[Back] [Next] [Up] [New Search] 'Black History' segment written in June, 1998 by David Lodge |
La Amistad was a Spanish
ship, engaged in the now illegal slave trade, that set out from Africa in 1839 with its
cargo of Negro humanity bound for enslavement in the Americas. Upon reaching the
coast of Cuba, the slaves broke free of their chains and a bloody confrontation with the
crew occurred. With their slave leader, Joseph Cinque, a Mende tribesman, in control
of the ship, the 53 slaves ordered the remaining crew members to return the ship to
Africa. The Amistad was eventually seized off Long Island by an American warship
where the mutineers were imprisoned for piracy, thus beginning an extradition court case
with international ramifications that would not be resolved until 1841. Abolitionists, recognizing the importance of the case to their cause, seized the issue, and the plight of the slaves, taking it through lower courts to the Supreme Court. President Martin Van Buren wanted the defendants returned to Spain in compliance with the wishes of Queen Isabella’s advisors (the Queen was eleven years old), and her government. Their fate in Spain, would have, no doubt, been quick and final. Former President John Quincy Adams represented the defendants before the Supreme Court where he won a decision that maintained that the Negroes, originally kidnapped and forced into slavery, were by international law, which prohibited the slave trade, free men. Upon receiving their freedom, charitable donations paid for their return voyage to their homeland, Africa. (In December, 1997, the movie "Amistad" was released by Steven Spielberg depicting this event on film). |
