Amistad and Five Identifications

¶ … Amistad

In 1839 the United States was bitterly divided over the issue of slavery. The House of Representatives had enacted a gag order which effectively blocked any anti-slavery legislation from being discussed. Current President Martin Van Buren was in a tough re-election campaign and was looking to the South for support. Northern Abolitionists were in a state of frustration as every avenue had been blocked for them. Into this maelstrom sailed a tiny ship named the Amistad, which weeks earlier had been commandeered by it's cargo of slaves. This trial over those onboard would turn into a battle over the issue of Slavery itself and tear America apart. (Mintz)

The slaves had been captured illegally in Africa, sailed to Cuba and sold, and then were in the process of sailing to their final destination when the Africans rose up in rebellion, slaughter most of the crew, and forced the remaining crewmembers to sail the ship back to Africa. Unfortunately for the Africans, the two crewmembers tricked them and actually sailed a zigzag pattern until they ended up off the coast of America. It was there that they were captured by the Americans and forced into a court battle to determine their fate.

Northern Abolitionists flocked to the African's support and the legal battle took two years in which time pro-slavery forces in America, with the support of then President Van Buren, launched a systematic plan to thwart the release of the Africans. The legal battle also involved an International component as the Spanish were insistent that their "property" be returned to them. President Van Buren, and his pro-slavery allies, attempted to use the court system to sabotage any chance of the African's release. Many pro-slavery proponents felt that this case was a battle over the principle of slavery, and the outcome could have tremendous consequences for the United States as a whole.

The case eventually made it's way to the Supreme Court of the United States where the African's side was argued by former President John Quincy Adams. During the previous trials the lawyers for the Africans had proven beyond a doubt that the Africans were indeed captured in Africa, making them illegally forced into slavery. Adams argued now that the Africans "were illegally enslaved. If the President could hand over free men on the demand of a foreign government, how could any man, woman, and child in the United States ever be sure of their 'blessing of freedom'?" (The Amistad Case NPG) With only one dissenting vote, the Supreme Court agreed and the Africans were ordered to be released and transported home.

This case was a significant win for the Abolitionists at a time when they had been successfully blocked at every turn. It bolstered the anti-slavery cause and breathed new life into a stagnated group. As the Hartford Currant printed on March 15, 1841 "The decision of the Supreme Court of the United States…will afford the most sincere gratification to every friend of human freedom and rights, and especially to every person who abhors slavery and the slave trade." (Rothchilds) It also infuriated the Southern pro-slavery forces causing them to dig in their heels and fight against the Abolitionist movement even more. This case invigorated the Abolitionist movement to work less with moralistic pleas to end slavery and to engage in more legal and political tactics. By changing the focus away from moral and onto politics and legalities, the Abolitionist movement became much more effective, enraged the Pro-slavery forces to a point of exploding, and laid the groundwork for the American Civil War.

Louisiana Purchase

In 1801, then president Thomas Jefferson sent an embassy to France to inquire about purchasing the port of New Orleans, instead, in 1803, the United States purchased the entire Louisiana Territory nearly doubling the size of the country. This new territory allowed the United States to expand into the West and was the beginning of the idea of Manifest Destiny; or the idea that the United States was destined to expand across the continent all the war to the Pacific Ocean. It also spelled the doom of the Native Americans who were forced to continually move west in order to make room for American settlement. (Kelly)