Why Is The Mutiny Possible On The Amistad

Slaves were considered property and not people, by calling them contrabands they would keep the same status

The decision from the first case was reached in just one day, rather expeditiously for a case, which took fourteen months to get to trial; yet there were valid reason. For Example, the judge ruled, “the testimony could not prove that Irene Emerson owned Dred Scott.” (Lukes, 21) This shows that the burden of proof was on Dred Scott to prove his ownership, in order to have a ruling on his freedom. This also shows how one tiny oversight by one side can affect the outcome of a case. In addition, the record indicated, “The said defendant is not guilty in manner and form as the plaintiff hath in his declaration complained against her.” (Lukes 22) This shows that because of Scott’s attorney’s error in argument, the court had to rule in favor of Mrs. Emerson. This also shows that in a strange twist of fate, in effect, allowed Mrs. Emerson to keep her slaves because no one had proven they were her slaves. In conclusion, Dred Scott had lost in the first court appearance, but the case was far from over. 182

To really show the horrendous conditions that the slaves endured, the author includes a 1787 replication drawing of the slave ship Brooks. Built in 1781 with a lower deck intended to accommodate 294 slaves, giving each slave a space comparable to the size of a coffin. Adult males were allocated a space six feet long and fifteen inches wide and allowing even less space for adult women, boys, and girls. The height of the same area was just five feet, and did not include any toilet facilities for the slaves. In most cases, the captains would load double the number of slaves their ships were designed for leading to even worse conditions onboard with more mouths to feed but not enough provisions to compensate. Those slaves who died during the journey through the Middle Passage were simply thrown overboard, where their bodies were eaten by ravenous sharks.

Prior to the Amistad being detained there was an uprising. A couple Africans killed “the captain and the cook.” However, they let the planters live and “ordered them to sail to Africa.” Once the boat was seized by an American military vessel, the planters were freed and the blacks were put in prison. They were charged with murder, however, that charge was dropped. The case, which became known as the Amistad Case, became more of a property rights case. Did Cuba, Spain, and whoever else claimed that these blacks belonged to them, have the right to own them and enslave them? In the movie, the young lawyer, named Baldwin struggled to win the case the first time around, because he did not have enough evidence to prove that the blacks were in fact from Africa

Most of the time, the slaves were exploited for the accumulation of the wealth of the whites. The Africans could escape slavery, but not their race and if ever caught they would be punished harshly.

Rachel vs. Walker Case which states that if a slave returns to Missouri and is not owned as Dred Scott did there

Fortunately, they did and the slaves were granted freedom. All these events could not have

Despite being quite familiar to the use of African slaves, and having African slaves introduced

Abolitionists were very active during this time in history. After they became aware of this case, they decided to become involved on behalf of the Africans. They were to use this case as a means of publicizing the evils of the African slave trade and slavery itself.

The dramatic story of the Amistad, which was featured in a major motion picture that opened in December, is found among the court records at the National Archives - Northeast Region at Waltham, MA, and in the Supreme Court records at the National Archives in Washington, DC. In 1839, 53 African natives were kidnapped .from an area now known as Sierra Leone and illegally sold into the Spanish slave trade. They were transported to Havana, Cuba and sold at auction as native Cuban slaves to two "Spanish gentlemen." The Spaniards were transporting the Africans and other cargo to another part of Cuba on board the Spanish schooner Amistad when the Africans staged a revolt, seizing control of the schooner, killing the captain and the cook, and driving off the rest of the crew. The two "Spanish gentlemen" were ordered to sail back to Africa. By day, the Spaniards sailed eastward and by night they surreptitiously sailed westward, hoping to land back in Cuba or the southern United States. The ship was seized and towed to New London, Connecticut, where the imprisoned Africans began a lengthy legal battle to win back their

The controversies surrounding slavery have been established in many societies worldwide for centuries. In past generations, although slavery did exists and was tolerated, it was certainly very questionable,” ethically“. Today, the morality of such an act would not only be unimaginable, but would also be morally wrong. As things change over the course of history we seek to not only explain why things happen, but as well to understand why they do. For this reason, we will look further into how slavery has evolved throughout History in American society, as well as the impacts that it has had.

These were slave born on the African continent with little or no acculturation with the Spaniards

In sharp contrast to what most people think, “only about 6 percent of the slaves imported in Africa ended up in what is now the United States.” Most of those taken from Africa ended up, if they survived the long sea voyage, in the West

This caused many rallies, riots, peaceful protest. This case informs us now because it also tells us how bad they were treated back then, the people believed the girls because they were white, and mostly overlooked the boys because they were black. So to end this long unfair trial, they were cleared.The latter mentioned in the book To kill a Mockingbird, by author Harper lee.

and how they cared nothing about the slaves. Following that, Douglass told another story about a cruel