Black litigants regularly appeared in colonial Connecticut's county courts. Participating as plaintiffs, defendants, and third-party subjects, free Black New Englanders in New London often relied on the courts to protect their economic and social interests, especially when discrimination in the community limited their ability to settle disputes informally. For the most part, Blacks entered a judicial process that tended to treat them more fairly than the rest of colonial society. But one should not confuse Black participation in New London's legal culture with equality. Cases involving enslaved Black New Englanders most often reinforced white settlers' expectations for economic and racial superiority.

Join the CT Old State house and returning guest Dr. Dominic DeBrincat of Missouri Western State University for a look at the experience of free and enslaved Black New Englanders in colonial New London's county courts. Watch the last program with Dr DeBrincat, CT's Old State House Conversations Series: Fighting the Spread of Infectious Disease in Colonial CT, here.