In 1839, fifty-three Africans sold into slavery were to be taken to Cuba, then a colony of Spain, aboard the Amistad, a Spanish vessel. The men seized control of the ship off the coast of Cuba; they killed two crew members and directed the remaining crew to sail the ship back to Africa. Instead, the crew piloted the ship off the American coast, where it was seized by a U.S. warship. The Africans were jailed in the United States. President Martin Van Buren (1782-1862; see entry in volume 1) intended to surrender the men to Spanish authorities in Cuba.

Citing an international law that prohibited the slave trade, the Africans were defended in American courts. Murder charges were dropped, but the Africans remained in confinement while claims on them were made by planters...