What happened Elizabeth Key?

What happened Elizabeth Key?

Elizabeth Key Grinstead died on January 20, 1665. Ironically, the Grinstead case prompted the Virginia Assembly to codify laws regarding racial slavery.

Who did Elizabeth Key sue?

In 1655, a mulatto (bi-racial) woman named Elizabeth Key (or Kaye) sued for her freedom and that of her son, John. Early generations of Africans and their descendants in Virginia had access to the courts to redress their complaints, before legislators restricted their use of the legal system.

Where did Elizabeth key live?

Born in Warwick County, Virginia in 1630, Elizabeth Key was the illegitimate daughter of an enslaved black mother and a white English planter father, Thomas Key, who was also a member of the Virginia House of Burgesses. She spent the first several years of her life with her mother.

Where is Elizabeth key from?

United States
Elizabeth Key Grinstead/Place of birth

How did Elizabeth Key get her freedom?

Elizabeth Key won her freedom and that of her infant son John Grinstead on July 21, 1656 in the colony of Virginia. Key based her suit on the fact that her father was an Englishman who had acknowledged her and arranged her baptism as a Christian in the American branch of the Church of England.

Why did Elizabeth key argue that she should be set free?

Secondly, she had been in indentured servitude for ten years longer than she should have: Thomas Key had stipulated that she was to be set free when she was fifteen. Finally, she argued that she had been baptized as a child and was a practicing Christian, and therefore should not be enslaved.

What was the impact of the American Revolution on blacks?

The Revolutionary War had a paradoxical effect on blacks, affecting them in both a positive and negative manner. On the positive side, and in the short run, it helped weaken slavery through a reduction in the slave population by about one hundred thousand.

How did Elizabeth Key gain her freedom?

She lost her case in appeals court, but petitioned the General Assembly to look into her case. A committee was formed to investigate, and they sided with Elizabeth, determining that she was free based on her father’s status and baptism.

What would have happened if the American Revolution failed?

If the colonists had lost the war, there probably wouldn’t be a United States of America, period. A British victory in the Revolution probably would have prevented the colonists from settling into what is now the U.S. Midwest. Additionally, there wouldn’t have been a U.S. war with Mexico in the 1840s, either.

How does the American Revolution affect us today?

The attitudes of American people towards religious life, women’s rights, voting and slavery were changed forever because of it. There was a drastic change in social and political life after independence. There were significant changes in the hierarchy within the states.

How did Elizabeth Key win freedom for her son?

Elizabeth Key won her freedom and that of her infant son John Grinstead on July 21, 1656 in the colony of Virginia. Key based her suit on the fact that her father was an Englishman, and that she was a baptized Christian.

What was the legal situation for Elizabeth Key?

Elizabeth and William filed suit in court to recognize both Elizabeth and her son as already free. At the time, the legal situation was ambiguous, with some tradition assuming all Black people were enslaved no matter the status of their parents, and other tradition assuming English common law where bondage status followed that of the father.

Why was Elizabeth Key important to American history?

Elizabeth Key (1630 – after 1665) is a key figure in the history of American enslavement. She won her freedom in a lawsuit in 17 th century colonial Virginia, and her lawsuit may have inspired laws making enslavement hereditary.

What was the name of Elizabeth Key’s father?

Key was born in 1630 in Warwick County, Virginia, to an enslaved African woman. Her father was a white planter named Thomas Key. Key was baptized in the Church of England, and, because she was an “illegitimate child,” placed in indentured servitude. Her indenture was transferred to a justice of the peace named John Mottram.