Freedom! The colonists in Massachusetts were angry about the laws and taxes that Great Britain was forcing upon them. They felt their rights were being stolen away from them so they declared war and fought to be "free, and independent..."
At the same time that the colonists were feeling the binding of the laws from England, there were slaves who had the same feelings and the same anger and who wanted the same freedom. These slaves were owned by other human beings.
This is the story of a slave named Mumbet. She had no last name because she was simply considered to be property of Colonel Ashley, a landowner in Berkshire County, Massachusetts. Step into her shoes for a moment and imagine being struck with a coal shovel because your daughter made a tiny little loaf of bread out of leftover scraps of dough? Can you imagine working for someone who snapped at you and bossed you around? Can you imagine how much you would want fight for your freedom just as everyone around you was fighting to be free from the tyranny of England?
Now ask yourself if you would have been brave enough to walk into the office of a lawyer to ask for a trial that would decide if the new Constitution included you when it declared all men to be free.
This is an inspiring story about the courage of a woman who lived in slavery but whose heart and soul could never accept the bondage. She had the intelligence and the self-confidence to demand that justice be served. She was not afraid to let her voice be heard.
978-0761365891 Ages 7-10
Recommended by: Barb, abookandahug.com
