James Somerset or Somersett was a young African slave who was purchased by Charles Stuart in Virginia in 1749. Stuart was involved in English government service and traveled as part of his duties accompanied by Somerset, who at the time did not have a first name.

In 1769, Stuart along with Somerset traveled to England. While in England, Somerset met and became involved with people associated with the anti-slavery movement in England including the well known activist Granville Sharp. During this period, Somerset was christened with the name James in a church ceremony.

In 1771, Somerset ran away. Stuart posted a reward and Somerset was recaptured. Stuart then had Somerset put on board a ship bound for Jamaica where Somerset was to be sold. Somerset's god-parents from the christening ceremony discovered Somerset's condition and location. Going before the King's Bench, they obtained a writ of habeas corpus requiring the ship's captain to produce Somerset in court, which was done.

By this time in England, the general public had a poor opinion of the institution of slavery and the time was ripe for a decision to be forced as to whether slaves in England were in fact free. Somerset sued for his freedom, supported by anti-slavery groups, from Stuart, supported by planters from the West Indies who were interested in continuing the practice of slavery, in a trial before the King's Bench, the highest court in England.

In Somersett's case (Lofft 1; 20 Howell's State Trials 79), the Chief Justice of the King's Bench, Lord Mansfield, issued a judgment which concluded:

"...The state of slavery is of such a nature, that it is incapable of being introduced on any reasons, moral or political; but only positive law, which preserves its force long after the reasons, occasion, and time itself from whence it was created, is erased from memory: it's so odious, that nothing can be suffered to support it, but positive law. Whatever inconveniences, therefore, may follow from a decision, I cannot say this case is allowed or approved by the law of England; and therefore the black must be discharged."

Lord Mansfield is often misquoted as declaring that "The air of England is too pure for a slave to breathe", however, no such words appear in the judgment. Instead, they appear repeatedly in the arguments of counsel for Somersett, who cited a report of a case from 1569, in the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, where

"...one Cartwright brought a slave from Russia and would scourge him; for which he was questioned; and it was resolved, that England was too pure an air for a slave to breathe in."

While Somersett's case provided legal precedent that the state of slavery was unlawful in England itself, having died out there centuries before, it did not end British participation in the slave trade or slavery in other parts of the British Empire. It was not until 1807 that Parliament decided to suppress the slave trade; and slavery continued to exist in various parts of the British Empire until it was finally abolished by Act of Parliament in 1833.

References

• Blumrosen, Alfred W., Blumrosen, Ruth G. Slave nation: how slavery united the colonies and sparked the American Revolution. Sourcebooks, 2005.

Further reading

• Wise, Steven M.Though the Heavens May Fall, Perseus Books, Cambridge, MA, 2005.
• The Newsworthy Somerset Case: Repercussions in Virginia

Black people before 1800 | Slaves