Background
•President: Martin Van Buren
•Economy: 2nd US National Bank closed by
President Jackson. Economy very tenuous.
•2 million African Slaves in the U.S.
•300,000 freed African slaves
More Background:
•Missouri Compromise of 1820:
Admitted Missouri as a slave state
but said that any new state admitted
above the northern border of Missouri
would be admitted as a free state .
36-30 line.
•Theory of Nullification Act ( John C. Calhoun)
A state has the right to refuse to carryout a
federal law. Jackson enforced federal laws.
President Van Buren
feels the pressure of
the South’s possible
succession…….
If you were kidnapped and placed on a ship
not knowing where you were going or what
was going to happen to you, would you
fight for your freedom even if it meant killing
your captors?
This is what Cinque
did and how the
story begins……
The Incident:
In January 1839, Cinque, a Mende, is seized and sold
into slavery in the interior of West Africa.
Early April: Cinque is loaded on the slave ship
Tecora off Lomboko, on the West African coast of
Sierra Leone.
After a 3 month middle passage across the Atlantic,
the Africans are brought to the barracoons in
Havanna and sold to Jose Ruiz and Pedro Montez,
Spanish planters from Puerto Principe. They
purchase a total of 49 adult males and 4 children (3
are girls).
June 8 : Ruiz and Montez load the Africans
onto the Amistad.
July 1: On their third night out Cinque and
his friend Grabiau free and arm themselves
and the others
July 2: Africans Revolt
Over the next 2 months the Amistad sails
east by day , north by night, through the
Bahamas and up the North American
coastline, into U.S. waters.
Background 2:
•During the 1800’s, European countries have vast
empires. These empires not only stretch into the
Americas and Caribbean Islands but also into Africa.
•Buying and transporting slaves from Africa had
been outlawed due to several treaties between
the U.S. and other European countries
•Great Britain was particularly vigorous at
enforcing these treaties. Sierra Leone was a
British protectorate.
Aug. 26th : USS Washington seizes schooner
and escorts it to New London.
US Federal District Judge Andrew T. Judson is
notified.
Judson sends the matter to the U.S. Circuit court in
Hartford, Connecticut. Africans are taken to jail in
New Haven.
Sept. 6 Spanish minister in Washington demand
that the Africans be returned to Cuba to stand trial
for mutiny and murder.
Sept. 9: With the help of abolitionist Lewis
Tappan, Yale professor Josiah Gibbs finds
Mende translators on the docks of New
York –James Covey and Charles Pratt–
and takes them to New Haven to interview
the Africans. Money is also raised for the
Africans defense fund.
US Circuit Court Judge Thompson
expresses doubt to the legality of the
African’s enslavement, but decides to keep
Africans in custody.
Federal District court: (Judge Judson
presiding) Attorney Roger Baldwin tries to
get the case dismissed on grounds that the
“salvage” should have been taken to New
York and introduces evidence that the
Africans were not legally enslaved.
Secretary of State, John Forsythe, under
the direction of the President, orders the
Navy to transport the Africans as soon as
there is a ruling.
Spain puts in a claim for the Africans
Jan. 8: Cinque testifies, describing his
capture, enslavement, middle passage,
sale in Havana, revolt. ( clip from video)
•Court awards salvage to two Spaniards. It also
rules that the Africans were illegally enslaved.
Murder and piracy issues were left to Spanish
rule , but since Africans wrere taken illegally the
issue was null and void.
•Van Buren orders and immediate appeal to
the Circuit Court.
•Circuit Court affirms District Court
decision and sends issue to the Supreme
Court.
John Quincy Adams and Roger
Baldwin argue Africans’ case in
the Supreme Court
Supreme Court rules in
favor of the Africans and
orders them to be returned
home to Africa.
Senior Justice Joseph Story
said, ". . . it was the ultimate
right of all human beings in
extreme cases to resist
oppression, and to apply force
against ruinous injustice," the
opinion in this case more
narrowly asserted the Africans
right to resist "unlawful"
slavery.
Cinque and other Africans
return home with the help
of some new friends from
the Church of Christ and
set up a missionary in
Sierra Leone.
Divide into groups of four and
answer the following questions.
Submit group answers at the end of
class and designate a discussion
leader.
Questions to ponder:
If the Amistad had been captured in
any other state in the U.S. do you
think the outcome might have been
different? What if it had been
captured in a southern state?
Give two reasons why President Van
Buren interferred with the outcome of
this case.
List two positive residual effects of this
case.
Extra Credit: Prepare a 2 page essay
discussing your thoughts on the
significance of this court case in
regards to being a precursor to the Civil
War. ( worth 1% point added at the end
of nine weeks)