What Is The Amistad Case

In April of 1839, a ship (La Amistad) carrying hundreds of native Africans from West Africa were captured near Sierra Leone, and sold into the Spanish slave trade. On July 1st , while traveling across the Atlantic, the slaves led by Cinque, began a revolt on the high seas that ended the lives of the ship’s captain and crew, leaving two planters Ruiz and Montes, that were transporting Cargo (supposedly slaves) on the ship, to navigate the ship back to Africa. Instead the men purposely tried to steer the ship towards other cruisers to get help.
A short time later, a U.S. Navy ship, the USS Washington, appeared and seized the Amistad and all of the slaves aboard the ship, to include men, women, and children. The slaves and the Spanish captures were taken to New London, Connecticut, a state where slavery was legal but the sale of slaves were illegal.
On August 29, the Court case began in New London, Connecticut; Spanish planters, and several other claimants argued over who could claim the slaves and the ship belong, and how to divvy it up.
The federal court case ended becoming an explosive national debate for the abolitionists’ verses the salve trade that would questions the legal foundations of slavery, and transform America’s court system. Ultimately the trial
would focus on the legal status of the African captives and whether or not to return them to Spanish officials, free them, or send them back to Africa. The key issues in the case were
• Legally obtained slaves or abduction and enslavement
• intensified conflict over slavery, which resulted in President Martin Van Buren siding with the planter to avoid losing vote from southern slaveholder, in the upcoming election, which resulted in former President John Quincy Adams criticizing his administration
• Diplomatic problem with Spanish government
• Violations of Treaties and treaty obligations
• Slaves were transported by citizens of other nations with very different laws regarding slavery
• Conflicting views from the public about Cinque regarding his nature, hero or savage
• The question of whether or not slavery violated natural rights
• No one had solid proof as to who the slaves really belonged to
The Amistad case was very important to the American Federal court system, creating a circuit court and a district court that separately argued maritime commerce, property claims, and the legal principles and political issues compromising slavery.
It also increased the number of people that opposed slavery in the U.S, inspired African American slaves to want freedom, and more importantly, inspiring antislavery movement in pre-Civil War Era. In the end, it was ruled that the slaves were obtained illegally and should be freed, because they knew if the slaves were to return to Cuba they would be executed. They went back to Africa and the one slave Antonio that did belong to the Spanish managed to
escape.