Sheffield Declaration
Resolutions adopted by Sheffield, Massachusetts on 12 January 1773 declaring "mankind in a state of nature are equal, free, and independent" — language later echoed in the Declaration of Independence and the Massachusetts Constitution that Elizabeth Freeman's lawyer used to win her freedom in 1781.
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- Established
- 1773-01-12
- Location
- Sheffield, Massachusetts
- Country
- United States
- Also known as
- The Sheffield Resolves
- Drafted by
- Theodore Sedgwick, a young lawyer who had settled in Sheffield in 1767
- Approved by
- A committee of eleven Sheffield men, moderated by Col. John Ashley
- Published
- The Massachusetts Spy, February 1773
- Documented grievances
- Governors' and judges' salaries paid by the crown rather than raised locally; trials removed from local jurisdiction; disputed land-boundary rulings
Overview
The Sheffield Declaration — also known as the Sheffield Resolves — is a set of resolutions adopted unanimously by the freeholders and inhabitants of Sheffield, Massachusetts, on 12 January 1773, three years before the Declaration of Independence. Drafted by Theodore Sedgwick, a young lawyer who had settled in the town in 1767, and debated by a committee of eleven local men at the home of Col. John Ashley, the resolves opened by declaring that “mankind in a state of nature are equal, free, and independent of each other, and have a right to the undisturbed enjoyment of their lives, their liberty and property” (The Berkshire Eagle). The document went on to condemn specific, documented grievances against crown authority: that the salaries of governors and judges were paid by the crown rather than raised locally by the colonies themselves, that trials had been removed from local jurisdiction, and that land-boundary disputes had been resolved by rulings the Sheffield freeholders considered unjust (Alpha History). It was published the following month in The Massachusetts Spy and circulated widely (Alpha History).
An ideological throughline
The natural-rights language of the Sheffield Resolves anticipated, and likely influenced, two of the era’s foundational documents: Thomas Jefferson’s Declaration of Independence in 1776, and the Massachusetts Constitution’s own declaration of rights in 1780 (The Berkshire Eagle; National Constitution Center). No source consulted for this profile establishes a documented, direct line of influence from Sheffield’s resolves specifically to Jefferson’s draft — only that the same language of natural equality appears in both, in that order.
From a colonial grievance to a freedom suit
The clearest documented consequence of the Sheffield Resolves runs through the household where they were debated. Elizabeth Freeman, an enslaved woman in Col. John Ashley’s own home, is reported to have overheard the 1773 discussions of natural equality while serving the men who drafted them (WBUR). Nearly nine years later, after being struck by Ashley’s wife with a fireplace shovel, Freeman sought out Sedgwick — one of the men she had overheard — to represent her in a suit for freedom. Sedgwick built his argument not on the 1773 resolves directly but on the equality clause of the 1780 Massachusetts Constitution, which had grown out of the same principles. Freeman, together with a co-plaintiff known as Brom, won her freedom in 1781, the first case in which a Massachusetts court freed an enslaved person on those constitutional grounds (WBUR; National Constitution Center).
What this profile does not claim
This profile does not assert that the Sheffield Resolves directly influenced the wording of the 1776 Declaration of Independence — only that comparable language of natural equality appears in both documents, with Sheffield’s predating Jefferson’s by three years. It also does not claim Elizabeth Freeman cited the 1773 resolves themselves in her 1781 case; the sources consulted describe her lawyer’s argument as resting on the 1780 Massachusetts Constitution, with the resolves as the earlier expression of the same ideas in the household where she lived.
Timeline
- 1767
- Theodore Sedgwick, a young lawyer, settles in Sheffield, Massachusetts.
- 1773
- On 12 January, Sheffield's freeholders and inhabitants unanimously approve a set of resolutions, drafted by Sedgwick and debated by a committee of eleven at Col. John Ashley's home, opening with "Mankind in a state of nature are equal, free, and independent of each other, and have a right to the undisturbed enjoyment of their lives, their liberty and property," and going on to list specific grievances: governors' and judges' salaries paid by the crown rather than locally, trials removed from local jurisdiction, and disputed land-boundary rulings.
- 1773
- The resolves are published in The Massachusetts Spy the following month and circulate through the colonies.
- 1776
- Similar natural-rights language appears in the Declaration of Independence, three years after Sheffield's resolves.
- 1780
- The same equality language is incorporated into the new Massachusetts Constitution.
- 1781
- Elizabeth Freeman, enslaved in Col. Ashley's own household and said to have overheard the 1773 discussions, wins her freedom (with a co-plaintiff, Brom) in Massachusetts court — represented by Theodore Sedgwick, who argues the case using the equality clause of the 1780 Massachusetts Constitution. It is the first freedom granted to an enslaved person by a Massachusetts court under that reasoning.
What we could not verify
These claims came up in research and could not be confirmed. They are recorded here rather than published as fact or quietly dropped. If you hold a source that settles one, please tell us.
- Exactly how directly the Sheffield Resolves' phrasing influenced Thomas Jefferson's draft of the Declaration of Independence three years later is not established by any source read for this profile — only that the same natural-rights language appears in both documents, in that order.
Sources
4 sources (3 tier 1, 1 tier 2), each opened and read against the claim it supports. Every source is independent of the subject; no first-party material is cited. See the source policy.
Each source below was fetched and read against the claim it supports. This is a historical document, not an institution, so every source is either an independent news/educational organization or a primary-text repository — there is no first-party "publisher" to cite. The connection between the 1773 resolves and Freeman's 1781 case is reported as multiple independent outlets describe it (she is said to have overheard the discussions while serving in the Ashley household); this profile does not claim it as a certainty beyond what those sources themselves assert.
- Before 1776: Sheffield's Resolves lit a revolutionary spark Supports: Authorship by Theodore Sedgwick, the committee of eleven, the January 12, 1773 adoption date, the resolves' core language, and their circulation via The Massachusetts Spy.
- How An Enslaved Woman Sued And Won Her Freedom In 18th-Century Massachusetts Supports: Elizabeth Freeman's presence in the Ashley household during the 1773 discussions, her 1781 freedom suit argued by Sedgwick using the Massachusetts Constitution's equality clause, and the case's outcome.
- Elizabeth Freeman, her case for freedom, and the Massachusetts Constitution Supports: The throughline from the Sheffield Resolves' language to the 1776 Declaration of Independence and the 1780 Massachusetts Constitution, and how Sedgwick used that constitutional language in Freeman's case.
- Extracts from the Sheffield Declaration (1773) Supports: Primary-text extracts of the resolves and supporting context on their content and adoption.
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