Unidentified

Description

Paul Cuffe was born a free man in Massachusetts. His mother was Native American and his father was of West African Ashanti lineage. An entrepreneur and philanthropist, Cuffe gained wealth as owner of an international shipping company. Despite his success, as an African American he was viewed as a second-class citizen and denied equal rights. As a taxpayer, Paul Cuffe petitioned the Massachusetts legislature in 1780 and demanded his right to vote. Free and enslaved African Americans petitioned for freedom, equality, and justice through the courts and state legislatures. They sought to assert their rights, promote their identity as citizens of the new nation, and challenge their status as enslaved people.Source: Nancy Bercaw, Curator, Slavery and FreedomA petition to the court of Bristol County, Massachusetts, in Taunton written by an unidentified hand and signed by John Cuffe and Paul Cuffe. The text is handwritten in black ink on the front and back sides of a single sheet of off-white paper. The petition is in regards to taxation by the state upon the signatories, who being of Native American descent, are arguing they are therefore not subject to such taxation. The document begins [Humbly sheweth that your Petitioners John Cuff Indian man & Paul Cuff a minor Indian man, Sons of Ruth Cuff Indian woman Inhabitants & Residents within the Town of Dartmouth] and the document ends [the said John & Paul further suggest to your Honour that they are Indian men and by Law not the subjects ofTaxation for any...

Record Contributed By

National Museum of African American History and Culture

Record Harvested From

Smithsonian Institution