Menu
Home
People
Places
Arts
History
Plants & Animals
Science
Life & Culture
Technology
Reference.org
Quock Walker
open-in-new
<p>Quock Walker, also known as Kwaku or Quork Walker (c. 1753 – ?), was an <a href="/facts/Slavery/IXX2S92u">enslaved</a> American who sued for and won his <a href="/facts/Freedom_suit/dUh050To">freedom suit</a> case in June 1781. The court cited language in the 1780 <a href="/facts/Constitution_of_Massachusetts/DGw2dgMC">Constitution of Massachusetts</a> that declared, "All men are born free and equal". The case is credited with helping abolish slavery in Massachusetts, although the 1780 constitution was never amended to prohibit the practice explicitly. Massachusetts was the first U.S. state to effectively and fully abolish slavery—the <a href="/facts/1790_United_States_census/yDzhBK5c">1790 United States census</a> recorded no enslaved people in the state. </p>