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| Sunday, 31 July 2005 |
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Features |  |
| News Business Features Editorial
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Famous trials that shook the world : Mutiny on the Amistad by Lionel Wijesiri
In January 1839, fifty three African natives were kidnapped from Sierra Leone, in eastern Africa and sold into the Spanish slave trade. They were then placed aboard a Spanish slave ship bound for Havana, Cuba. Although by this time Spain had already outlawed importing slaves to her colonies, which included Cuba, slavery was not illegal within the country. Once in Havana, the Africans were classified as native Cuban slaves and purchased at an auction by two Spaniards who wanted to move the slaves to another part of Cuba. The slaves were shackled and loaded aboard the cargo schooner 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 including the captain. The Africans then forced the remaining crew to return the ship to Africa. During the day, the ship sailed east, using the sun to navigate. However, at night navigators would change course, attempting to return to Cuba. The zigzag journey continued for 63 days. The ship finally grounded near Long Island, in New York State. The United States Federal Government seized the ship and its African occupants- who under U.S. law were "salvage property" and therefore cargo of the ship. On August 29, 1839, the Amistad was towed into Connecticut, a state in which slavery was legal. The government charged the slaves with piracy and murder, and sent them to remand prison, pending the hearing of their case before the U.S. Circuit Court. The stage was set for an important, controversial, and highly politicised case. Local abolitionist groups rallied around the Africans' cause, organising a legal defence, hiring a translator for the Africans, and providing material support. Meanwhile, the Spanish government made a request. Spain argued that, since the Amistad was rescued by a U.S. government-owned ship, the United States was obligated under international treaty to return the ship and its cargo to the Spanish owners, as U. S. courts had no jurisdiction over Spanish subjects. An attorney appeared before the court and presented this request. The US President, Martin Van Buren, was anxious to comply with the Spanish demands, but there was this matter of due process of law. He ordered a Navy ship to be sent to Connecticut to return the Africans to Cuba immediately after the trial. A candidate for re-election that year, he anticipated a ruling against the defendants and hoped to gain votes by removing the Africans soon. The Africans also responded to the claim. They argued that, since they were free men in their native land and since they had been kidnapped from Africa by the Spanish slave traders, and since slave trade was illegal in New York (where the Amistad had landed), they should be released from custody and set free. The case broke new legal ground. The court declared that the Africans had equal rights to equal justice before American courts. Prosecutors argued that, as slaves, the mutineers were subject to the laws governing conduct between slaves and their masters. But trial testimony determined that while slavery was legal in Cuba, importation of slaves from Africa was not. Therefore, the judge ruled, rather than being merchandise, the Africans were victims of kidnapping and had the right to escape their captors in any way they could. The district court ruled that the slaves were free men, and ordered them released from prison. The court also ordered that the United States government transport them back to Africa. The United States attorney appealed against the court's decision, demanding that the United States be free to return the slaves to Spain, under its treaty obligations. The Circuit Court - the next highest court - however, affirmed the district court's decision and rejected the United States arguments. When the U.S. government appealed against this decision before the U.S. Supreme Court the next year, congressman and former president John Quinvy Adams appeared for and argued eloquently for the Amistad rebels. The Supreme Court accepted that the United States had obligations to Spain under the treaty, but said that the treaty "never could have been intended to take away the equal rights of the Africans." The Court also rejected a fairly novel argument by the United States. The U.S. Attorney 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." The Supreme Court, finally 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 opinion granted unconditional freedom to the slaves, but unlike the decision in the district court, it left them with no provision for a return to their homes. In order to raise money for transportation, the abolitionists' committee organised a series of public appearances at which people paid attention to hear them describe their stories of enslavement and the struggle for freedom. In November 1841, in the company of a group of American missionaries, the 35 surviving slaves left New York to live with their families at home. In its own day, the Amistad case generated tremendous publicity. Newspapers lavished the story with attention: poems and plays were inspired by the event. The civil rights involved in the affair made it the most famous case to appear in American courts before the landmark Dred Scott decision of 1857. The story was made into a movie in 1997 directed by Steven Spielberg. A number of memorials were built in remembrance of the Amistad affair. Including a statue of Cinque and a replica of the Amistad in Connecticut. The Amistad case energised the fledgling abolitionist movement and intensified conflict over slavery and soured diplomatic relations between the United States and Spain for a generation. |
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