Amistad Conflict Essay Research Paper The Amistad

Amistad Conflict Essay, Research Paper The Amistad Conflict In January 1839, fifty-three African natives were kidnapped from eastern Africa and sold into the Spanish slave trade. They were then placed aboard a Spanish slave ship bound for Havana, Cuba. Once in Havana, the Africans were classified as native Cuban slaves and purchased at auction by two Spaniards, Don Jose Ruiz and Don Pedro Montez. The two planned to move the slaves to another part of Cuba. The slaves were shackled and loaded aboard the cargo ship Amistad (Spanish for “friendship”) for the brief coastal voyage. However, three days into the journey, a 25-year-old slave named Sengbe Pieh (or “Cinque” to his Spanish captors) broke out of his shackles and released the other Africans. The slaves then

revolted, killing most of the crew of the Amistad, including the cook and captain. The Africans then forced Montez and Ruiz to return the ship to Africa. During the day, the ship sailed due east, using the sun to navigate. However, at night Montez and Ruiz would change course, attempting to return to Cuba. The zigzag journey continued for 63 days. The ship finally grounded near Montauk Point, Long Island, in New York State. The United States federal government seized the ship and its African occupants — who under U.S. law were “property” and therefore cargo of the ship. On August 29, 1839, the Amistad was towed into New London, Connecticut. The government charged the slaves with piracy and murder, and classified them as salvage property. The fifty-three Africans were sent

to prison, pending hearing of their case before the U.S. Circuit Court in Hartford, Connecticut. The stage was set for an important, controversial, and highly politicized case. Local abolitionist groups rallied around the Africans’ cause, organizing a legal defense, hiring a translator for the Africans, and providing material support. Meanwhile, the Spanish government pressured the U.S. President, Martin Van Buren, to return the slaves to Spain without trial. (http://amistad.mysticseaport.org/library/misc/barber.1840.amis.capt.html#initial.investigation),1. The trials and arguments revealed much about contemporary attitudes toward slavery. The ultimate decision made by the courts had many implications and created conflicts within the United States over slavery. The conflict at

hand was that the Africans said ” that they are not natives of Africa, and were born free, and ever since have been and still of right are and ought to be free and not slaves; that they were domiciled in the island of Cuba, or in the dominions of the Queen of Spain, or subject to the laws thereof.”(http://amistad.mysticseaport.org/library/court/supreme/1841.01.decision.2.htm) The United States argued that its treaty with Spain required it to return ships and property seized by U.S. government vessels to their Spanish owners. The Supreme Court called the case “peculiar and embarrassing.” It ruled for the Africans, accepting the argument that they were never citizens of Spain, and were illegally taken from Africa, where they were free men under the law. The Supreme Court

accepted that the United States had obligations to Spain under the treaty, but said that that treaty “never could have been intended to take away the equal rights of [the Africans].”(http://amistad.mysticseaport.org/library/court/supreme/1841.01.decision.2.html) The Supreme Court also rejected a fairly novel argument by the United States. The U.S. argued that the Africans should not be freed because, in commanding a slave ship and piloting it into the United States, the Africans violated the laws of the United States forbidding slave trade. The Supreme Court stated that the slaves could not “possibly intend to import themselves into the United States as slaves, or for sale as slaves.” (http://amistad.mysticseaport.org/library/court/supreme/1841.01.decision.2.html) Senior