The Amistad Case

The Amistad Case was a widely know federal case in the 19th century. The case involved the slaves who had boarded the La Amistad ship and the federal court. They had killed their slaveholders and took over ship. This occurred because of the brutality and death experienced by the salves after being sold during the Spanish slave trade. After landing in the American waters, the slaves were held custody in America. In America, the slaves were charged with murder and piracy. In addition, they were considered as recovered property together with the Amistad ship. The slaves tried to fight for their freedom in court.
Legal challenges faced by Amistad slaves
One of the legal challenges faced by slaves in the case was the conflicting political interests …show more content…
If they acted as free men, they would face the risks of death penalty. Such complexities in the case made it difficult for the slaves to defend themselves. If the law against international trade was applied, slaves would be considered as freemen. As, such, the court would view them as freemen who were fighting to escape an unlawful imprisonment. The court had to rule that the slaves had the right to use force to free themselves (Osagie …show more content…
This is attributable to fact that court was undecided whether to treat them as property or people. During the time of slave trade, slaves were viewed as property that could be owned by slave holders. During the time of Amistad case, the US had abolished international slave trade, however; domestic slave trade was being practiced. As such, if the slaves were viewed as property, then they would have no say as the US court would be required to return the slaves back to Spain together with the ship. However, if they were to be viewed as people, then would have to defend themselves just like other people in the court. In addition, viewing the slaves as free people would mean that Africans were illegally in the American Custody and should be