That Damned Adams and the Amistad

Sixty slaves were abducted in Africa, locked in auction pens by Cuban traders, then cramped below deck of the slave ship "Amistad." During a storm at sea they broke their chains, and killed the captain and crew. Knowing how to sail kept two Cuban slave traders alive. Cinque, the leader, demanded, "Return to Africa!" The ship was too small. They had no food, and a crew of African farmers. The Cuban's sailed for Africa by day, at night sailed for the coast of America and were captured by the U.S. navy.

In an era more full of political turmoil than today, ex-president John Quincy Adams, at 73, tried the Amistad case before the Supreme Court. Newspapers were aflame with wild accounts of savage African pirates. President Van Buren, a pro-slaver, wanted to give the " pirates" to Spain to hang. There were street riots North and South; fist fights broke out in congress; reporters were stoned and killed. Adams was threatened with hanging, shooting and, castration if he took the case. So he took it and won. Some called him crazy. Others called him Old Man Eloquent. Most called him... That Damned Adams.

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