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Essay / Research Paper Abstract
A 5 page analysis of Howard Jones' account of the Amistad case, in which black captives seized control of a slave ship in the early 1800s and tried to return to Africa. The writer argues that Jones demonstrates how the repercussions of the Amistad case went far beyond its immediate effect on the defendants, but rather affected the course of the American abolitionist movement, foreign relations with Spain, and the perspective that those involved toward the legal system of the US. No additional sources cited.
Page Count:
5 pages (~225 words per page)
File: D0_90amstad.rtf
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that survived?due to that fact that while slavery was legal in the United States, importation of slaves had already been outlawed. Additionally, the Portuguese slavers who captured the Africans and
shipped them to Havana were in violation of multiple international treaties and this, too, had a bearing on the case. This story can be told from a variety of
viewpoints. For instance, the emphasis can be on the perspective of the captives, or their lawyers. Author Howard Jones in his book, Mutiny on the Amistad, chose to focus his
narrative emphasis on the role that the American abolitionist movement had in effecting freedom for the Africans, and also on how the Amistad incident, in turn, affected the American
abolitionist movement and political thought in the United States. The approach chosen by Jones proves to be ideal in substantiating his basic thesis, which is that the Amistad case
had political and philosophical repercussions that far exceeded the boundaries of that one case and the fate of the men involved. First of all, Jones demonstrates that the Amistad case
brought together all of the factions the American abolitionist movement in a united effort. He also demonstrates how the case affected international relations with Spain up until the time of
the Civil War. However, the point that Jones emphasizes the most is that the Amistad case essentially was viewed by many as a battle between "natural law" and "man-made law."
Jones sees the abolitionist movement as part of a broader struggle that involved the concept of equal justice based on natural rights (8). This is an aspect of the
Amistad case that bears examination and Jones pulls off his argument quite nicely by relying mostly on historical sources from that period. For instance, he says that William Lloyd Garrison,
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