Great detail on the trial of the Amistad...

Item # 721097

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November 30, 1839

NILES' NATIONAL REGISTER, Baltimore, Nov. 30, 1839

* African slaves
* La Amistad

Inside has a full page of very detailed coverage of the trial headed: "Slaves Per Amistad" at Hartford. A great wealth of detail. This famous slave ship and the revolt of its occupants was not only a notable legal case at the time, but in 1997 was made into feature length movie by Stephen Spielberg.
Sixteen pages, 8 12 by 12 inches, only slight foxing, very nice condition.

background: The November 30, 1839, issue of Niles’ National Register serves as a critical primary source documenting the legal limbo of the Amistad captives during their proceedings in the U.S. Circuit Court at Hartford. This specific coverage captures the high-stakes tension of the "Slaves Per Amistad" trial, where the court grappled with the explosive intersection of international treaty law, property rights, and human liberty. By providing a "wealth of detail," the Register meticulously recorded the arguments regarding whether the Africans were "ladinos" (legal Spanish slaves) or "bozals" (recently kidnapped free Africans), a distinction that rendered their transport a violation of the 1817 Anglo-Spanish treaty against the slave trade. These detailed accounts fueled the burgeoning American abolitionist movement, transforming a maritime revolt into a moral crusade that eventually saw former President John Quincy Adams successfully argue for the captives' freedom before the Supreme Court in 1841.