## Facts

- James Somerset, an African man enslaved in the colonies, was purchased in Boston by Charles Stewart and brought to England in 1769.
- Somerset escaped in October 1771, was recaptured in November, and was confined aboard the ship *Ann and Mary*.
- Stewart directed that Somerset be transported from England to Jamaica and sold for plantation labor.
- Somerset’s godparents sought a writ of habeas corpus from the Court of King’s Bench against Captain John Knowles, the ship’s master and Somerset’s custodian.
- The court produced Somerset on the writ, released him on recognizance pending decision, heard argument in 1772, and issued judgment on June 22, 1772.

## Issues

1. Whether English law recognized authority to detain and forcibly transport a person from England abroad for sale as a slave.
2. Whether slavery (or incidents of slave status) could be supported in England absent explicit “positive law” authorizing it.

## Decision

- The Court of King’s Bench held that no authority in English law justified Somerset’s detention for the purpose of forcible removal from England to be sold as a slave abroad.
- The court ordered that Somerset be discharged.
- The court reasoned that slavery was a condition supportable only by positive law and that no such English legal authority was shown for the claimed power to deport Somerset for sale.

## Legal Principles

- Habeas corpus requires a custodian to show lawful authority for detention; detention for forced transport abroad is unlawful absent such authority.
- Slavery, as a legal status, is not presumed or implied in English law; it must rest on explicit positive law.
- Claimed rights derived from colonial slave law do not supply, by themselves, authority for English courts to enforce forced removal from England.
- Any asserted legal basis for slavery or slaveholder powers must be construed strictly; courts will not extend such claims by implication.

## Conclusion

The King’s Bench granted habeas relief and discharged Somerset because English law provided no positive legal authority to detain and forcibly transport him from England for sale into slavery, limiting enforcement of colonial slave claims within England absent explicit authorization.


Somerset v. Stewart (K.B. 1772)