Primary Source
“That they are severally natives of Africa and were born free, and ever since have been, and still of right are and ought to be free, and not slaves, as in said several libels pretended, or surmised . . . that they were never domiciled in the Island of Cuba, or the dominion of the Queen of Spain, or subject to the laws thereof; – that on or about the 15th day of April 1839 they and each of them were, in the land of their nativity, unlawfully kidnapped & forcibly and wrongfully carried on board of a certain vessel [Amistad], near the coast of Africa then & there unlawfully engaged in the slave trade, by certain persons to them unknown, and were thence in said vessel contrary to the will of these respondents, unlawfully transported to the Island of Cuba for the unlawful purpose of being there sold as slaves, and were then illegally landed for the purpose aforesaid. . . .
That the respondents, being treated on board said vessel . . . with great cruelty and oppression, and being of right free as aforesaid, were incited by the love of liberty natural to all men, and by the desire of returning to their families and kindred, to take possession of said vessel, while navigating the high seas as aforesaid near the Island of Cuba, as they had right to do, with the intent to return therein to their native country, or to seek an asylum in some free State where Slavery did not exist, in order that they might enjoy their liberty under the protection of its government.”
- Seth Staples and Roger S. Baldwin (legal representatives for the Africans), Plea to the Jurisdiction of Cinque and Others, from Thomas R. Gedney v. Schooner Amistad, 1839