George Latimer (1819-1897) was a freedom seeker whose escape and subsequent arrest prompted the passage of a groundbreaking new personal liberty law in Massachusetts. In 1842, Latimer and his pregnant wife, Rebecca, escaped from Norfolk, Virginia by boat. The couple reached Boston, where slave catchers quickly caught up with him. Antislavery activists purchased Latimer’s freedom, but popular outrage over his arrest led Massachusetts lawmakers to adopt a new personal liberty law in March 1843 barring state officials from cooperating with slaveholders, popularly known as the Latimer Law. Other Northern states followed suit, passing similar non-cooperation laws.
ESSAYS: Baker // Grover // Sinha
ROLES: Freedom Seeker