March 9: The Amistad

In 1839, Spanish slave traders herded a group of kidnapped Africans onto the Amistad and set course for the slave markets of Cuba. As the Amistad neared its destination, the Africans broke free and staged a mutiny. Outnumbering the Spaniards, they killed two sea-men and took the rest hostage. They promised to set the sailors free if they brought the ship safely back to Africa. The Spaniards agreed but secretly altered course each night when the sun was out of view.

Unbeknownst to the African men and women, the ship moved at a north-eastern direction. The Amistad was intercepted off the coast of Connecticut; the Spanish were freed, and the Africans were thrown into prison.

While the international slave trade was illegal in both America and Spain, the Spanish government claimed the prisoners of the Amistad as Spanish property and demanded that they be turned over to Spain where they would be forced into slavery or tried for murder. The bewildered Africans were unable to communicate in English and couldn’t defend themselves. American anti-slavery activists jumped to their defence—taking the decision to court.

Despite president Martin Van Buren’s insistence that the judge “Ship them off without mercy,” the case reached the supreme court. Former president John Quincy Adams, gave a passionate seven-hour defence on behalf of the prisoners. He argued that to send the captives to Spain would be contrary to the American ideals of equality and liberty. By rising up against the Spaniards, he reasoned, the captives were merely claiming their God-given rights to freedom.

On March 9, 1841, the court ruled in favour of the Africans. They were declared freemen but were not supplied with passage back to Africa. A group of abolitionists, mostly Christians, raised enough money to pay for passage back to Sierra Leone for the 53 Africans.

The freed Africans were moved by the kindness of their American allies, and the Christian ideals of love, mercy and equality that motivated the American Christians. On arrival in Africa, they sent a simple package back as a gift to John Quincy Adams for his role in their deliverance. Inside was a Bible.

Verse of the day: John 13:35
By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.