The Case of the Amistad
by Aarthi Ravichander
The
Capture of the Africans
It was the year of 1839, the year of Martin Van Buren’s administration. The United States was in turmoil over the issue of slavery as new groups were formed and the number of protests continued to increase. A new law had been passed nineteen years ago regarding the slave trade. The United States had declared the slave trade and shipment of slaves an act of piracy. But at this moment, there would be a new uprising aboard a slave ship that was only seen before in Nat Turner’s fierce rebellion; The Case of the Amistad. This case was a prelude to the Civil War. From it sprouted many results including the sudden wave of interest in sending Christian missionaries to Africa, intensifying the slave revolts, and powering the Abolitionist Movement. It truly changed the minds of some in our country.
It all began in Havana, Cuba on June 28th 1839. The schooner, the Amistad was bound for Puerto Principe, a coastal town in Cuba. Aboard this ship, there were fifty-three Africans, five whites, one mulatto cook and a black cabin boy. The Africans were kept down in the hold, bruised, battered, and many seasick from the rough waters. So the captains set out on what they thought was going to be a regular journey, and that they would emerge from this victorious, and rich. But this wasn’t how fate had planned this voyage for them to be.
One night, between the hours of three and four, Pedro Montes, one of the whites aboard the ship heard a scuffle on the deck. As he stepped outside to see what was the matter, he found the deck seething with the slaves and shouts and screams being heard. Joseph Cinque, one of the more powerful slaves that were bought in Havana, immediately attacked him on the head. As he was captured and being tied to the hand of José Ruiz, one of the surviving men on board, the mulatto cook, and the captain, were both killed and tossed overboard.
Ruiz and Montes were now in grave danger. They were outnumbered and had no weapons to defend themselves with. They only had one choice now, to obey the Africans. The Africans now ordered Ruiz to sail back to Africa and he had no choice but to oblige. However, Ruiz was not about to be given orders by a slave. He cunningly devised a plan that would save both him and Montes. He sailed to Africa in broad daylight, and at night, changed course for the coast of the United States. This way, he would zigzag the waters of the Atlantic and eventually reach Long Island, New York. Eventually in August, the U.S. Brig Washington, whose leader was Captain Gedney, captured the Amistad. After the planters narrated their story to the captains, they were freed, but the Africans were imprisoned at the New Haven jail in Connecticut.
The Argument for this case began, and the U.S. Attorney for Connecticut, William S. Holabird, ordered a Judicial Hearing for the Brig. But Holabird was unclear on three things: whether a crime had been committed in the first place, if so, who had committed the crime, and whether the U.S. courts had jurisdiction on this case. Also, Salvage Rights had to be considered, for this time they were claimed by Gedney and the Washington. The Africans’ market value was about $20,000 while the goods on the Amistad were worth about twice that amount. The case was then sent to the District Court, and this wasn’t a good change for the Africans since the Judge was Andrew T. Judson. President Van Buren had appointed him, and he didn’t feel too much compassion toward the Africans.
The time for the hearing came, and when Montes and Ruiz testified, Judge Judson opened the hearing on complaints of murder and piracy by Ruiz and Montes. Only thirty-nine Africans were present, since these were the ones that survived the sea. Judge Judson ordered the Africans to be put into custody at the New Haven county jail. The Africans became a major attraction at the zoo and were basically put on display. However, some of the Africans died due to exposure, and others died of the diseases that they were unaccustomed to.
Now the abolitionists began to play a part in the case. This became an opportunity for them to express their feelings on this case and gain support from the public. They formed the “Amistad Committee” and this requested help from the citizens and raised funds on the hope that they would send the Africans back to their homeland. The committee also requested the help of legal persons such as Roger Baldwin. Baldwin was a Yale graduate and the grandson of Roger Sherman, who was one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence and a delegate to the Constitutional Convention. He was also a great “warrior” in the fight against slavery and had a reputation for “defending the unfortunate.” He founded many societies dedicated to the abolishing of slavery, and he also served in the state legislatures and in the governor’s office.
However, there was another problem, and that was with Spain. They also wanted a part in this case. They demanded the United States to return the schooner back to Cuba, its native home. (Cuba was under Spanish control at this time) Also, they wanted the U.S. to bring the slaves back to Havana and back into the slave trade once more, and they also claimed that the U.S. had no jurisdiction over the Spanish subjects. The United States now had another burden on their shoulders and they worried about this situation, and tried to make legal documents to satisfy Spain.
The Relationship between the U.S. and Spain however was soured by this case. They were already incensed about their schooner not being returned, and the U.S. was pondering what to do with the Africans. Since they were bought at a Cuban market, the consideration was taken whether the Africans were Spanish citizens even though they were African-born. The United States retorted back to Spain’s arguments by saying that if the slaves had been bought before the slave trade act was passed, they would’ve been able to return the Africans back to Spain, and the argument continued to rage over this. However, the situation in Spain was completely different from the one in the U.S. The slave trade and slavery were both legal in Spain and this was the main difference that caused this conflict. Also, if the slaves were considered as property, then the law of salvage would apply, and then they would be sold away as cargo.
The Slave Trade Act was passed in 1820, and it made it clear that any participation in the slave trade was considered illegal and an act of piracy, but sadly, this was never strongly enforced. However, in the late 1820s, the “character’ of the illegal slave trade was changed somewhat, and the United States wasn’t shipping the slaves from Africa to it’s own country, but to other countries, especially in South America, such as Brazil and Cuba, in Latin America. But this was still considered illegal, and it was this case that mostly brought this to the attention of law enforcers.
As the arguments with Spain continued, the case was turned over to the Circuit Court in Hartford. The judge here was Judge Smith Thompson, and now Holabird had a new idea: to turn over the Africans to President Van Buren and let him make the decision. However, there was some indecisiveness over this. Now, Baldwin was able to make up his defense. He argued, “No power on earth has the right to reduce [the Africans] to slavery.” He also argued that the “United States should never stoop so low as to become a slave-catcher for foreign slave-holders.” He attacked this case with a more narrow scope than the other men on his defense team, Theodore Sedgwick and Seth Staples. He accused Ruiz and Montes as the criminals and argued that they were the ones “deserve the penalty of death for piracy” and that the Africans were innocent. After all the arguments were completed, Judge Thompson decided that the Africans were to be detained until the decision regarding their status as property or not.
The trial came about and one of the most important people in the story of the Amistads came about, John Quincy Adams. Lewis Tappan, the leader of the abolitionist movement at the time, persuaded him into defending the Africans. He later on agreed to join Baldwin with his arguments. Adams believed in righting the case and giving the Africans true justice. He had a powerful argument and he argued that Spain was asking the U.S. to “first turn man-robber…next turn jailer…and lastly turn catchpole and convey them to Havana, to appease the vengeance of the African slave-traders of the barracoons.” He was ultimately saying that Spain was asking the United States to do something impossible, because it first accused the Africans of being the criminals, and then that the U.S. should send the Africans back to Havana, back to the slave trade, to appease the traders in the barracoons. He also quoted the Declaration of Independence, saying that: “The moment you come to the Declaration of Independence, that every man has a right to life and liberty, an inalienable right, this case is decided. I ask nothing more in behalf of these unfortunate men than this Declaration.” He ended his arguments on a personal note, saying that over thirty-seven years ago, he was in front of this court leading the country. Now he was back and once again pleading for the life and liberty of men.
The Supreme Court announced their decision on March 9th 1841. Justice Joseph Story presented their results and stated that the Amistads were "kidnapped Africans, who by the laws of Spain itself were entitled to their freedom." The results of the case brought much joy to everyone, especially to Adams and his defendants. Also, funding began to send the Africans back to their native country, Sierra Leone. The preparations were made, and the thirty-five Africans who were still surviving were sent back to Sierra Leone on the boat Gentleman.
When the remaining Africans were put on the boat and were sent back to Sierra Leone, a group of people accompanied them, and they were the Christian Missionaries. This was one of the plans of the United States, but the missionaries’ task was daunting. Once the boat was back on dry ground in Sierra Leone, many of the Africans reverted back to their regular ways and became “heathen”, as the missionaries called them, once more. However, some of them were torn between the cultures of the two completely different worlds they had been in. The missionaries, on the other hand, endured many hardships in Africa, and had their work cut out for them. They had to endure fever and many other diseases that they were unaccustomed to, and the mortality rate for these men was very high. The missionaries had to keep sending more and more men to take the place of the ones who had perished.
The other thing that resulted from this was what happened to the Abolitionist movement. This really did give them some support, and that really spurred them on from their fledgling stage. They were generally regarded as the radical ones from the common crowd, but this time, most of the public agreed with them on this issue. This virtually turned the tables for them and their popularity continued to grow, and people started to realize that the abolitionists weren’t fighting for an outrageous cause, but something more realistic and much more simple than that. Of course, this case wasn’t the only thing that fired up the Abolitionists; other things were included, like Nat Turner’s Rebellion.
The Capture of the Africans was truly a horrendous act, and the rebellious act of the captains of the Amistad caused a great hullabaloo in our nation. They were captured most unjustly, and even thought slavery and the slave trade was still allowed in Spain, unlike the United States, they shouldn’t have been captured, and truly, the court was right in setting them free. It was the overture to the great drama of the Civil War, and it triggered many things to happen in our country. Initially, it initiated the sudden wave of interest in sending Christian Missionaries to Africa and specifically Sierra Leone, and it also empowered the Abolitionist Movement to become bolder. Without this case, the Abolitionist Movement wouldn’t have been as strong as it was leading up to, and during the Civil War.