The earliest freedom statute pertaining to the area named “Missouri”, as early as 1812, due to Louisiana then becoming a state, was enacted in 1807 as a law of the Louisiana Territory. The statute book literally has the title for this law as: “Chapter 35. FREEDOM…AN ACT to enable persons held in slavery, to sue for their freedom.” The state of Missouri enacted its own Freedom Act in 1824, to be effective on July 4, 1825. Over the decades, the statute was amended to make it more difficult for a freedom seeker to bring a freedom suit.
Notably, and somewhat surprisingly, none of the freedom statutes contained any guidance or specific grounds as to how to achieve freedom. As will be seen later herein, and likely in other segments of this Virtual Learning Center, one of the key legal theories for obtaining freedom under these statutes was imbedded in Missouri law by judicial ruling. In 1824, the Missouri Supreme Court affirmed a jury verdict in favor of Winny, and announced the doctrine of “once free, always free”. That key phrase referred to and relied upon the freedom seeker having established residency in a state or territory where slavery was illegal, such that their free status attached to them and could not be taken away against their will.
[This segment of the Virtual Learning Center is under construction and will be added to in the near future.]
FREEDOM SUITS MEMORIAL FOUNDATION 