La Amistad
 Spanish for “Friendship” the Amistad was a ship that was




notorious because of a revolt by African captives being
transported from Havana to Puerto Principe, Cuba.
It was a 19th-century two - masted schooner built in Spain and
owned by a Spaniard living in Cuba.
The rebellion broke out when the schooner, traveling along the
coast of Cuba, was taken over by a group of captives who had
earlier been kidnapped in Africa and sold into slavery.
The Africans took control of the ship in July 1839, but could
not navigate the vessel. They were fooled into thinking they
were being taken back to Africa, but were captured off the
coast of Long Island by the USS Washington of the United
States Revenue Cutter Service.
The US Revenue Cutter Service is the forerunner to what is
now the Coast Guard.
 The initial ruling by the circuit court was that the
alleged mutiny was conducted on a Spanish ship in
Spanish waters, therefore the court had no
jurisdiction.
 The defense attorneys of the African slaves then
appealed and the US Supreme Court chose to hear the
case.
 The case was heard and an eloquent closing argument
was written by John Q. Adams.
 At the time, the transport of slaves from Africa to the
Americas was illegal, so the ship owners fraudulently
described the Africans as having been born in Cuba.
 The court had to decide one of 4 options.
1. Were the slaves considered salvage? (Due to a
maritime law back then, the cargo of a seized ship
could become the property of the Naval officers who
had taken custody of that ship.)
2. Or were they the property of the Cubans who bought
them?
3. Were they the property of Spain as Queen Isabella II
of Spain claimed?
4. Or finally, because of the circumstances of their
capture and transportation meant they were free?
YOUR ASSIGNMENT
 Pretend you are a Supreme Court Justice.
 You will decide which of the previous 4
options you would decide as a decision.
 Your decision is based on what you have been
told and the following closing argument from
the Hollywood movie version of the closing
argument of Amistad.