John Quincy Adams, Amistad diary entry
John Quincy Adams diary, 29 March 1841
Diary 41, page 292
John Quincy Adams wrote this entry in his diary in 1841 about the earlier uprising of captured African slaves on the ship Amistad and their subsequent apprehension and trials. In 1839, five Africans were taken into custody in Connecticut. The complicated diplomatic case moved from the district court to the Supreme Court and attracted the attention of abolitionists. Two issues were at stake: whether the African captives could be considered "property" and, if so, whose claim to "ownership" was valid. Adams defended them on 24 February 1841 before the Supreme Court, arguing for over eight hours. The Court delivered the opinion that the Amistad captives were free, refusing to consider the Africans as "property," and directed their release from custody. Adams kept more than 50 separate diary volumes over a 71-year period from 1779 at the age of 12 until 1848, shortly before his death.
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