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March 9, 1841: The U.S. Supreme Court (SCOTUS) ruled 7-1 in United States v. The Amistad that the Black people experiencing captivity who mutinied on the Amistad two years prior were illegally kidnapped from Africa. They actively refused claims against their freedom by rising up. The court denied any legitimate enslavement of these people. However, SCOTUS refused to concede the argument that the African people on board legally owned the vessel. Throughout the proceedings, officials kept the Black mutineers out of direct legal involvement by unjustly incarcerating them in New Haven. As historian Marcus Rediker emphasizes, the SCOTUS decision raised important questions about the fate of young people held captive on board this ship. One of these young people was named Antonio. After SCOTUS upheld a ruling that he must be returned to his enslavers in Cuba, Antonio successfully fled to Canada. Indeed, Rediker writes, “By the time the district court ordered his delivery to [Captain and enslaver] Ferrer’s widow as her rightful property in late March 1841, Antonio had begun to think differently about his future.”
Recommended reading to learn more:
Citations: William H. Townsend, “Kimbo,” drawing (New Haven, CT, 1839-1840), https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.wdl/wdl.3060; Marcus Rediker, The Amistad Rebellion: An Atlantic Odyssey of Slavery and Freedom (New York: Penguin, 2012), 190, 194-195, Kindle edition; “United States v. the Amistad, 40 U.S. 518 (1841),” Justia Law, accessed March 7, 2024, https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/40/518/.
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