The petition of a great number of blacks detained in a state of slavery in the bowels of a free and Christian country humbly showeth that . . . they have in common with all other men a natural and inalienable right to that freedom which the Great Parent of the Universe has bestowed equally on all mankind, and which they have never forfeited by any compact or agreement whatever. . . .". . . Every principle from which America has acted in the course of her unhappy difficulties with Great Britain pleads stronger than a thousand arguments in favor of your petitioners. They therefore humbly beseech your honors to give this petition its due weight and consideration, and cause an act of the legislature to be passed, whereby they may be restored to the enjoyment of that [freedom] which is the natural right of all men."Petition to the Massachusetts House of Representatives, January 1777Arguments such as that in the

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