The Freedom Petition
6/3/2026 | 1m 54sVideo has Closed Captions
As America fought for freedom, enslaved men in NH demanded it for themselves.
As Americans fought for liberty, enslaved Black men in New Hampshire demanded that the promise of freedom apply to them as well. Their petition became one of the earliest civil rights appeals in American history.
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Granite State History Minute is a local public television program presented by NHPBS
The Freedom Petition
6/3/2026 | 1m 54sVideo has Closed Captions
As Americans fought for liberty, enslaved Black men in New Hampshire demanded that the promise of freedom apply to them as well. Their petition became one of the earliest civil rights appeals in American history.
Problems playing video? | Closed Captioning Feedback
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Learn Moreabout PBS online sponsorshipDid you know that for many people in New Hampshire, the revolution didn't end in 1783?
In 1779, 20 enslaved black men from Portsmouth submitted a petition to the New Hampshire legislature arguing that the God of nature gave them life and freedom upon the terms of the most perfect equality with other men.
All of them had been born free in Africa, captured and enslaved when they were children, and forcibly transported to America.
Employing the language of the enlightenment, the petition used the same arguments against black slavery that white Americans used to justify their fight for freedom from Great Britain.
The Freedom Petition was written primarily by Nero Brewster, known in Portsmouth as the King of the Africans.
Prince Whipple was the other prominent figure to sign the petition.
By tradition, Prince Whipple was an African prince, likely from Guinea or Senegal in West Africa.
He was apparently sent to America to be educated in 1766 when he was a young man, but a nefarious a sea captain instead sold him into slavery.
He was purchased by a wealthy Portsmouth merchant and slave ship owner named William Whipple, who would become one of New Hampshire's signers of the Declaration of Independence.
Although the New Hampshire Legislature held a hearing on the petition in June 1780, the representatives tabled it without taking further action.
It was not until 2013 that the state legislature granted the petition, and Governor Maggie Hassan signed it posthumously, freeing the 14 petitioners who had not been freed during their lifetimes.
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Granite State History Minute is a local public television program presented by NHPBS