10 February 1780
Dartmouth Black petitioners challenge taxation without representation
Dartmouth, Massachusetts
Seven Black and mixed-race Dartmouth residents, including John and Paul Cuffe, petitioned the Massachusetts legislature for relief from taxes. They described the economic consequences of enslavement and objected to paying taxes while having no vote in choosing those who imposed them. They also invoked Black military service in the Revolution.
Dates preserve the source’s precision. This entry is part of a selected historical record; its qualifications and sources are retained below.
Context / qualification
The petition’s explicit request was relief from taxation under their circumstances; its argument challenged disenfranchisement. It does not prove that the legislature granted voting rights. Separate Cuffe petitions and court proceedings should not be treated as this same document.
Sources
- Howard Zinn, A People’s History of the United States, chapter 5, pp. 88–89; supplied print pages, edition/year unidentified
- Petition about Taxation Without Representation for Free Black Men in Massachusetts, February 10, 1780; Gilder Lehrman transcription, crediting UNC Documenting the American South ↗