Please!
That one wants us to sail them back.
That one thinks he can sail all the way back without us.
Yes.
East. To the sun!
I understand. You can trust me.
To Africa!
Well, I have to tack, don't I? You'd rather I didn't?
You want to get there? I have to tack!
Leave that to me!
You're going to get us killed!
Yeah, yeah, yeah, now go take a bath.
East.
We have to signal them.
When the ship gets close, he'll run and hide.
Then we both start yelling.
They'll search the ship.
Get ready.
SIX WEEKS LATER
Dolly!
Lay up, Mr Packwood!
Aye, aye, sir!
Straight ahead!
- Help! - Help us!
Fire over their heads!
Open the gate!
Come on, come on, come on!
Move along, now!
Move along!
- Forward! Move along! - Keep it going!
Get along! Get moving!
- Don't stop there! Keep moving! - Make way for the stinking heathens!
All right, move on.
Lock 'em up!
Gates! Gates! Gates!
Push 'em in!
ISABELLA II, QUEEN OF SPAIN
Your Royal Highness.
Something's happened.
MARTIN VAN BUREN, 8th PRESIDENT OF THE USA
The ambassador to Spain, Senor Caldero.
- What? - Senor Calderon.
Yes, all right. Not now.
- It is a matter of importance, sir. - God bless you all!
I'm trying to drink my brandy after a very long day.
I understand. I simply wasn't certain
whether this was something you wanted to take care of personally.
Leder, there are what, four million Negroes in this country?
Why on earth should I concern myself with these forty-four? Hm?
Well, there are reasons.
I don't care how. You just take care of it.
The ship is the Amistad.
It's too small to be a transatlantic slaver.
They're plantation slaves, then? West Indians?
Not necessarily.
At least they certainly don't look it.
Not from the glimpse I caught of them on their way to jail.
They have these... scars.
- Scars? - Yeah.
They were first detained by officers of a brig off Long Island.
They were conveyed to New Haven, under what authority I don't know.
and given over to the local constabulary.
About forty of them, including four or five children.
The arraignment is day after tomorrow.
I can only assume that the charge is murder.
I'll see what I can do about that.
Perhaps a writ for illegal arrest and detainment to stall things.
At the very least, make sure they have good counsel.
Chief! Chief!
He's not a chief!
Brother! Brother!
He's not your brother.
- What is he then? - He's a white man.
Hear ye! In the matter of the court of the United States of America
in the year of our Lord, 1839, the honourable Andrew T Judson presiding.
If it please, Your Honour.
The bench recognises District Attorney Holabird.
I would like to present the court, Your Honour,
with the charges of piracy and murder...
I have a petition for a writ of habeas corpus.
I was speaking.
Mr Holabird, your charges, whatever they might be, will be rendered moot.
That petition, Mr Tappan - if that's what it is - is moot,
until an actual writ by some higher court, by some miracle, is granted.
- Mr Holabird is correct. - And if you would, sir,
please kindly refrain from impersonating a lawyer,
which you patently are not.
- As I was saying, Your Honour... - Your Honour.
Mr Secretary.
Your Honour, I am here on behalf of the President of the United States,
representing the claims of Queen Isabella of Spain,
as concerns our mutual treaty on the high seas of 1795.
- You have my attention. - Thank you.
These slaves, Your Honour, are the property of Spain,
and as such, under Article 9 of said treaty, are to be returned posthaste.
Said treaty taking precedence over all other claims...
Them slaves belong to me and my mate, Your Majesty.
- Your Honour, I... - Who be you two gentlemen?
"We, Thomas R. Gedney and Richard W. Meade,
"whilst commissioned US Naval officers,
"stand before this court as private citizens,
"and do hereby claim salvage on the high seas
"of the Spanish ship La Amistad and all her cargo. "
- Here you go, sir. - Your Honour...
You wish to make this claim above that of the Queen of Spain?
Where was she, pray,
when we was fightin' the winds, Your Excellen... uh, Honour.
Her Majesty, the Queen of Spain, was busy ruling a country.
Your Honour, these officers claims are just...
Your Honour!
Here are the true owners of these slaves.
- Order! - On their behalf...
I am in possession of a receipt for purchase
executed in Havana, Cuba, June 26, 1839,
I do hereby call upon this court to immediately surrender...
.. these goods!
And that ship out there to my clients,
- Jose Ruiz... - Yo soy Ruiz.
- "Yoso" Ruiz, and... - Pedro Montes.
Pedro Montes.
Ah, Mr Tappan. How do you do, sir?
My name is Roger S Baldwin, attorney- at- law.
Real estate?
Real estate, inventories and other assets.
- Can I help you with something? - What is it that you do?
Well, I own various business... and banks.
As a matter of fact, you probably could help me, Mr Tappan.
But that's not why I'm here. I'd like to help you.
- Me? - Yes. I deal with property.
Sometimes I get people's property back and forth,
other times I get it taken away, as in this case.
Every one of the claims speaks to the issue of ownership.
- Thank you, Mr... Mr Baldwin. - Baldwin, Roger S, attorney-at- law.
But I'm afraid what's needed here is a criminal attorney.
A trial lawyer. But thanks for your interest.
Well...
Intending no disrespect, Mr Tappan, but if that were the way to go,
well, then...
Well, I wouldn't have bothered coming down here.
Goodbye. I bid you gentlemen a good afternoon.
In closing,...
I call upon our distinguished colleague from Massachusetts,
Representative John Quincy Adams
to reweigh his unmeet and unprecedented attempt
to convert this eccentric bequest of - let's be frank -
a bunch of junk of one James Smithson,
into a so-called institute of national treasure!
Perhaps Mr Adams is meditating on his response.
Had I thought your remarks worthy of riposte, Representative Pinckney,
be assured you'd have heard from me... hours ago!
- Who? - Mr Tappan. Lewis Tappan.
Yeah?
I must see him? I'm required to see him?
No, sir. He requests an audience.
Give me your hand.
Oh, he requests, does he?
Yeah. I don't know anyone called Tappan.
- Sir, you do. You've met him often. - Where?
- Where is he? - He's right over there, sir.
Oh.
What is that?
- Where? - Right there, sir.
Lewis! Good to see you again!
And you, sir.
- This is Theodore Joadson. - How do you do, sir?
- An honour to meet you, sir. - Yeah.
- Sir? Is there somewhere... - Let's stroll in the garden...
- Yes. - What?
Let go of my arm. Over here.
This case has great significance.
Our secretary of state is paying it his attention.
You don't have to shout!
He supports the Queen of Spain's claim that she owns the Africans.
- Two sailors are making claims. - What season is it?
- Pardon? - I said, what season is it?
I don't understand what you mean.
There are two ways of knowing without consulting a calendar.
The leaves on the maple trees have all gone,
and the fact that the President is not at home on Pennsylvania Avenue.
Tell me, sir...
Do you really think Van Buren cares about the whims
of an 11-year-old girl who wears a tiara?
I assure you, only one thing occupies his thoughts at this time of the year,
being all things to all people, which means nothing to no one.
In other words, gettin' himself re-elected.
Give me your hand.
Huh?
- Will you help us, sir? - Let go of my arm.
Take my stick.
- Mr Adams? - Yeah, what?
As an advocate for the abolition of slavery, will you help us?
I'm neither friend nor foe to the abolitionist cause. I won't help you.
Sir.
- What? - I know you, Mr President.
I know you and your presidency as well as any man, and your father's.
You were a child at his side when he helped invent America.
You, in turn, have devoted your life to refining that noble invention.
There remains but one task undone.
One vital task the Founding Fathers left to their sons,
before their 13 colonies could precisely be called United States.
And that task, sir, as you well know, is crushing slavery.
Your record confirms you're an abolitionist, sir, even if you won't.
- And whether or not you admit it... - Mr Joadson.
...you belong with us.
You're quite a scholar, Mr Joadson, aren't ya?
Quite the historian.
Let me tell you something about that quality, if I might.
Without an accompanying mastery of at least one-tenth its measure of grace,
such erudition is worthless, sir.
Now, you take it from one who knows.
If you gentlemen will excuse me.
- We know we aimed high asking you... - Well, aim lower!
Find yourselves someone whose inspiration blossoms
the more you lose.
If the court awards them to Spain,
they'll be taken to Cuba and executed.
If the two lieutenants prevail, they'll likely to sell them to Spain,
and they'll be executed.
If Montes and Ruiz are successful...
I'm a little confused. What are they worth to you?
We're discussing the case, not its expense.
Of course. Well, the case is much simpler than you think, Mr Tappan.
It's like anything - land, livestock, heirlooms, what have you.
Livestock.
Yes. Consider -
the only way one may sell or purchase slaves is if they are born slaves,
as on the plantation.
- I'm right, aren't I? - Yes.
- So, are they? - "Are they?"
Yes. Born slaves, as on a plantation.
We're not certain, but we very much doubt it.
Let's say they are. Then they are possessions,
and no more deserving of a criminal trial than a bookcase.
On the other hand, let's say they aren't slaves,
in which case they were illegally acquired.
Forget mutiny, forget piracy, forget murder.
Those are irrelevant occurrences.
Ignore everything but the pre- eminent issue at hand.
The wrongful transfer of stolen goods.
- Either way, we win. - Sir...
This war must be waged on the battlefield of righteousness.
The what?
It would be against everything I stand for
to let this deteriorate into an exercise in legal minutia.
Mr Tappan, I'm talking about the heart of the matter.
As am I.
It is our destiny, as abolitionists and as Christians,
to save these people.
These are people, Mr Baldwin, not livestock.
Did Christ hire a lawyer to get him off on technicalities?
He went to the cross, nobly. You know why?
To make a statement.
To make a statement, as must we.
But Christ lost.
- You, I think... - No, sir, he did not.
- You want to win, don't you? - Yes.
I certainly do. Hell, sometimes I don't get paid unless I do.
Which brings us back to the question of worth.
In order to do a better job than the Son of God's attorney
I'll require two and a half dollars a day.
Who are they, do you think?
Looks like they're going to be sick.
Amazing grace
How sweet the sound...
They're entertainers!
- that saved a wretch like me... - But why do they look so miserable?
I once was lost
But now am found...
You don't belong here.
Your table doesn't belong here.
This is Temne land.
How do you do, sir? How do you do?
You want to sit? Sit here in Mendeland.
What are you doing, Temne?
You want trouble? Cross into our territory again.
What is this? Get this table out of here!
Let me show you to Sherbroland.
There?
I'm sorry. I don't understand.
Excuse me. I... My name is Roger Baldwin.
This is Theodore Joadson of the Antislavery Society
and owner of the Forten Shipping Service.
And this is Professor Gibbs, a linguist.
What do you want?
Keep talking. Get them to talk.
Have you seen this before?
I could kill you with my bare hands before you raise that sword.
This belongs to you?
No.
I need to know where you're from.
What did he say?
I didn't understand a word. It's gibberish.
He said, I think, "Show me the map. "
Do you think he's here to help us?
I don't know.
He reminds me of that Fula of Baoma.
The one who hires himself out to scrape elephant dung from the crops.
A dung-scraper might be just the kind of man we need right now.
Here, Africa... Is this where you're from?
A-fri-ca.
What does he want?
- He's an idiot. - Were you born in the West Indies?
Where from? West India? Where from?
All three of them are idiots.
What did he say?
Oh, he said, er... They have to go away.
Emancipation! It's God's way!
You cannot own another human being!
- Killers of white men! - Slavery is tyranny!
It's those miserable-looking people again.
God's blessing on you this morning.
I'm not afraid of you, or your medicine!
You place your hand on this book and I'll pray for you.
They're human beings, not animals!
Slavery will kill this country!
...in the quietude of the night
after the Spaniards attended their vespers and were in virtuous sleep,
the savages broke loose their collars,
and stole onto the deck like creatures of prey.
They fell upon the unsuspecting crew with these sabres and cane knives...
I cannot overstate...
Have you figured out who he is?
An advisor of some kind. Perhaps theirs.
.. they mutilated at least one...
- What about him? - The simple cook, a Creole...
- Their own kind. - Theirs maybe.
But for Senors Ruiz and Montes,
who steered the Amistad to these shores
under constant threat of like fate,
we might never have heard of this massacre, this bloodbath.
But for their bravery, these villains would have escaped justice.
But they've not. They've not.
And Dung-Scraper?
I have a horrible feeling he talks for us.
Do you know the difference between a cow and a cabbage?
A brick and a bear?
Or how about... a polecat and a president?
The Spanish government hopes you don't have much more sense than that.
This case isn't about murder, mayhem or massacres.
It's not about anything that dramatic.
This case is about knowing the difference between here and there.
I want to show you something.
Open your mouth.
He doesn't understand. He doesn't speak English.
Abra su boca.
Doesn't he understand? I thought he was born on a Cuban plantation?
Perhaps he simply doesn't like you.
He wouldn't be the first, Mr Holabird.
Yes.
What, did he learn this on some Cuban plantation, this decorative effect?
Cuban plantation!
Stand up. Stand up!
Hey. Levantate.
Levantate.
- Stand up. - Ahh!
Thank you.
Your Honour, I speak more Spanish, and I was born in Philadelphia.
On Spanish plantations, slaves choose to live
surrounded by their own ways and simple languages.
Pray tell, what need they know of Spanish? "Fetch? Carry? Stop?"
Gestures suffice for slaves, as for any other beast of burden.
Your Honour...
I represent the interests of Senors Ruiz and Montes.
- I remember. - I have a bill of sale,
issued in Havana for the purchase of slaves.
I remember that too.
On it, in addition to the amounts paid for each, are their names.
Jose, Bernardo... Paco and so on.
On behalf of my clients, I submit this document to the court.
Mr Baldwin, you've proffered a good deal of - I'll be kind -
circumstantial evidence.
Have you, in addition, anything, in the order of actual documentation,
that might refute this one,
and so more compellingly support your claims?
I'm sure I could manufacture some as easily as they have, Your Honour.
What you're saying is, then, you don't.
Is that correct?
I have them.
I'm afraid that does not impress me.
I thought you did quite well.
You do?
Much better than I expected, to be honest.
Well, thank you, I think.
Although, I was concerned that you might have forgotten
- this is just a case like any other. - You needn't worry about that.
That's good.
Hello, Cinque. My name is Roger Baldwin.
I'll be your attorney.
Yes. Thank you.
All right.
I need to prove where you're from.
You want to show them where we're from.
How are you supposed to tell me?
How can I explain to you where we're from?
- You go. - I'm sorry, you talk first.
Here. This is where I'm from.
Here. This.
All of this. All of this is...
- is... my home. - That's here.
Here.
Cuba. Cuba's an island.
The Amistad. This is where... where you...
where everyone... was killed.
Here. Cuba, the Amistad.
Now, Cuba... Is this your home? I don't think so.
But... Excuse me.
Now...
Africa.
This is your home, isn't it?
This... is... your home.
Yes?
You came...
all the way...
from... here.
This... is how far I've come.
Secure the ballast, transport!
Put your backs into it, boys.
This is a court order granting us permission to search this vessel.
- What did they want? - To come aboard.
I informed them they needed to obtain one of these... an authentic one.
Aren't you coming?
My light! Light...?
Light the lamp, Mr Baldwin.
I'm trying.
Mr Joadson!
Here.
Are you all right?
Yes.
These papers - and I shall ask you to examine them -
are portions of a ship's manifest I retrieved from the Amistad yesterday.
At first glance, they may appear to bolster the prosecution's case.
You see, they list cargo.
Cargo bearing the very Spanish names Messrs Ruiz and Montes
insist represent my clients,
hand-scrawled in the margins.
But no, this is not the manifest of the Amistad at all. Look.
This is part of the cargo manifest of a Portuguese vessel,
the notorious transatlantic slave ship the Tecora.
The Tecora.
I can bring you as many witnesses as you wish, Mr Holabird...
Tecora!
Their clients trade primarily off the coast of West Africa.
The Ivory Coast, Sierra Leone.
I know what you're thinking.
Sierra Leone is a protectorate of the British Crown.
Slavery is outlawed there.
Its principal port, in fact, has been rechristened "Freetown".
How, then, can the Portuguese Tecora...
engage in the slave trades in these waters?
I'll tell you how. In a word...
Illegally.
Whatever these men say clearly matters not
because this proves them liars.
My clients' journey did not begin in Havana,
as they keep claiming more and more emphatically.
No, my clients' journey...
began much, much further away.
I underestimated you, sir!
I really did!
- I should take that as a compliment. - Oh, you should indeed, sir.
I can't imagine there's no not reaching a favourable conclusion...
Hey! Hey!
A-Am I bleeding?
There's nothing there.
What did I do to deserve this?
You took the case, Mr Baldwin.
You took the case, sir.
I should take that as a compliment.
"As you may perceive,
"I wish you to act promptly
"before this matter becomes a weight on our two countries. "
Uh, "great countries. "
"Our great countries.
"After all, the business of great countries is to do business. "
Excellent, Her Highness.
"Slavery is our pillar of commerce in the New World.
"Without it, our goodwill and excellent trade relations sh... "
- Uh, "should be imperilled. " - "Should be imperilled.
"Without it, we might have been denied the glory
"of aiding you in your rebellion against the British.
"As slave-owning nations, we must together stand firm.
"Speak the words of humaneness for the masses of your citizens,
"but hold tightly to the power that protects them.
"That power, of course, is their wealth.
"The Africans must never go free.
"With sincerest admiration,
"Isabella the Second, Queen of all of Spain. "
I am not about to bend to the will of some pubescent queen.
Forget about them. They're unimportant.
- Prepubescent. - You need to concern yourself
with what this matter means here, not an ocean away.
Someone should tell me what it means!
Leder, you yourself said it was meaningless.
Well, not any more.
- John Calhoun paid me a visit. - Oh, God.
To explain to me why this case is of much greater import...
much greater symbolism, to use his word, to the South than the North.
If the Africans are executed,
the abolitionists will make good use of it.
And yes, they will make some converts.
If, on the other hand, they are freed,
Calhoun says the Southern states will so ally themselves against you
that you can forget about re-election.
- Over this? - It's worse than that.
Worse? What could be worse than that?
Calhoun believes, and I am not sure I can disagree with him,
that this could take us all one long step closer to civil war.
- This? - Yes, Mr President.
But all is not lost.
The jury appears likely to free them, but juries can be dismissed.
They can?
But I believe we must go further and remove the judge.
We can do that?
He could be prevailed upon to recuse himself for any number of reasons.
With that in mind,
I've taken the liberty of exploring possible replacements.
I've found one I strongly believe to be better.
He's young, which means he has a career before him rather than behind,
he has yet to feel the hankering
for magnanimous last gestures for the sake of posterity.
And he is monumentally insecure,
particularly about his Catholic heritage.
- He's Catholic? - His grandfather was Catholic,
which young Mr Coglin has striven all his days to keep quiet.
Mr President, Judge Coglin.
Judge Coglin, we are so pleased to meet you.
Thank you so much for coming.
I've been reading in the papers
the continuing saga of the, uh, Amistad.
Real papers.
Real papers. Yes, sir.
Yes. Bad luck, this last unfolding chapter.
What to do now, eh?
Which is why I came here and imposed on you, sir.
No imposition... really.
Yeah.
How did that, uh...
How did that young lawyer take the news?
Oh, in stride, sir. In stride.
The thing is, sir, he did everything right.
- He proved the case. - Did he?
Oh, yes, sir. Surprisingly, he did.
Well, he'll just have to do it again, then.
But like most things, it should be easier second time around.
Well, I'm afraid it doesn't matter what he does now, sir.
Rumour has it our next judge was handpicked by Van Buren himself.
No!
I'm embarrassed to admit that I was under the misconception
that our executive and judicial branches were separate.
No more so than these, Mr Joadson.
No more so than these.
- So now you know. - Yes.
- Sir? - Yeah?
Mr President, if it was you handling the case...
Well, it isn't me. And thank God for that.
- But if it was, sir, - Huh?
What would you do?
Well, when I was an attorney,
a long time ago, young man,
I, er, I realised after much trial and error,
that in a courtroom,
whoever tells the best story wins.
In unlawyer-like fashion, I give you that scrap of wisdom free of charge.
I'm much obliged for your time, sir.
What is their story, by the way?
- Sir? - What is their story?
Why, they're, um,...
from West Africa.
No. What is their story?
Mr Joadson, you're from where originally?
Why, Georgia, sir.
- Georgia. - Yes, sir.
Does that sum up what you are?
A Georgian? Is that your story?
No. You're an ex-slave,
who's devoted his life to the abolition of slavery,
and overcoming great hardships along the way, I should imagine.
That's your story, isn't it?
You and this young so-called lawyer
have proven you know what they are.
They're Africans. Congratulations.
What you don't know, and haven't bothered in the least to discover,
is who they are.
Right?
Seven.
Eight.
Nine...
and ten.
Now, how about you, Mr Baldwin?
Would you like to count from one to ten?
One to ten in Mende.
- One. - Ta.
- Two. - Fele.
- Three. - Sawa.
- Four. - Nanee.
Right. Five.
Lorlu.
Sawa, nanee, lorlu...
- What's happened here? - One of them died last night.
We tried to take the body away to bury it.
What do they want? They want to live with it?
They want to bury him.
They have to bury him according to their poro beliefs.
Otherwise, his soul will haunt them.
The house of Thine abode
With His own precious son...
If I were you, if I ran this place,
I'd set protocol aside just this once and let them bury him.
I was thinking the same thing.
My name is Kai Nyagua... and James Covey.
I speak Mende and English, his language.
You and he will talk to each other through me.
- The clothes? - And the names.
I was rescued off a slave ship by the British Navy.
I never went back.
A problem has arisen.
The judge we had, who believed, I believe,
that you should be freed, has been dismissed.
A new judge has been called upon to hear the case,
this time without a jury.
How is that possible? A chief cannot be replaced.
I can't explain it in any way that you would understand, Cinque.
Or me, for that matter. Only that, well, it has happened.
I am not a great orator or advisor, Cinque.
I'm not a big man in my profession.
I don't know if I alone can convince this next judge to set you free.
I need your help.
When we go to court, I need you to speak.
I'm not an advisor of any kind.
I cannot speak for the others.
Cinque, the others, they say you can.
They say you're the big man here.
I am not.
What's this I hear about a lion?
They say you alone - alone, Cinque -
slew the most terrifying beast anyone has ever seen.
Is it not true?
It had killed several people.
Even hunters among us.
Everyone including me was afraid.
I was lying down with my family,
when out of nowhere it appeared.
As it came for me
I picked up this big rock and I threw it.
And by some miracle, you see, I hit it.
He don't know how that killed it, but it did.
A rock.
I received the gratitude of everyone in the village.
I was given respect.
They treated me as if I was a prince.
They gave me the fine country cloth.
All these things they gave me, I took them all.
But I knew I didn't deserve it.
For when I threw that rock at that beast... if I had missed him...
He said he wouldn't be here trying to explain these things.
He'd just be dead.
Understand?
I'm not a big man.
Just a lucky one.
I might agree with you, Cinque, except you're forgetting something.
The other lion.
The Amistad, Cinque. The insurrection.
That too was an accident? I hardly think so.
That wasn't bravery.
Any man would do the same to get back to his family.
You yourself would do it.
Someone said that might be yours.
My wife gave it to me.
To keep me safe.
Cinque...
I need you to tell me how you got here.
I'll hit you in the head again if you talk.
I'll share the profit of my harvest. I'll...