|
|
|
Nasty Business: Amistad’s Historic Ripple Effect
|
Business New Haven
10/3/1997
By:
BNH
|
The story of the Amistad is one of murder and mutiny - and the business of selling slaves.
It begins in Africa in 1839 when a group of Africans were sold into slavery. Shipped to Cuba, 53 of the newly captured Africans, most members of the Mende tribe, were purchased by two Spaniards and placed aboard the Amistad to be transported to another Cuban port.
Led by one of the Mende, Cinqué, the ship was taken over and sailed the Atlantic, attempting to return to Africa. Because the Mende lacked elementary navigational knowledge the ship ended up off the tip of Long Island, where it was captured by the U.S. Navy ship Washington. The Mende found themselves prisoners in a strange country, unable to speak the language and charged with committing murder and mutiny.
An investigation and preliminary hearing was held aboard the Washington in New London Harbor. The court ordered the Africans to be sent to New Haven to be held for trial at the Federal Circuit Court in Hartford. The charge was murder and mutiny.
The Mende prisoners became a celebrated sideshow, the curious filing through the jail to get a look at them for twelve and a half cents. The time leading up to the trial was used to overcome the complicated problem of the language barrier.
Not everyone looked at the Mende as a form of entertainment. A group of abolitionists, in need of an event or incident to draw more attention to their cause, decided to come to their aid. In less than a week after the Mende arrived in America, the abolitionists had formed a national committee to solicit funds to pay for the support of the Africans and to hire Roger Sherman Baldwin as chief defense counsel.
The court decided that crimes committed on the high seas on a Spanish vessel were not within the jurisdiction of a United States court, dropping the charge of murder and mutiny. But salvage claims were to be decided in district court. The crew of the Washington claimed salvage rights. If the Africans were determined by the court to be property, they would be considered cargo and could have great value.
The Spanish ambassador argued that the captives were property belonging to the two Spaniards who had purchased them. In addition, he wanted the Africans to be returned to Cuba and tried for the murder of the Amistad crew. The U. S. Secretary of State, a pro-slavery Democrat, agreed with Spanish claims, urging the President to support the Spanish. The Africans were a long way from freedom.
As time passed, it seemed as though nearly everyone was trying to “cash in” on the Amistad incident. Many works of art began to appear, murals were painted, drawing made of the captives, poems and even plays written. One of the results of all this activity was growing public support for the Mende cause.
Numerous legal battles would ultimately decide the fate of the Africans, with money and profits as the primary conflict. Before it was over, the fate of the Mende would be taken as far as the U.S. Supreme Court, where the numerous appeals of those seeking gain from the incident would ultimately be decided.
District Court awarded the Navy personnel salvage rights on one third of the value of the Amistad and its cargo - a cargo which did not include the captives. The claims of the two Spaniards were rejected. The Spanish minister also lost his bid to have the Mende sent to Cuba for trial.
For the final legal battle, the abolitionists hired former President John Quincy Adams to represent the Mende, along with Roger Sherman Baldwin. The Supreme Court upheld the Circuit Court's ruling, ordering the Africans free. The basis of the decision was that the Africans were not slaves in Africa and had been brought to this country against their will. The one-third rate for salvage for Navy personnel was upheld.
The Mende were at last free, but because the court had made no provision for their return, it would take time to raise the money needed to hire a ship to return the Mende to Sierra Leone. In the interim the Mende were taken to Farmington to live in private homes.
While the fund drive continued, the Africans made a number of personal appearances at anti-slavery meetings. Although some people thought that the Africans were being exploited, these appearances were successful in raising the money needed to send them home. More than two years after the Mende had seized the Amistad, they were at last on their way home - except for the many who died in this country. In November 1841 they set sail from New York bound for the west coast of Africa.
The Amistad Committee that was organized to raise funds for the Africans ultimately evolved into the American Missionary Association. Hoping to settle in Africa and dedicate themselves to converting the Africans to Christianity, missionaries sailed with the former captives to Sierra Leone.
The association later took on the task of educating the millions of illiterate slaves liberated after the Civil War and went on to establish major black institutions of higher education such as Fisk University, Hampton University and many others.
|
Go FirstGo PreviousGo
NextGo LastGo
to Index
|
|
