“Born Free and Equal”: Quock Walker, William Cushing, and the Moral Architecture of Justice
By Jerry Urso, FPS–Life
Grand Historian
Most Worshipful Union Grand Lodge of Florida, P.H.A.
Introduction
Freemasonry has long spoken in the language of Light, Liberty, and Moral Law. These ideals, however, are not self-executing. History demonstrates that they are not always honored, even by those who profess them. Few moments in American history reveal both the promise of constitutional principle and the cost of moral courage more clearly than the 1783 Massachusetts case commonly known as Commonwealth v. Jennison [1].
At its center stood an enslaved man named Quock Walker, who insisted that constitutional language be taken seriously. On the bench sat Chief Justice William Cushing, who chose to apply that language honestly—at a time when many courts elsewhere did not.
Quock Walker and the Claim of Natural Freedom
Quock Walker was an enslaved man in Worcester County, Massachusetts, who had been promised his freedom upon reaching adulthood—a promise that was never honored [2]. When assaulted by his former enslaver, Walker did not respond with violence, but with lawful appeal. He argued that the Massachusetts Constitution of 1780, declaring that “all men are born free and equal,” rendered slavery incompatible with state law [3].
In much of the early republic—particularly in the southern states—courts continued to enforce slavery, slave catching, and human bondage as property law despite revolutionary rhetoric [4]. The jury agreed, declaring that Walker was “a Freeman and not the proper Negro slave” of Nathaniel Jennison and awarding damages for assault [5].
Following the decision, Walker lived openly as a free man. While documentation of his later life is limited, historical evidence confirms that he remained free and worked for wages [6]. By the 1790 United States Census, slavery had disappeared entirely from Massachusetts [7].
William Cushing and the Courage to Apply the Law
William Cushing was born on March 1, 1732, in Scituate, Massachusetts, and graduated from Harvard College in 1751 [8]. He became Chief Justice of Massachusetts in 1776 and presided during the adoption of the Massachusetts Constitution [9].
When Commonwealth v. Jennison came before the court in 1783, Cushing rejected the path taken by many courts elsewhere that continued to uphold slavery and slave-catching laws [10]. In his jury instructions, he stated plainly that slavery could not exist alongside a constitution grounded in equality [11].
Archival records confirm that William Cushing was a Freemason, initiated on January 15, 1779, at St. Andrew’s Lodge in Massachusetts [12]. This fact must be stated carefully: not all Masons lived by Masonic ideals, and many supported slavery [13]. Cushing’s decision therefore reflects personal moral courage, not institutional inevitability.
In 1789, Cushing was appointed an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court [14]. In 1793, he became the first justice to administer the presidential oath of office, swearing in George Washington at his second inauguration [15].
Commonwealth v. Jennison and the Quiet End of Slavery
Massachusetts ended slavery not through gradual emancipation statutes but through constitutional interpretation [16]. After Jennison, slavery became legally unenforceable, and by 1790 the state recorded zero enslaved persons [17].
Bibliography
[1] Commonwealth v. Jennison, Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, 1783.
[2] Zobel, Hiller B. The Law Under the Massachusetts Constitution of 1780. Boston: Massachusetts Historical Society, 1978.
[3] Massachusetts Constitution of 1780, Part I, Article I.
[4] Morris, Thomas D. Southern Slavery and the Law, 1619–1860. Chapel Hill: UNC Press, 1996.
[5] PBS. “The Quock Walker Case.” Africans in America, WGBH.
[6] Zilversmit, Arthur. The First Emancipation. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1967.
[7] United States Census, 1790, Massachusetts.
[8] Harvard University Archives. Catalogue of the Officers and Graduates of Harvard College.
[9] Justia. “William Cushing.” Supreme Court Historical Society.
[10] Finkelman, Paul. Slavery and the Founders. 2nd ed.
[11] Zobel, The Law Under the Massachusetts Constitution of 1780.
[12] Most Worshipful Grand Lodge of Massachusetts. Masonic Membership Index Card for William Cushing (1732–1810). Grand Lodge Archives, Boston.
[13] Melish, Joanne Pope. Disowning Slavery. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1998.
[14] Supreme Court of the United States. Biographies of the Justices.
[15] U.S. Senate Historical Office. “Presidential Inaugurations.”
[16] Zilversmit, The First Emancipation.
[17] Berlin, Ira. Many Thousands Gone. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1998.
