ENGLISH LITERATURE (CBSE/UGC NET)

Detailed explanation-1: -He believed that slaves “can seldom use their freedom well, ” and also saw the black population as a threat to the purity of Puritan culture. He also believed that slaves already in the country should remain as slaves. Sewall’s solution to the slavery problem was to stop the importation of slaves.

Detailed explanation-2: -If Sewall was only known today for the diary that he kept for more than fifty years, he would be a notable figure in early American history, but he is perhaps best remembered for his role as a judge in the infamous Salem witch trials of 1692.

Detailed explanation-3: -In 1780, when the Massachusetts Constitution went into effect, slavery was legal in the Commonwealth. However, during the years 1781 to 1783, in three related cases known today as “the Quock Walker case, ” the Supreme Judicial Court applied the principle of judicial review to abolish slavery.

Detailed explanation-4: -Historians estimate that between 1755 and 1764, the Massachusetts slave population was approximately 2.2 percent of the total population; the slave population was generally concentrated in the industrial and coastal towns. The practice of slavery in Massachusetts was ended gradually through case law.