Picture yourself on the slave-trading
ship, La Amistad. You and 48 other slaves were being transported from Havana to
Puerto Principe (Cuba) to be sold. When your ship ran out of rations, the ship’s
cook told you would be killed and eaten. One of you—Cinque— freed himself from
his chains and killed the cook—and next, killed the captain.
You were in control of the ship and
wanted to sail to a free port. You needed help from the sailors. They deceived
you, guiding the ship to a Long Island, New York port. They chose this port
because slavery was legal in the U.S. and America could be trusted to return
you—viewed as “property”— to Jose Ruiz and Pedro Montez.
You were caught between the
conflicting claims of Spain—a rogue nation that traded slaves in the Caribbean
in the 1840s-- and Great Britain, a nation that led an international effort to
abolish slave trading. (Spain argued that its obligations did not extend to its
possession, Cuba.)
Would the U.S. hand you over to Spanish
authorities or free you?
The Supreme Court ordered your
freedom, stating:
“… supposing these African
negroes not to be slaves, but kidnapped, and free negroes, the treaty with
Spain cannot be obligatory upon them; and the United States are bound to
respect their rights as much as those of Spanish subjects…. and that the said
negroes be declared to be free, and be dismissed from the custody of the court,
and go without delay.”
Abolitionist supporters took the
survivors – 36 men and boys and three girls – to Farmington, Connecticut, a
village that figured prominently as a terminal point for the Underground
Railroad.
Would the U.S. reach the
same legal outcome today? Would these former slaves be allowed to live in the
U.S. without fear of removal to a foreign power?
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