Freeman (Thirteen Colonies)

During the American colonial period a freeman was a person who was not a slave. The term originated in 12th-century Europe.

In the Massachusetts Bay Colony, a man had to be a member of the Church to be a freeman; in neighboring Plymouth Colony a man did not need to be a member of the Church, but he had to be elected to this privilege by the General Court. Being a freeman carried with it the right to vote, and in Plymouth only freemen could vote by 1632.

Black's Law Dictionary (9th edition) defines freeman as follows:

1. A person who possesses and enjoys all the civil and political rights belonging to the people under a free government.

2. A person who is not a slave.

3. Hist. A member of a municipal corporation (a city or a borough) who possesses full civic rights, esp. the right to vote.

4. Hist. A freeholder. Cf. villein.

5. Hist. An allodial landowner. Cf. vassal. - also written free man.