U.S. v. Cinque: 1839

In New London, Ruiz and Montes described the slave rebellion to the American authorities, and pressed their claim for the return of the Amistad with its cargo of slaves. Despite the slaves' illegal capture, the Spanish government backed Ruiz's and Montes' claim. With the blessing of President Martin Van Buren's administration, District Attorney William S. Holabird charged Cinque and the other blacks with committing murder and piracy aboard the Amistad.

The trial was held in the U.S. District Court for Connecticut. The judge was District Court Judge Andrew T. Judson, assisted by Associate Supreme Court Justice Smith Thompson. The abolitionists hired a team of defense lawyers to represent the blacks, comprised of Roger S. Baldwin, Joshua Leavitt, Seth Staples, and an ex-president of the United States, John Quincy Adams.

The trial began November 19, 1839. The defense lawyers asserted that the blacks had the right to free themselves from the horrible conditions of slavery. In support of their position, they introduced Dr. Richard R. Madden, who had traveled extensively in Cuba and was an expert on slave conditions:

[S]o terrible were these atrocities, so murderous the system of slavery, so transcendent the evils I witnessed, over all I have ever heard or seen of the rigour of slavery elsewhere, that at first I could hardly believe the evidence of my senses.

Further, as the testimony of Madden and various witnesses made clear, returning Cinque and the others to Cuba meant certain death at the hands of the pro-slavery colonial authorities. In addition, since the blacks had originally been captured in Africa in violation of Spanish law, the abolitionists argued that the blacks were not legally slaves and therefore were not "property" belonging to Ruiz and Montes.

Despite pressure from the Van Buren administration, which wanted to avoid diplomatic tension with Spain, on January 13, 1840, Judge Judson ruled in favor of the blacks. Although the Amistad with its goods would be returned to Ruiz and Montes, subject to salvage costs, Cinque and the others:

were born free, and ever since have been and still of right are free and not slaves.

Further, because they had been illegally enslaved, the blacks were innocent of murder and piracy since they had only acted to free themselves.

The prosecution appealed Judson's decision to the Supreme Court. The abolitionists had anticipated this move, since five Supreme Court justices, including Chief Justice Roger B. Taney, were Southerners and had owned slaves. The defense relied on John Quincy Adams to present its case, banking on his prestige as much as on his legal ability. On February 22, 1840, the Supreme Court heard both sides' arguments, and on March 9 issued its opinion. The Court upheld Judson's decision, and so the blacks were finally free. Cinque and the other blacks were returned to Africa.

Technically, the Amistad decision did not condemn slavery, it only held that blacks not legally slaves were also not property. Still, the courts could have just as easily turned the blacks over to Spanish authorities or returned them to Cuba if they wished. The case was seen as a victory for the abolitionist cause, and was a milestone in the movement's quest for the total elimination of slavery.

In the late 1990s, the story of the Amistad returned to the public's attention. Several new books were published recounting the trial of Cinque, and a film directed by Steven Spielberg was released in 1997.