Petition signed by John Cuffe and Paul Cuffe regarding taxation

About the Project

Paul Cuffe was born a free man in Massachusetts. His mother was Native American and his father was of West African Ashanti lineage. An entrepreneur and philanthropist, Cuffe gained wealth as owner of an international shipping company. Despite his success, as an African American he was viewed as a second-class citizen and denied equal rights. As a taxpayer, Paul Cuffe petitioned the Massachusetts legislature in 1780 and demanded his right to vote. Free and enslaved African Americans petitioned for freedom, equality, and justice through the courts and state legislatures where they sought to assert their rights, promote their identity as citizens of the new nation, and challenge their status as enslaved people. Help us transcribe this petition, which constitutes the first black voting rights protest in America, setting a precedent for the many battles to come over the enfranchisement of African Americans.

John and Paul Cuffe were born in Massachusetts to a father of Ashanti descent named Kofi (Cuffe) Slocum and a mother of Wampanoag descent named Ruth Moses. In 1780, John and his brother first petitioned the courts of Massachusetts for the right to vote through arguing against their current taxation. Paul Cuffe went on to become one of the wealthiest and most influential African Americans of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Cuffe began his career as a sailor, later prospering in the shipping business. By 1806, he owned three vessels, land, and several houses. Cuffee also served as a minister among the Quakers in Westport, Massachusetts. After forming the Friendly Society to encourage the resettling of American blacks in Africa, he led an 1810–1811 voyage (his first of two) to Freetown, Sierra Leone, along with a handful of black seamen, to assess that place for its economic potential. On his second trip in 1815, Cuffe transported 38 emigrants back to Africa, along with goods and some of his own money to help the new settlers get established.

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