article “The Turning Point in the Law of Slavery and Freedom in Massachusetts”[3] she argues that while the Quock Walker case was instrumental to the abolition of slavery, there are several other court cases and legislation that also contributed. Blanck offers several references that create strong argument for her stance. One large topic that Blanck questions was how the protecting, harboring, or returning slaves owned outside of Massachusetts spoke to how sentiments about slavery within the state.  Blanck’s work helps to set the stage for conversation about the intricacies of a the Quock Walker cases and proves that they did not represent an immediate and fully articulated change in the daily life of slaves or people of color. In her book, published in 2014 [4] she investigates an ordeal involving a group of slaves captured in South Carolina and brought to Massachusetts for resale in 1779. When the South Carolinians looked to Massachusetts for help in reclaiming their property, the state made accommodations for their return. Things changed in 1783, some of the South Carolinian slaves were still awaiting to be returned south, the Cushing decision ruled in the Quock Walker case that slavery was illegal. This book investigates this episode as well as the evolving laws around slavery including fugitive slaves and slaves transitioned into freedom. Essential to the understanding of how emancipation effected FPOC like Quock, is information surrounding other laws and court rulings that delt with the issue of slavery in Massachusetts.

            There is also the component of law that plays a large role in understanding the Quock Walker Cases. Afterall, the entire history hinges on how the 18th century legislative system worked. John D. Cushing, an expert on early American law focuses his attention to the three cases. Cushing takes a critical look at the court proceedings to glean new historical context and information. In his journal article, “The Cushing Court and the Abolition of Slavery in Massachusetts: More Notes on the Quock Walker Case”[5] Cushing argues that the Quock cases did not bring an immediate end to slavery and in fact the sentiment had been against slavery for thirty years before the Quock case. He believes that regardless of these hearings, slavery would have been abolished simply due to public and social pressures. He also challenges the idea that Judge Cushing was a stanch abolitionist and defends this argument with a look at his own relationship with slave holding and his personal history of such. An interesting and welcome perspective on Quock Walker and his cases, one that argues this event in history was not the end all to slavery but merely a final step in an already evolving process.

            It is clear then that most all scholarly resources understand that the Quock Walker cases were not a cut and dry affair. Why then has that understanding not trickled down to public level education? Perhaps it is simply that to describe the complexities would be too exhausting, too confusing for the public to grasp. Perhaps it is because stories with a clear plot line, a hero and a villain capture the minds of the public better than a blurry mangled version of history.

            The plaque which was erected on Barre common memorialized Quock Walker, “whose lawsuits resulted in the freeing of slaves in the Commonwealth in 1783”. The Prince Walker burial site sign reads, “…the brother of Quock Walker whose court case abolished slavery in Massachusetts in 1783”. Thus, to the average student or novice researcher starting at a local level, Quock may appear to be a hero. While it is true that Quock’s cases were a catalyst to abolitionism in the state and that his efforts to escape his master and defy community laws was heroic, modern scholars and in-depth research has proven that the story is much more complex.

            The Massachusetts Constitution’s ratified in 1780 states that, “All men are born free and equal, and have certain natural, essential, and unalienable rights….”[6]. It is these words that later make their way into the United State Constitution, and they hold a powerful meaning. In an age of American Enlightenment scholars and politicians looked for the most basic meaning of human rights and liberties. John Adams never held slaves himself, nor did he ever support the institution. However, he later confessed in a letter to a friend that the work of abolitionism must be undertaken slowly and carefully. He believed that freeing all slaves in a fast-acting legal movement would cause more harm to them, the white populations, and the country.[7] It is then highly possible that when Adams wrote that, “all men are born free and equal” he was including Africans. Both Levi Lincoln and Caleb Strong, ran in the same circles as John Adams. All Harvard graduates, all having practiced law in Worcester, Mass. and all heavily involved in politics. It is highly possible that Lincoln and Strong held the same enlightened beliefs regarding slavery long before hearing of the plea of Quock. Beliefs clearly exhibited through their aggressive and skillful defense of Quock. If their beliefs were strongly held before they heard of Quock Walker, perhaps Quock could have been any slave. Perhaps this legal team was searching the countryside for any slave willing to defy their master and bring to action a series of legal cases to challenge, reinforce and give real grit to Adam’s constitution. If this is the case, Quock is certainly a hero but not one of his own making. That in of itself changes the dynamics of how the community of Barre views Quock Walker. While his court case did challenge the institution of slavery, it no more ended it then the constitution itself.

 

[1] Lorenzo Greene, The Negro in Colonial New England (New York: Columbia University Press, 1942)

[2] William Piersen, Black Yankees (Amherst: University of Amherst Press, 1988)

[3] Emily Blanck, Seventeen Eighty-Three: The Turning Point in the Law of Slavery and Freedom in Massachusetts, The New England Quarterly 75, no. 1 (2002): 24-51, accessed October 13, 2020. doi:10.2307/1559880.

[4] Emily Blanck, Tyrannicide: Forging American Law of Slavery in Revolutionary South Carolina and Massachusetts, (Georgia University of Georgia Press, 2014).

[5] John D. Cushing, "The Cushing Court and the Abolition of Slavery in Massachusetts: More Notes on the "Quock Walker Case"." (The American Journal of Legal History 5, no. 2 (1961): 118-44), accessed October 13, 2020. doi:10.2307/844116.

[6] Massachusetts Constitution, Article I, 1780.

[7] J. Howe, “John Adams's Views of Slavery”, The Journal of Negro History, 49(3), 204.

Further Reading

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