Amistad Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Amistad - Essay ExampleThe Spanish colonies of Cuba and Puerto Rico would continue to endure the outlawed slave trade until the 1860s, but eventually outlaw slavery by the end of the 1870s2.By the time of the Amistad misfortune, the feeling in America towards slavery had polarized. Feelings ran the gamut from the abolitionists that called for an immediate ban on slavery, to the bulk that felt a constitutional amendment was long overdue, and included the advocates that argued slavery was a states issue and wished to prolong the practice, primarily in the rural South for economic reasons. In the Northern States, the rising voices of black, as well as white, abolitionists are partly responsible for ending slavery in the Northern states during the first part of the nineteenth century3. According to Jackson, if many were sympathetic to the Africans, there were plenty of others among the American press and public with only despite for them, and Cinque, the leader of the mutineers, was described by one journalist to be as miserably ignorant and brutalized a creature as the rest4. Many people such as Lewis Tapan, a prominent New York businessman, Joshua Leavitt, a lawyer and journalist who edited the Emancipator in New York, and Simeon Jocelyn, a Congregational could mind the coming of the civil war over this unresolvable issue and decided to publicize the incident to expose the brutalities of slavery and the slave trade5. In 1839, the res publica was deeply divided over the slavery issue and many people were willing to take a hard stance either for or against it. C. good aspects of the Supreme Courts decision. Though there was significant political and emotional pressure placed on the court, the eventual decision was a correct legal finding. The guinea pig rested on three principles jurisdiction, the mutineers status as slaves, and the concept of slaves as property. The Spanish minister pointed out that the Amistad mutiny took place on a Cuban vessel travelin g between Cuban ports and was thus beyond the jurisdiction of American courts6. The court ruled that the mutineers were kidnapped and free Negroes, the treaty with Spain cannot be obligatory upon them and the unite States are bound to respect their rights as much as those of Spanish subjects7. The court rightfully found that they had been kidnapped, since they had been taken in violation of international agreements, and since they were existence held as kidnapped captives, the Supreme Court upheld the lower courts decision. The court declared that the blacks had never been lawful slaves and that they were kidnapped and illegally transported to Cuba. Their mutiny was an act of self-defense8. Adams challenged the Court to find a more sweeping decision on the basis of natural rights doctrines found in the Declaration of Independence9. However, the majority opinion found slavery inharmonious and contrary to Christian morality, he supported the laws protecting its existence and oppose d the abolitionists as threats to ordered society. Property rights, he believed, were the basis of civilization10. D. Impact of the Amistad incident on slavery. The impact of the Amistad incident gave the abolitionists a social and political boost that would continue to echo into the future. The importance of the Amistad case lies in the fact that Cinque