Mum Bett was more determined than ever to gain her freedom because she had overheard political leaders discussing freedom and equal rights in John Ashley’s house.[12] In one of the meetings, the men discussed the new state Constitution in Massachusetts that stated that all people were born free and equal as it was written by John Adams. Mum Bett thought that if this statement was true, then it should apply to her, too. Theodore, who recognized that slavery was wrong, accepted Mum Bett’s request to sue for her freedom and they went to court.[13] Another one of John Ashley’s servants, named Brom, also joined the case.[14] The case began in the year of 1781.[15] Mum Bett and Theodore Sedgwick based their claim on the Bill of Rights of the new Massachusetts Constitution written by John Adams in 1780, which state that “all men are born free and equal” and that “every subject is entitled to liberty.”[16] In opposition, John Ashley argued that Mum Bett had been his domestic servant for thirty years and claimed they had a right of servitude.[17] Theodore Sedgwick rebutted that it was now illegal to own slaves in Massachusetts based on the state Constitution.[18] The jury of this case ruled in Mum Bett and Brom’s favor and ordered John Ashley to pay them thirty shillings, as well as, the court costs that consisted of five euros, fourteen shillings, and four pence.[19] Mum Bett and Brom became the first enslaved African Americas to ever be freed under the new Massachusetts Constitution of 1780.[20] Even more historically amazing, Mum Bett became the first African American woman to win her freedom, through a court of law![21] After she gained her freedom, Mum Bett gave herself a new surname, “Freeman.”[22] When the jury ruled in Elizabeth Freeman’s favor, it showed that there was a clear and dramatic legal shift in the history of slavery which would trigger more events to occur that would lead to the abolishment of slavery.