1
00:05:26,536 --> 00:05:30,331
1839
2
00:05:57,483 --> 00:05:59,944
That one wants us to sail them back.
3
00:06:00,069 --> 00:06:04,115
That one thinks he can sail
all the way back without us.
4
00:06:35,855 --> 00:06:38,816
Yes. East. To the sun.
5
00:06:39,025 --> 00:06:41,986
I understand. You can trust me.
6
00:06:59,003 --> 00:07:01,089
To Africa.
7
00:08:11,409 --> 00:08:14,620
Well, I have to tack, don't I?
Tack. You'd rather I didn't.
8
00:08:14,829 --> 00:08:19,083
You want to get there? I have to tack.
9
00:09:00,875 --> 00:09:04,170
You're going to get us killed.
10
00:09:12,970 --> 00:09:15,473
Yea, yea, yea, now go take a bath.
11
00:11:24,769 --> 00:11:26,771
We have to signal them.
12
00:11:26,896 --> 00:11:32,735
When the ship gets close, he'll run and hide.
Then we both start yelling.
13
00:11:37,490 --> 00:11:40,242
They'll search the ship.
14
00:12:01,722 --> 00:12:03,974
Get ready.
15
00:13:04,952 --> 00:13:08,664
Six Weeks
16
00:13:48,037 --> 00:13:50,039
Dolly!
17
00:13:51,665 --> 00:13:53,292
Dolly!
18
00:15:03,487 --> 00:15:05,447
Carry on, Mr. Packwood!
19
00:15:06,115 --> 00:15:07,866
Aye, aye, sir!
20
00:15:07,950 --> 00:15:10,119
Straight ahead!
21
00:15:35,603 --> 00:15:36,979
Fire over their heads!
22
00:16:01,629 --> 00:16:02,630
Steady on.
23
00:17:20,082 --> 00:17:22,084
Open the gate!
24
00:17:26,588 --> 00:17:28,966
Come on, come on, come on!
25
00:17:40,853 --> 00:17:43,480
- Move along!
- Come on, let's go!
26
00:17:44,898 --> 00:17:47,025
Move along!
27
00:17:47,860 --> 00:17:51,071
- Forward! Come on!
- Keep it going!
28
00:18:03,167 --> 00:18:05,335
Come along! Get moving!
29
00:18:06,086 --> 00:18:10,132
- Don't stop there! Keep moving!
- Make way for the stinking heathens!
30
00:18:10,215 --> 00:18:12,384
All right, move on.
31
00:18:13,719 --> 00:18:15,053
Lock 'em up!
32
00:18:32,863 --> 00:18:35,365
Gates! Gates! Gates!
33
00:18:40,662 --> 00:18:42,456
Push 'em in!
34
00:19:40,138 --> 00:19:45,102
Isabella II, Queen of Spain
35
00:20:01,410 --> 00:20:03,453
Your Royal Highness.
36
00:20:03,662 --> 00:20:06,790
Something's happened.
37
00:20:09,835 --> 00:20:12,629
- Thank you...
- Mr. President, sir.
38
00:20:12,796 --> 00:20:16,800
The ambassador to Spain, Señor Calderon.
Martin Van Buren, 8th President of the United States
39
00:20:16,884 --> 00:20:18,886
- What?
- Señor Calderon.
40
00:20:18,969 --> 00:20:21,346
- Yes, all right. Not now. Not now.
- Ambassador...
41
00:20:21,430 --> 00:20:23,390
It appears to be a matter
of certain importance, sir.
42
00:20:23,473 --> 00:20:24,474
God bless!
43
00:20:32,441 --> 00:20:38,071
I'm trying to drink my brandy
after a very long day.
44
00:20:38,155 --> 00:20:41,867
I understand. I simply wasn't certain
whether this was something
45
00:20:41,950 --> 00:20:45,621
- you wanted to take care of personally.
- Leder, there are, what,
46
00:20:45,704 --> 00:20:48,081
three, four million Negroes
in this country?
47
00:20:48,165 --> 00:20:52,252
Why on Earth should I concern myself
with these 44?
48
00:20:53,003 --> 00:20:54,504
Well, there are reasons.
49
00:20:54,588 --> 00:20:57,966
I don't care how. You just take care of it.
50
00:21:01,386 --> 00:21:03,555
The ship is the Amistad.
51
00:21:05,015 --> 00:21:08,268
It's too small to be
a transatlantic slaver.
52
00:21:08,352 --> 00:21:11,396
So, they're plantation slaves, then?
West Indians?
53
00:21:11,521 --> 00:21:16,443
Not necessarily.
At least they certainly don't look it.
54
00:21:16,526 --> 00:21:19,863
Not from the glimpse I caught of them
on their way to jail.
55
00:21:20,948 --> 00:21:22,824
They have these scars.
56
00:21:23,951 --> 00:21:25,285
- Scars?
- Yeah.
57
00:21:42,010 --> 00:21:46,264
They were first detained by officers of a
survey brig off the coast of Long Island.
58
00:21:46,348 --> 00:21:49,726
They were conveyed to New Haven,
under what authority, I don't know,
59
00:21:49,810 --> 00:21:52,020
and given over to the local constabulary.
60
00:21:52,104 --> 00:21:55,732
About 40 of them,
including four or five children.
61
00:22:03,699 --> 00:22:06,201
The arraignment is day after tomorrow.
62
00:22:06,284 --> 00:22:09,162
I can only assume
that the charge is murder.
63
00:22:09,246 --> 00:22:12,791
I'll see what I can do about that.
64
00:22:12,874 --> 00:22:17,921
Perhaps a writ for illegal arrest
and detainment to stall things.
65
00:22:18,630 --> 00:22:21,425
At the very least,
make sure they have good counsel.
66
00:23:04,342 --> 00:23:05,342
Chief!
67
00:23:05,343 --> 00:23:06,344
Chief! Chief!
68
00:23:08,805 --> 00:23:11,016
He's not a chief.
69
00:23:11,641 --> 00:23:12,683
Brother!
70
00:23:12,684 --> 00:23:14,311
Brother! Brother!
71
00:23:15,270 --> 00:23:17,647
He's not your brother.
72
00:23:19,066 --> 00:23:20,650
What is he then?
73
00:23:20,901 --> 00:23:23,528
He's a white man.
74
00:23:24,321 --> 00:23:25,781
Hear ye, hear ye.
75
00:23:25,864 --> 00:23:28,283
In the matter of the district court
of the United States of America
76
00:23:28,366 --> 00:23:30,744
in this, the year of our Lord, 1839,
77
00:23:30,827 --> 00:23:33,830
the honorable
Andrew T. Juttson presiding.
78
00:24:00,023 --> 00:24:01,900
If it please Your Honor.
79
00:24:01,983 --> 00:24:05,195
The bench recognizes
District Attorney Holabird.
80
00:24:06,822 --> 00:24:11,159
I would like to present the court,
Your Honor, with the charges
81
00:24:11,243 --> 00:24:13,829
- of piracy and murder against the...
- Your Honor, I have a petition
82
00:24:13,912 --> 00:24:16,623
- for a writ of habeas corpus.
- Your Honor, I was speaking.
83
00:24:16,706 --> 00:24:19,543
Yes, I know, Mr. Holabird.
You were reading charges, which,
84
00:24:19,626 --> 00:24:21,837
whatever they might be,
will be rendered moot by this writ.
85
00:24:21,920 --> 00:24:25,757
That petition for a writ, Mr. Tappan,
if, indeed, that's what it is, is moot
86
00:24:25,841 --> 00:24:28,343
unless and until an actual writ
87
00:24:28,426 --> 00:24:31,513
by some higher court,
by some miracle, is granted.
88
00:24:31,596 --> 00:24:33,473
Mr. Holabird is correct, Mr. Tappan.
89
00:24:33,557 --> 00:24:36,143
And if you would, sir,
while I know it is your custom,
90
00:24:36,226 --> 00:24:39,104
please, kindly refrain
from impersonating a lawyer,
91
00:24:39,187 --> 00:24:40,981
which you patently are not.
92
00:24:41,064 --> 00:24:42,774
As I was saying, Your Honor...
93
00:24:42,858 --> 00:24:43,984
Your Honor.
94
00:24:46,736 --> 00:24:48,488
Mr. Secretary.
95
00:24:48,655 --> 00:24:52,617
Your Honor, I am here on behalf of the President of the
United States, U.S. Secretary of State John Forsyth
96
00:24:53,910 --> 00:24:57,455
representing the claims of Her Majesty,
Queen Isabella of Spain,
97
00:24:57,581 --> 00:25:01,585
as concerns our mutual treaty
on the high seas of 1795.
98
00:25:01,668 --> 00:25:04,129
- You have my attention, sir.
- Thank you.
99
00:25:04,421 --> 00:25:08,216
These slaves, Your Honor,
are by rights the property of Spain,
100
00:25:08,300 --> 00:25:10,468
and as such,
under Article 9 of said treaty
101
00:25:10,552 --> 00:25:12,888
are to be returned posthaste.
102
00:25:12,971 --> 00:25:16,016
Said treaty taking precedence
over all other claims and jurisdictions.
103
00:25:16,099 --> 00:25:19,019
Them slaves belong
to me and my mate, Your Majesty.
104
00:25:19,102 --> 00:25:20,687
Your Honor, I have not yet read the...
105
00:25:20,770 --> 00:25:22,314
Who be you two gentlemen?
106
00:25:22,480 --> 00:25:25,859
"We, Thomas R. Gedney
and Richard W. Meade,
107
00:25:25,942 --> 00:25:28,612
"whilst commissioned
US Naval officers,
108
00:25:28,695 --> 00:25:32,699
"stand before this court
as private citizens,
109
00:25:32,782 --> 00:25:34,951
"and do hereby claim salvage
on the high seas
110
00:25:35,035 --> 00:25:39,664
"of the Spanish ship La Amistad
and all her cargo."
111
00:25:40,165 --> 00:25:42,542
- Here you go, sir.
- Your Honor...
112
00:25:42,626 --> 00:25:47,130
You wish to make this claim
above that of the Queen of Spain?
113
00:25:47,714 --> 00:25:49,883
Where was she, pray,
when we was fightin' the winds
114
00:25:49,966 --> 00:25:52,677
to bring this vessel in, Your... Honor.
115
00:25:53,136 --> 00:25:57,307
Her Majesty, the Queen of Spain,
was busy ruling a country.
116
00:25:57,891 --> 00:26:01,102
Your Honor, these officers'
claims are just...
117
00:26:01,186 --> 00:26:03,647
Your Honor!
118
00:26:05,106 --> 00:26:09,069
Here are the true owners
of these slaves.
119
00:26:11,446 --> 00:26:13,531
- Order! Order in this court!
- On their behalf,
120
00:26:13,615 --> 00:26:17,827
I am in possession of a receipt
for purchase executed in Havana, Cuba,
121
00:26:18,203 --> 00:26:21,289
June 26, 1839,
122
00:26:21,373 --> 00:26:26,169
I do hereby call upon this court
to immediately surrender
123
00:26:27,504 --> 00:26:29,005
these goods
124
00:26:32,092 --> 00:26:35,011
and that ship out there to my clients,
125
00:26:35,095 --> 00:26:37,097
- Jose Ruiz...
- Yo soy Ruiz.
126
00:26:37,180 --> 00:26:41,017
"Yoso" Ruiz, and... Pedro Montes?
Pedro Montes.
127
00:26:50,277 --> 00:26:52,445
Mr. Tappan. How do you do, sir?
128
00:26:52,529 --> 00:26:56,199
My name is Roger S. Baldwin,
attorney-at-law.
129
00:26:56,283 --> 00:26:57,450
Real estate attorney?
130
00:26:57,534 --> 00:27:00,912
Real estate, inventories
and other contestable assets, sir.
131
00:27:00,996 --> 00:27:02,872
Can I help you with something?
132
00:27:02,956 --> 00:27:05,208
Well, I don't know.
What is it that you do?
133
00:27:06,376 --> 00:27:09,546
Well, I own various businesses
and banks.
134
00:27:10,213 --> 00:27:14,676
Well, as a matter of fact, you probably
could help me, Mr. Tappan.
135
00:27:14,843 --> 00:27:17,929
But that's not why I'm here.
You see, I'd like to help you.
136
00:27:18,013 --> 00:27:21,516
- Me?
- Yes. I deal with property, Mr. Tappan.
137
00:27:21,599 --> 00:27:23,184
And sometimes
I get people's property back for them,
138
00:27:23,268 --> 00:27:24,436
and other times I get it taken away,
139
00:27:24,519 --> 00:27:26,813
as in this case,
which is clearly a property issue.
140
00:27:26,896 --> 00:27:28,148
You see, all of the claims here,
141
00:27:28,231 --> 00:27:30,525
every single one of them,
speaks to the issue of ownership.
142
00:27:30,608 --> 00:27:34,237
- Thank you very much, Mr. Baldwin.
- Baldwin, Roger S. Attorney-at-law.
143
00:27:35,822 --> 00:27:39,242
But I'm afraid what's needed here
is a criminal attorney.
144
00:27:39,326 --> 00:27:42,162
A trial lawyer.
But thanks for your interest.
145
00:27:42,245 --> 00:27:44,622
Yes. Well,
146
00:27:44,706 --> 00:27:49,794
intending no disrespect, Mr. Tappan,
but if that were the way to go,
147
00:27:49,878 --> 00:27:52,547
well, then, quite frankly,
148
00:27:52,630 --> 00:27:55,091
I wouldn't have bothered coming
down here, would I have?
149
00:28:00,513 --> 00:28:03,808
Goodbye. I bid you gentlemen
a good afternoon.
150
00:28:05,310 --> 00:28:07,479
In closing,
151
00:28:07,562 --> 00:28:10,648
I call upon our distinguished
colleague from Massachusetts,
152
00:28:10,732 --> 00:28:13,777
Representative John Quincy Adams,
153
00:28:13,860 --> 00:28:17,530
to reweigh his unmeet
and unprecedented attempt
154
00:28:17,614 --> 00:28:21,368
to convert this eccentric bequest of,
155
00:28:21,451 --> 00:28:25,163
let's be frank,
a bunch of junk of one James Smithson,
156
00:28:25,246 --> 00:28:29,376
into a so-called institute
of national treasure!
157
00:28:33,421 --> 00:28:36,174
Perhaps Mr. Adams
is meditating on his response.
158
00:28:48,186 --> 00:28:50,188
Had I thought your remarks worthy of
159
00:28:50,271 --> 00:28:53,608
any kind of riposte,
Representative Pickney,
160
00:28:53,691 --> 00:28:58,238
be assured you'd have heard from me
hours ago.
161
00:28:59,531 --> 00:29:00,907
Who?
162
00:29:00,990 --> 00:29:03,493
Mr. Tappan. Lewis Tappan.
163
00:29:03,701 --> 00:29:04,911
Yeah?
164
00:29:06,329 --> 00:29:08,706
I must see him?
I'm required to see him?
165
00:29:08,790 --> 00:29:10,750
No, of course not, sir.
He requests an audience.
166
00:29:10,834 --> 00:29:12,919
Give me a hand.
167
00:29:13,002 --> 00:29:15,255
He requests, does he?
168
00:29:15,338 --> 00:29:19,092
Yeah. I don't know
anyone called Tappan.
169
00:29:19,175 --> 00:29:20,969
Yes, sir, you do.
You've met him on countless occasions.
170
00:29:21,052 --> 00:29:24,097
Where? Where is he?
171
00:29:24,180 --> 00:29:26,808
He's right over there, sir.
Right there, sir.
172
00:29:27,684 --> 00:29:30,603
What is that?
173
00:29:30,687 --> 00:29:31,980
- Where?
- Right there, sir.
174
00:29:32,939 --> 00:29:35,191
Lewis! Good to see you again!
175
00:29:35,275 --> 00:29:36,985
And you, sir.
176
00:29:37,694 --> 00:29:39,946
- This is Theodore Joadson.
- How do you do, sir?
177
00:29:40,029 --> 00:29:43,491
- An honor to meet you, sir.
- Yeah.
178
00:29:44,451 --> 00:29:47,412
- Sir? Is there somewhere we could...
- What? Let's stroll in the garden.
179
00:29:47,495 --> 00:29:49,747
- This way, sir.
- What?
180
00:29:49,831 --> 00:29:52,041
Let go of my arm. Over here.
181
00:29:57,714 --> 00:30:00,383
I believe this case
has great significance, sir.
182
00:30:00,467 --> 00:30:03,136
Our Secretary of State has already
deemed it worthy of his attention.
183
00:30:03,219 --> 00:30:05,805
- You don't have to shout. Stop shouting.
- No. Yes.
184
00:30:05,889 --> 00:30:07,849
Well, he's supported
the Queen of Spain
185
00:30:07,932 --> 00:30:10,518
in her claims
that the Africans belong to her.
186
00:30:10,602 --> 00:30:12,687
And then there are others
making claims as well.
187
00:30:12,770 --> 00:30:14,439
- Two sailors...
- What season is it?
188
00:30:14,522 --> 00:30:17,150
- Pardon?
- I said, what season is it?
189
00:30:17,233 --> 00:30:19,068
I don't understand what you mean.
190
00:30:19,152 --> 00:30:23,573
There are two ways of knowing for
certain without consulting a calendar.
191
00:30:23,865 --> 00:30:26,493
The leaves on the maple trees
have all gone and the fact that
192
00:30:26,576 --> 00:30:31,206
the President is not at home over there
on Pennsylvania Avenue.
193
00:30:31,748 --> 00:30:34,792
Tell me, sir, you really think
194
00:30:34,876 --> 00:30:39,839
Van Buren cares about the whims
of an 11-year-old girl who wears a tiara?
195
00:30:39,923 --> 00:30:43,843
'Cause I can assure you, sir,
having been over there,
196
00:30:43,927 --> 00:30:46,429
only one thing occupies his thoughts
this time of the year,
197
00:30:46,513 --> 00:30:47,722
being all things to all people,
198
00:30:47,805 --> 00:30:49,974
which, of course,
means be nothing to no one.
199
00:30:50,058 --> 00:30:53,686
In other words,
gettin' himself re-elected.
200
00:30:53,770 --> 00:30:55,730
Give me a hand.
201
00:31:03,363 --> 00:31:05,782
- Will you help us, sir?
- Let go of my arm.
202
00:31:06,950 --> 00:31:09,702
Take my stick.
203
00:31:09,786 --> 00:31:12,830
- Mr. Adams?
- Yeah, what?
204
00:31:12,914 --> 00:31:17,669
As an advocate for
the abolition of slavery, will you help us?
205
00:31:17,752 --> 00:31:19,921
I'm neither friend nor foe
of the abolitionist cause.
206
00:31:20,004 --> 00:31:21,464
No, I won't help you.
207
00:31:22,257 --> 00:31:24,300
Sir.
208
00:31:24,717 --> 00:31:26,135
What?
209
00:31:26,219 --> 00:31:28,304
I know you, Mr. President.
210
00:31:28,388 --> 00:31:30,848
I know you and your presidency
as well as any man
211
00:31:30,932 --> 00:31:32,850
and your father's.
212
00:31:32,934 --> 00:31:36,604
You were a child at his side
when he helped invent America.
213
00:31:36,688 --> 00:31:41,025
And you, in turn, have devoted your life
to refining that noble invention.
214
00:31:41,109 --> 00:31:44,362
There remains but one task undone,
one vital task
215
00:31:44,445 --> 00:31:46,698
the founding fathers left to their sons
216
00:31:46,781 --> 00:31:51,369
before their 13 colonies could
precisely be called United States.
217
00:31:51,452 --> 00:31:56,291
And that task, sir, as you well know,
is crushing slavery.
218
00:31:56,374 --> 00:31:59,335
Your record confirms
you're an abolitionist, sir,
219
00:31:59,419 --> 00:32:01,212
even if you won't.
220
00:32:01,296 --> 00:32:04,340
- And whether or not you admit it...
- Mr. Joadson.
221
00:32:05,592 --> 00:32:08,344
...you belong with us.
222
00:32:10,305 --> 00:32:13,600
You're quite the scholar,
Mr. Joadson, aren't ya?
223
00:32:13,683 --> 00:32:15,018
Quite the historian.
224
00:32:19,272 --> 00:32:23,526
Let me tell you something
about that quality, if I might.
225
00:32:23,610 --> 00:32:28,615
Without an accompanying mastery of
at least one-tenth its measure of grace,
226
00:32:28,698 --> 00:32:32,160
such erudition is worthless, sir.
227
00:32:32,702 --> 00:32:35,496
Now, you take it from one who knows.
228
00:32:37,665 --> 00:32:40,543
If you gentlemen will excuse me.
229
00:32:44,505 --> 00:32:46,174
We know we aimed high
coming to see you, sir, but...
230
00:32:46,257 --> 00:32:48,676
Well, aim lower!
231
00:32:48,760 --> 00:32:52,180
Find yourselves someone
whose inspiration blossoms
232
00:32:52,263 --> 00:32:54,223
the more you lose.
233
00:32:58,811 --> 00:33:03,650
If the court awards them to Spain,
they'll be taken to Cuba and executed.
234
00:33:03,733 --> 00:33:08,363
If the two lieutenants prevail,
they'll most likely sell them to Spain
235
00:33:08,446 --> 00:33:10,490
and they'll be executed.
236
00:33:10,573 --> 00:33:13,117
If Montes and Ruiz
are successful in their campaign...
237
00:33:13,201 --> 00:33:17,038
I'm a little confused by something.
What are they worth to you?
238
00:33:17,413 --> 00:33:19,040
We're discussing the case,
not its expense.
239
00:33:19,123 --> 00:33:20,625
The case, of course.
240
00:33:22,168 --> 00:33:26,547
Well, the case is much simpler
than you think, Mr. Tappan.
241
00:33:26,631 --> 00:33:30,259
It's like anything, isn't it? Land,
livestock, heirlooms, what have you.
242
00:33:31,678 --> 00:33:33,012
Livestock.
243
00:33:35,139 --> 00:33:36,849
Yes. Consider,
244
00:33:36,933 --> 00:33:41,354
the only way one may sell or purchase
slaves is if they are born slaves,
245
00:33:41,437 --> 00:33:43,773
as on the plantation.
246
00:33:44,941 --> 00:33:47,485
- I'm right, aren't I?
- Yes.
247
00:33:47,568 --> 00:33:50,071
- So, are they?
- "Are they?"
248
00:33:50,238 --> 00:33:53,741
Yes. Born slaves, as on a plantation.
249
00:33:54,283 --> 00:33:56,744
No, we're not certain,
but we very much doubt it.
250
00:33:56,828 --> 00:34:00,206
Well, let's say they are, and if they are,
then they are possessions,
251
00:34:00,289 --> 00:34:03,251
and no more deserving of a criminal
trial than a bookcase or a plow.
252
00:34:03,334 --> 00:34:04,919
Then we can all go home, can't we?
253
00:34:05,002 --> 00:34:06,713
Now, on the other hand,
let's say they aren't slaves.
254
00:34:06,796 --> 00:34:09,757
If they aren't slaves, then they were
illegally acquired, weren't they?
255
00:34:10,174 --> 00:34:12,510
Forget mutiny, forget piracy,
forget murder and all the rest.
256
00:34:12,593 --> 00:34:15,304
Those are subsequent,
irrelevant occurrences.
257
00:34:15,388 --> 00:34:18,808
Ignore everything
but the pre-eminent issue at hand.
258
00:34:18,891 --> 00:34:22,019
The wrongful transfer of stolen goods.
259
00:34:22,103 --> 00:34:24,188
- Either way, we win.
- Sir,
260
00:34:25,064 --> 00:34:28,693
this war must be waged on
the battlefield of righteousness.
261
00:34:29,569 --> 00:34:31,195
The what?
262
00:34:31,279 --> 00:34:34,532
It would be against everything I stand for
to let this deteriorate into
263
00:34:34,615 --> 00:34:38,202
an exercise in
the vagaries of legal minutia.
264
00:34:39,495 --> 00:34:41,622
Well, I don't know
what you're talking about, Mr. Tappan,
265
00:34:41,706 --> 00:34:43,166
but I'm talking about
the heart of the matter.
266
00:34:43,249 --> 00:34:44,625
As am I.
267
00:34:45,209 --> 00:34:46,919
It is our destiny
268
00:34:47,003 --> 00:34:51,632
as abolitionists and as Christians
to save these people.
269
00:34:51,716 --> 00:34:54,051
These are people, Mr. Baldwin.
270
00:34:54,135 --> 00:34:55,678
Not livestock.
271
00:34:55,762 --> 00:34:59,098
Did Christ hire a lawyer
to get him off on technicalities?
272
00:34:59,182 --> 00:35:02,852
He went to the cross, nobly.
You know why?
273
00:35:04,020 --> 00:35:05,855
To make a statement.
274
00:35:06,981 --> 00:35:09,567
To make a statement, as must we.
275
00:35:12,528 --> 00:35:14,989
But Christ lost.
276
00:35:15,448 --> 00:35:17,492
- You, I think...
- No, sir, he did not.
277
00:35:18,326 --> 00:35:20,620
Or, at least you, Mr. Joadson,
want to win, don't you?
278
00:35:20,703 --> 00:35:22,914
- Yes.
- I certainly do.
279
00:35:23,039 --> 00:35:26,292
Hell, sometimes
I don't get paid unless I do.
280
00:35:26,375 --> 00:35:30,797
Which brings us back to
the earlier question of worth.
281
00:35:30,880 --> 00:35:32,423
Now, in order to do a better job than
282
00:35:32,507 --> 00:35:34,133
the attorney who represented
the Son of God,
283
00:35:34,217 --> 00:35:37,053
I'll require $2.50 a day.
284
00:35:49,899 --> 00:35:52,276
Who are they, do you think?
285
00:35:57,573 --> 00:36:01,327
Looks like they're going to be sick.
286
00:36:09,836 --> 00:36:12,588
They're entertainers.
287
00:36:12,964 --> 00:36:17,385
...but why do they look so miserable?
288
00:36:38,364 --> 00:36:40,491
You don't belong here.
289
00:36:40,867 --> 00:36:43,828
Your table doesn't belong here.
290
00:36:51,335 --> 00:36:54,171
This is Temne land.
291
00:36:58,134 --> 00:37:02,054
How do you do, sir? How do you do?
292
00:37:02,555 --> 00:37:05,474
You want to sit?
Sit over here in Mendeland.
293
00:37:05,766 --> 00:37:08,102
What are you doing, Temne?
294
00:37:08,436 --> 00:37:12,732
You want trouble?
Cross into our territory again.
295
00:37:13,065 --> 00:37:16,402
What is this?
Get this table out of here.
296
00:37:16,569 --> 00:37:18,571
Let me show you to Sherbroland.
297
00:37:30,833 --> 00:37:32,793
There?
298
00:37:59,195 --> 00:38:01,989
I'm sorry. I don't understand.
299
00:38:03,741 --> 00:38:06,285
Excuse me. I...
300
00:38:06,369 --> 00:38:07,620
My name is Roger Baldwin.
301
00:38:07,703 --> 00:38:09,455
This is Theodore Joadson
of the Anti-Slavery Society
302
00:38:09,538 --> 00:38:12,583
and owner of
the Forten Shipping Service.
303
00:38:12,667 --> 00:38:16,462
And this is Professor Gibbs, a linguist.
304
00:38:18,255 --> 00:38:19,548
What do you want?
305
00:38:20,716 --> 00:38:23,386
Keep talking. Get them to talk.
306
00:38:24,428 --> 00:38:26,430
Have you seen this before?
307
00:38:26,514 --> 00:38:30,267
I could kill you with my bare hands
before you raise that sword shoulder high.
308
00:38:30,559 --> 00:38:32,436
This belongs to you?
309
00:38:32,561 --> 00:38:33,562
Does this...
310
00:38:37,233 --> 00:38:39,276
No. No.
311
00:38:42,571 --> 00:38:44,991
I need to know where you're from.
312
00:38:53,582 --> 00:38:55,292
What did he say?
313
00:38:55,835 --> 00:38:59,505
I didn't understand a word of it. It's gibberish.
314
00:38:59,588 --> 00:39:01,924
- He said, I think, "Show me the map."
- Yes.
315
00:39:02,425 --> 00:39:04,260
What do you think? Is he here to help us? Or?
316
00:39:04,427 --> 00:39:06,095
I don't know.
317
00:39:07,263 --> 00:39:11,267
He reminds me of that Fula of Baoma, you know the one--
318
00:39:11,684 --> 00:39:14,770
...who hires himself out to scrape
elephant dung from the crop rows.
319
00:39:14,854 --> 00:39:20,317
A dung-scraper might be just the
kind of man we need right now.
320
00:39:20,943 --> 00:39:23,946
Here, Africa, is this where you're from?
321
00:39:24,030 --> 00:39:26,240
Africa.
322
00:39:26,323 --> 00:39:27,616
What does he want?
323
00:39:27,867 --> 00:39:30,286
He's an idiot. He just likes to hear himself speak.
324
00:39:30,995 --> 00:39:33,873
Were you born in the West Indies?
325
00:39:34,040 --> 00:39:38,127
Were you born in the West Indies?
326
00:39:39,879 --> 00:39:42,631
All three of them are idiots.
327
00:39:43,758 --> 00:39:45,176
What did he say?
328
00:39:45,259 --> 00:39:48,971
He said they have to go away.
329
00:39:54,185 --> 00:39:57,313
- There they are!
- Damnation is God's way!
330
00:39:57,396 --> 00:40:00,858
You cannot own another human being!
331
00:40:00,941 --> 00:40:03,360
- Killers of white men!
- Slavery is tyranny!
332
00:40:03,444 --> 00:40:07,364
Look, it's those miserable-looking people again.
333
00:40:13,579 --> 00:40:15,081
God's blessing on you this morning.
334
00:40:15,164 --> 00:40:18,125
I'm not afraid of you, or your medicine.
335
00:40:18,209 --> 00:40:23,005
Yes. You place your hand on this book,
and I'll pray for you.
336
00:40:24,882 --> 00:40:27,718
They're human beings, not animals!
337
00:40:28,803 --> 00:40:30,846
Slavery will kill this country!
338
00:40:35,017 --> 00:40:38,687
Then, in the quietude of the night,
339
00:40:38,771 --> 00:40:40,940
after the Spaniards
attended their vespers,
340
00:40:41,023 --> 00:40:43,943
and were deep in virtuous sleep,
341
00:40:45,528 --> 00:40:48,948
the savages broke loose their collars
342
00:40:49,031 --> 00:40:53,744
and stole onto the deck
like creatures of prey,
343
00:40:53,828 --> 00:40:57,456
where they fell upon the unsuspecting
crew with these sabers and cane knives.
344
00:40:58,791 --> 00:41:02,128
I cannot overstate
the inhumanity of their acts...
345
00:41:02,211 --> 00:41:04,505
Have you figured out who he is?
346
00:41:04,588 --> 00:41:05,798
...the savagery, the bloodshed.
347
00:41:05,881 --> 00:41:07,591
An advisor of some kind. Maybe theirs.
348
00:41:07,675 --> 00:41:09,635
Unsated by the mere deaths
of their victims,
349
00:41:09,718 --> 00:41:11,804
they went on to mutilate
at least one of them...
350
00:41:11,887 --> 00:41:13,806
What about him?
351
00:41:13,889 --> 00:41:16,100
...to dismember him.
The simple cook, a Creole.
352
00:41:16,183 --> 00:41:17,184
Their own kind.
353
00:41:17,268 --> 00:41:19,019
Theirs maybe.
354
00:41:19,103 --> 00:41:21,564
But for the bravery
of Señors Ruiz and Montes,
355
00:41:21,647 --> 00:41:22,982
who fought their way to the stern
356
00:41:23,065 --> 00:41:25,067
and steered the Amistad
to these shores,
357
00:41:25,151 --> 00:41:27,278
under constant threat of like fate,
358
00:41:27,361 --> 00:41:29,446
we might never have
heard of this massacre,
359
00:41:29,530 --> 00:41:30,823
this bloodbath.
360
00:41:30,906 --> 00:41:32,658
But for their bravery,
361
00:41:32,741 --> 00:41:36,078
these villains most certainly
would have escaped justice.
362
00:41:36,162 --> 00:41:38,998
But they've not. They've not.
363
00:41:43,544 --> 00:41:46,547
And Dung-Scraper?
364
00:41:46,839 --> 00:41:51,218
I have a horrible feeling he talks for us.
365
00:42:05,107 --> 00:42:09,028
Do you know the difference
between a cow and a cabbage?
366
00:42:10,362 --> 00:42:13,240
A brick and a bear?
367
00:42:13,324 --> 00:42:18,078
Or how about
a polecat and a President?
368
00:42:20,915 --> 00:42:21,999
Well, the Spanish government hopes
369
00:42:22,082 --> 00:42:23,876
you don't have a whole lot more
common sense than that.
370
00:42:23,959 --> 00:42:25,211
And I'll tell you why.
371
00:42:25,294 --> 00:42:28,547
This case isn't about murder,
mayhem or massacres.
372
00:42:28,631 --> 00:42:30,841
It's not about anything that dramatic.
373
00:42:31,258 --> 00:42:36,555
This case is about knowing
the difference between here and there.
374
00:42:40,851 --> 00:42:42,978
I want to show you something.
375
00:42:53,322 --> 00:42:54,823
Open your mouth.
376
00:42:55,449 --> 00:42:56,617
Of course, he doesn't
understand what I'm saying
377
00:42:56,700 --> 00:42:58,077
because he doesn't speak English.
378
00:43:02,414 --> 00:43:03,874
Doesn't he understand that?
379
00:43:03,958 --> 00:43:05,417
I thought he was born
on a Cuban plantation.
380
00:43:05,501 --> 00:43:07,086
That's what they're all saying.
381
00:43:07,294 --> 00:43:09,463
Perhaps he simply just
doesn't like you, Mr. Baldwin.
382
00:43:09,546 --> 00:43:11,840
He wouldn't be the first, Mr. Holabird.
383
00:43:23,560 --> 00:43:25,020
Yes.
384
00:43:25,104 --> 00:43:28,857
What, did he learn this on some Cuban
plantation, this decorative effect?
385
00:43:34,738 --> 00:43:36,699
Cuban plantation.
386
00:43:38,867 --> 00:43:41,412
Stand up. Stand up.
387
00:43:41,662 --> 00:43:43,247
Hey.
388
00:44:02,141 --> 00:44:04,310
Stand up.
389
00:44:07,062 --> 00:44:08,397
Thank you.
390
00:44:09,106 --> 00:44:11,900
Your Honor, I speak more Spanish,
and I was born in Philadelphia.
391
00:44:11,984 --> 00:44:15,821
Your Honor, on Spanish plantations,
slaves always choose to live
392
00:44:15,904 --> 00:44:19,116
surrounded by their own ways
and simple languages.
393
00:44:19,199 --> 00:44:23,912
Pray tell, what need they know
of Spanish? Fetch? Carry? Stop?
394
00:44:23,996 --> 00:44:29,001
Ofttimes, gestures suffice for slaves, as,
indeed, for any other beast of burden.
395
00:44:29,084 --> 00:44:30,544
Your Honor.
396
00:44:31,628 --> 00:44:35,090
I represent the interests
of Señors Ruiz and Montes.
397
00:44:35,758 --> 00:44:37,009
I remember.
398
00:44:37,092 --> 00:44:41,347
I have a bill of sale issued in Havana
for the purchase of slaves.
399
00:44:41,430 --> 00:44:43,515
I remember that, too.
400
00:44:43,599 --> 00:44:47,853
On it, in addition to the amounts paid
for each, are their names.
401
00:44:47,936 --> 00:44:52,191
Jose, Bernardo, Paco and so on.
402
00:44:53,692 --> 00:44:57,488
On behalf of my clients,
I submit this document to the court.
403
00:45:05,871 --> 00:45:08,874
Mr. Baldwin, you've proffered
to this court this morning
404
00:45:08,957 --> 00:45:12,586
a good deal of, I'll be kind,
circumstantial evidence.
405
00:45:12,878 --> 00:45:17,383
Have you, in addition, anything, say,
in the order of actual documentation
406
00:45:17,466 --> 00:45:19,218
that might refute this one,
407
00:45:19,301 --> 00:45:22,388
and in so doing,
more compellingly support your claims?
408
00:45:22,471 --> 00:45:26,100
I'm sure I could manufacture some
as easily as they have, Your Honor,
409
00:45:26,183 --> 00:45:27,267
if that would suffice.
410
00:45:27,351 --> 00:45:29,561
But what you're saying is,
then, you don't.
411
00:45:29,645 --> 00:45:31,605
Is that correct?
412
00:45:40,280 --> 00:45:42,074
I have them.
413
00:45:42,866 --> 00:45:45,369
I'm afraid that does not impress me.
414
00:45:56,672 --> 00:45:58,006
I thought you did quite well.
415
00:45:59,758 --> 00:46:01,093
You do?
416
00:46:01,176 --> 00:46:04,847
Much better than I expected,
to be honest.
417
00:46:04,930 --> 00:46:06,723
Well, thank you, I think.
418
00:46:06,807 --> 00:46:09,518
Although, I was concerned for a moment
that you might've forgotten
419
00:46:09,601 --> 00:46:11,353
that this is just a case like any other.
420
00:46:11,603 --> 00:46:13,230
Well, you needn't worry about that.
421
00:46:13,856 --> 00:46:15,441
That's good.
422
00:46:34,918 --> 00:46:37,754
Hello, Cinque.
My name is Roger Baldwin.
423
00:46:37,838 --> 00:46:39,965
I'll be your attorney.
424
00:46:55,397 --> 00:46:58,233
Yes. Thank you.
425
00:47:07,910 --> 00:47:09,870
All right.
426
00:47:14,208 --> 00:47:17,127
I need to prove where you're from.
427
00:47:17,211 --> 00:47:20,547
You want to show them where we're from.
428
00:47:23,675 --> 00:47:26,386
How are you supposed to tell me? I...
429
00:47:28,931 --> 00:47:32,935
How can I explain to you where we're from?
430
00:47:37,523 --> 00:47:38,524
Maybe, I -
431
00:47:38,607 --> 00:47:39,691
Listen, why don't I... You go.
432
00:47:39,775 --> 00:47:44,154
I'm sorry, you should talk first.
433
00:47:58,001 --> 00:48:01,338
Here. This is where I'm from.
434
00:48:01,421 --> 00:48:03,340
Here. This.
435
00:48:03,423 --> 00:48:07,844
All of this. All of this is...
436
00:48:07,928 --> 00:48:09,179
That's here.
437
00:48:09,263 --> 00:48:10,681
...my home.
438
00:48:11,223 --> 00:48:12,349
Here.
439
00:48:20,315 --> 00:48:22,776
Cuba. Cuba's an island.
440
00:48:34,162 --> 00:48:37,249
The Amistad. This is where you...
441
00:48:37,332 --> 00:48:41,086
Where everyone was killed. Here.
442
00:48:42,045 --> 00:48:43,922
Cuba, the Amistad.
443
00:48:44,006 --> 00:48:47,384
Now, Cuba, is this your home?
I don't think so.
444
00:48:48,051 --> 00:48:50,262
But... Excuse me.
445
00:48:53,515 --> 00:48:55,517
Now...
446
00:49:01,607 --> 00:49:03,150
Africa.
447
00:49:03,233 --> 00:49:06,236
This is your home, isn't it?
448
00:49:06,320 --> 00:49:11,533
This is your home. Yes?
449
00:49:12,534 --> 00:49:18,415
You came all the way from here.
450
00:49:46,568 --> 00:49:48,277
This...
451
00:49:48,278 --> 00:49:51,406
This... Is how far I've come.
452
00:50:15,847 --> 00:50:18,141
Secure the barrels for transport.
453
00:50:23,980 --> 00:50:26,108
Put your backs into it, boys. Come on.
454
00:50:26,483 --> 00:50:28,276
This is a court order
granting us permission to board
455
00:50:28,360 --> 00:50:31,113
and search this vessel
for evidential purposes.
456
00:50:31,196 --> 00:50:32,447
What did they want?
457
00:50:32,531 --> 00:50:33,657
To come aboard.
458
00:50:33,740 --> 00:50:37,911
I informed them they needed to obtain
one of these, an authentic one.
459
00:50:46,628 --> 00:50:48,547
Aren't you coming?
460
00:51:09,443 --> 00:51:11,528
Heave-ho!
461
00:53:07,435 --> 00:53:09,521
The light. Light...
462
00:53:11,147 --> 00:53:12,941
Light the lamp, Mr. Baldwin.
463
00:53:13,233 --> 00:53:15,151
I'm trying.
464
00:53:21,616 --> 00:53:23,869
Mr. Joadson!
465
00:53:23,952 --> 00:53:25,912
Here.
466
00:53:30,250 --> 00:53:32,168
You all right?
467
00:53:36,131 --> 00:53:37,382
Yes.
468
00:54:17,714 --> 00:54:20,008
These papers,
469
00:54:20,091 --> 00:54:23,511
and I shall ask you to examine them,
are portions of a ship's manifest
470
00:54:23,595 --> 00:54:26,556
I retrieved from the Amistad
yesterday eve.
471
00:54:26,640 --> 00:54:27,724
At first glance, perhaps,
472
00:54:27,807 --> 00:54:31,144
they may appear to bolster
the prosecution's case.
473
00:54:32,103 --> 00:54:34,856
You see, they list cargo,
474
00:54:34,940 --> 00:54:37,275
cargo bearing the very Spanish names
475
00:54:37,359 --> 00:54:41,488
that Messrs. Ruiz and Montes
insist represent my clients,
476
00:54:42,530 --> 00:54:45,450
hand-scrawled in the margins.
477
00:54:45,659 --> 00:54:49,913
But, no, this is not the manifest
of the Amistad at all. Look.
478
00:54:51,831 --> 00:54:55,710
This is part of the cargo manifest
of a Portuguese vessel,
479
00:54:55,794 --> 00:54:59,714
the notorious transatlantic
slave ship, the Tecora.
480
00:54:59,798 --> 00:55:01,675
The Tecora.
481
00:55:04,219 --> 00:55:07,514
And I can bring you as many
witnesses as you wish, Mr. Holabird,
482
00:55:07,597 --> 00:55:09,140
- to corroborate this.
- Tecora.
483
00:55:09,224 --> 00:55:11,434
Their clients trade primarily
off the coast of West Africa,
484
00:55:11,518 --> 00:55:13,645
the Ivory Coast, Sierra Leone.
485
00:55:16,272 --> 00:55:18,316
I know what you're thinking.
486
00:55:18,400 --> 00:55:20,860
Sierra Leone is a protectorate
of the British Crown.
487
00:55:20,944 --> 00:55:23,113
Slavery is outlawed there.
488
00:55:23,196 --> 00:55:26,616
Its principal port, in fact,
has been rechristened "Freetown."
489
00:55:27,492 --> 00:55:30,328
How then,
can the Portuguese-flag-flying Tecora
490
00:55:30,412 --> 00:55:33,415
engage in the slave trades
in these waters?
491
00:55:33,498 --> 00:55:36,376
I'll tell you how, in a word.
492
00:55:39,254 --> 00:55:41,089
Illegally.
493
00:55:43,508 --> 00:55:46,219
Now, whatever these men say
from this point on clearly matters not
494
00:55:46,302 --> 00:55:49,014
because this proves them liars.
495
00:55:49,097 --> 00:55:51,391
My clients' journey
did not begin in Havana,
496
00:55:51,474 --> 00:55:54,561
as they claim and keep claiming
more and more emphatically.
497
00:55:54,644 --> 00:55:56,771
No, my clients' journey
498
00:56:00,483 --> 00:56:02,986
began much, much further away.
499
00:56:16,499 --> 00:56:19,335
I underestimated you, sir!
500
00:56:19,461 --> 00:56:21,171
I really did!
501
00:56:21,254 --> 00:56:23,214
Well, I should
take that as a compliment.
502
00:56:23,298 --> 00:56:25,008
You should, indeed, sir.
You should, indeed.
503
00:56:25,091 --> 00:56:26,384
You've done it, I think.
504
00:56:26,468 --> 00:56:30,055
I can't imagine there's no not reaching
a favorable conclusion...
505
00:56:30,638 --> 00:56:32,599
Hey! Hey!
506
00:56:34,225 --> 00:56:36,144
Am I bleeding?
507
00:56:37,979 --> 00:56:40,148
There's nothing there.
508
00:56:41,983 --> 00:56:44,569
What did I do to deserve this?
509
00:56:44,652 --> 00:56:46,905
You took the case, Mr. Baldwin.
510
00:56:47,864 --> 00:56:49,991
You took the case, sir.
511
00:56:50,533 --> 00:56:52,786
I should take that as a compliment.
512
00:56:53,787 --> 00:56:55,789
"As you may perceive,
513
00:56:56,372 --> 00:57:00,210
"I wish you to act promptly
before this matter of the Africans
514
00:57:00,293 --> 00:57:02,420
"becomes a weight
on our two countries."
515
00:57:02,504 --> 00:57:04,506
"Great countries."
516
00:57:04,589 --> 00:57:07,008
"Our great countries.
517
00:57:07,092 --> 00:57:10,637
"After all, the business
of great countries is to do business."
518
00:57:12,722 --> 00:57:15,934
"Slavery is our pillar of commerce
in the New World.
519
00:57:16,309 --> 00:57:20,480
"Without it, our goodwill
and excellent trade relations..."
520
00:57:20,563 --> 00:57:23,942
- "Should be imperiled."
- "Should be imperiled.
521
00:57:24,567 --> 00:57:27,278
"Without it, we might
have been denied the glory
522
00:57:27,362 --> 00:57:30,698
"of aiding you in your virtuous
rebellion against the British.
523
00:57:31,199 --> 00:57:35,537
"As slave-owning nations,
we must together stand firm.
524
00:57:36,788 --> 00:57:40,375
"Speak the words of humaneness for
the masses of your citizens,
525
00:57:40,458 --> 00:57:44,295
"but hold tightly to the power
that protects them.
526
00:57:44,379 --> 00:57:47,132
"That power, of course, is their wealth.
527
00:57:47,215 --> 00:57:50,260
"The Africans must never go free.
528
00:57:50,802 --> 00:57:53,304
"With sincerest admiration,
529
00:57:53,388 --> 00:57:56,933
"Isabella II, Queen of all of Spain."
530
00:57:57,225 --> 00:58:02,063
I am not about to bend
to the will of some pubescent queen.
531
00:58:02,147 --> 00:58:05,316
Forget about them. They're unimportant.
532
00:58:05,400 --> 00:58:07,777
- Prepubescent.
- What you need to concern yourself with
533
00:58:07,861 --> 00:58:10,989
is what this matter means here,
not an ocean away.
534
00:58:11,072 --> 00:58:13,074
I wish someone would
tell me what it means!
535
00:58:13,575 --> 00:58:16,411
Leder, you yourself
said it was meaningless.
536
00:58:16,494 --> 00:58:18,079
Well, not anymore.
537
00:58:21,374 --> 00:58:23,418
John Calhoun paid me a visit.
538
00:58:23,501 --> 00:58:24,836
Oh, God.
539
00:58:24,919 --> 00:58:28,965
To explain to me why this case
is of much greater import,
540
00:58:29,048 --> 00:58:31,843
much greater symbolism,
to use his word,
541
00:58:31,926 --> 00:58:33,469
to the South and the North.
542
00:58:34,554 --> 00:58:37,182
Now, if the Africans are executed,
543
00:58:37,265 --> 00:58:39,184
the abolitionists will
certainly make good use of it.
544
00:58:39,267 --> 00:58:41,644
And, yes, they will make some converts.
545
00:58:41,728 --> 00:58:45,607
If, on the other hand, they are freed,
if that happens,
546
00:58:45,690 --> 00:58:47,609
Calhoun assures me
the Southern states will
547
00:58:47,692 --> 00:58:51,154
so ally themselves against you,
that you can forget about re-election.
548
00:58:52,739 --> 00:58:54,199
Over this?
549
00:58:54,282 --> 00:58:55,617
It's worse than that.
550
00:58:55,700 --> 00:58:58,077
Worse? What could be worse than that?
551
00:58:58,161 --> 00:59:01,372
Calhoun believes, and I am not sure
I can entirely disagree with him,
552
00:59:01,456 --> 00:59:05,293
that this could take us all
one long step closer to civil war.
553
00:59:06,961 --> 00:59:08,171
This?
554
00:59:08,254 --> 00:59:09,964
Yes, Mr. President.
555
00:59:10,506 --> 00:59:13,051
But all is not lost.
556
00:59:13,134 --> 00:59:15,261
Yes, the jury appears
disposed towards freeing them.
557
00:59:15,345 --> 00:59:16,804
But juries can be dismissed.
558
00:59:19,724 --> 00:59:20,975
They can?
559
00:59:22,727 --> 00:59:25,897
But I believe we must go further
and remove the judge.
560
00:59:26,356 --> 00:59:28,858
We can do that?
561
00:59:28,942 --> 00:59:33,404
He could be prevailed upon to recuse
himself for any number of reasons.
562
00:59:33,863 --> 00:59:35,073
And with that in mind,
563
00:59:35,156 --> 00:59:38,409
I've taken the liberty
of exploring possible replacements,
564
00:59:38,493 --> 00:59:41,663
and I've found one
I strongly believe to be better.
565
00:59:43,456 --> 00:59:47,794
He's young, which means he has
a career before him rather than behind,
566
00:59:47,877 --> 00:59:50,046
which means he has yet
to feel the hankering
567
00:59:50,129 --> 00:59:53,299
for magnanimous last gestures
for the sake of posterity.
568
00:59:53,383 --> 00:59:59,180
And he is monumentally insecure,
particularly about his Catholic heritage.
569
00:59:59,806 --> 01:00:02,684
- He's Catholic?
- His grandfather was Catholic,
570
01:00:02,767 --> 01:00:07,146
which young Mr. Coglin
has striven all his days to keep quiet.
571
01:00:07,355 --> 01:00:09,649
Mr. President, meet Judge Coglin.
572
01:00:09,732 --> 01:00:12,735
Judge Coglin,
we are so pleased to meet you.
573
01:00:12,819 --> 01:00:14,529
Thank you so much for coming.
574
01:00:36,217 --> 01:00:38,553
I've been reading in the papers
575
01:00:38,886 --> 01:00:43,391
the continuing saga of the Amistad.
576
01:00:44,434 --> 01:00:45,476
Real papers.
577
01:00:46,686 --> 01:00:49,272
Real papers. Yes, sir.
578
01:00:51,065 --> 01:00:54,777
Yes. Bad luck,
this last unfolding chapter.
579
01:00:55,695 --> 01:00:57,655
What to do now?
580
01:00:57,739 --> 01:01:00,908
Which is precisely why I came to
Massachusetts and imposed on you, sir.
581
01:01:01,409 --> 01:01:04,537
No imposition, really.
582
01:01:05,913 --> 01:01:08,082
Yeah.
583
01:01:10,501 --> 01:01:13,004
How did that...
584
01:01:13,087 --> 01:01:16,049
How did that young lawyer
take the news?
585
01:01:16,132 --> 01:01:19,010
In stride, sir. In stride.
586
01:01:19,969 --> 01:01:23,473
The thing is, sir, he did everything right.
587
01:01:23,556 --> 01:01:25,767
- He proved the case.
- Did he?
588
01:01:25,850 --> 01:01:28,561
Yes, sir. Surprisingly, he did.
589
01:01:30,396 --> 01:01:31,522
Good.
590
01:01:31,606 --> 01:01:34,525
Well, he'll just have to do it again, then,
won't he?
591
01:01:34,609 --> 01:01:37,278
But like most things, it should be
easier the second time around.
592
01:01:39,238 --> 01:01:42,950
Well, I'm afraid it doesn't matter
what he does now, sir.
593
01:01:43,034 --> 01:01:46,537
Rumor has it our next judge
was handpicked by Van Buren himself.
594
01:01:47,538 --> 01:01:49,082
No!
595
01:01:50,917 --> 01:01:55,129
Well, I'm embarrassed to admit
that I was under the misconception
596
01:01:55,213 --> 01:01:58,466
that our executive
and judicial branches were separate.
597
01:01:59,133 --> 01:02:02,136
No more so than these, Mr. Joadson.
598
01:02:02,887 --> 01:02:05,390
No more so than these.
599
01:02:07,308 --> 01:02:08,601
So now you know.
600
01:02:08,684 --> 01:02:10,686
Yes.
601
01:02:10,770 --> 01:02:12,313
- Sir?
- Yeah?
602
01:02:12,397 --> 01:02:15,566
Mr. President, if it was you
handling the case...
603
01:02:15,650 --> 01:02:18,444
But it isn't me. And thank God for that.
604
01:02:21,155 --> 01:02:24,325
But if it was, sir,
605
01:02:24,409 --> 01:02:26,494
what would you do?
606
01:02:34,168 --> 01:02:40,550
Well, when I was an attorney
a long time ago, young man,
607
01:02:41,134 --> 01:02:45,513
I realized after much trial and error
608
01:02:46,013 --> 01:02:47,390
that in a courtroom
609
01:02:48,850 --> 01:02:52,186
whoever tells the best story wins.
610
01:02:53,896 --> 01:02:59,444
In unlawyer-like fashion, I give you
that scrap of wisdom free of charge.
611
01:03:03,364 --> 01:03:05,867
I'm much obliged for your time, sir.
612
01:03:08,494 --> 01:03:11,414
What is their story, by the way?
613
01:03:13,040 --> 01:03:14,292
Sir?
614
01:03:15,877 --> 01:03:17,587
What is their story?
615
01:03:19,547 --> 01:03:22,258
Why, they're...
616
01:03:24,719 --> 01:03:26,637
They're from West Africa.
617
01:03:27,096 --> 01:03:31,058
No. What is their story?
618
01:03:38,900 --> 01:03:43,029
Mr. Joadson,
you're from where originally?
619
01:03:43,988 --> 01:03:46,073
Why, Georgia, sir.
620
01:03:46,157 --> 01:03:48,451
- Georgia.
- Yes, sir.
621
01:03:48,534 --> 01:03:50,620
Does that pretty much
sum up what you are?
622
01:03:50,703 --> 01:03:53,831
A Georgian? Is that your story?
623
01:03:55,082 --> 01:03:59,378
No. You're an ex-slave
who's devoted his life
624
01:03:59,462 --> 01:04:02,507
to the abolition of slavery,
and overcoming great obstacles
625
01:04:02,590 --> 01:04:05,968
and hardships along the way,
I should imagine.
626
01:04:06,052 --> 01:04:09,263
That's your story, isn't it?
627
01:04:18,564 --> 01:04:23,361
You and this young so-called lawyer
have proven you know what they are.
628
01:04:23,444 --> 01:04:25,905
They're Africans. Congratulations.
629
01:04:26,948 --> 01:04:29,784
What you don't know,
and, as far as I can tell,
630
01:04:29,867 --> 01:04:33,496
haven't bothered in the least to discover
is who they are.
631
01:04:37,750 --> 01:04:39,126
Right?
632
01:04:52,723 --> 01:04:54,475
Seven.
633
01:04:55,977 --> 01:04:57,645
Eight.
634
01:05:00,231 --> 01:05:01,232
Number nine.
635
01:05:02,483 --> 01:05:04,777
And 10.
636
01:05:04,860 --> 01:05:07,822
Now, how about you, Mr. Baldwin?
637
01:05:07,947 --> 01:05:10,533
Would you like to count from one to 10?
638
01:05:10,616 --> 01:05:12,785
One to 10 in Mende.
639
01:05:14,829 --> 01:05:15,913
One.
640
01:05:16,664 --> 01:05:17,748
Two.
641
01:05:18,666 --> 01:05:19,834
Three.
642
01:05:20,918 --> 01:05:22,461
Four.
643
01:05:24,046 --> 01:05:26,299
Right. Five.
644
01:05:43,858 --> 01:05:47,903
Fresh fruit! Fresh fruit!
Straight from the Caribbean!
645
01:07:13,948 --> 01:07:15,866
What's happened here?
646
01:07:15,950 --> 01:07:17,868
I don't know.
One of them died last night.
647
01:07:17,952 --> 01:07:20,621
We tried to take
the body away to bury it.
648
01:07:20,705 --> 01:07:23,290
Well, what do they want?
They want to live with it?
649
01:07:39,640 --> 01:07:42,059
They want to bury him.
650
01:07:42,143 --> 01:07:45,062
They have to bury him
according to their Poro beliefs.
651
01:07:45,146 --> 01:07:47,398
Otherwise, his soul
will haunt them forever.
652
01:08:19,013 --> 01:08:22,391
If I were you, if I ran this place,
653
01:08:22,475 --> 01:08:26,395
I'd set protocol aside just this once
and let them bury him.
654
01:08:30,566 --> 01:08:33,486
I was thinking the same thing.
655
01:09:26,080 --> 01:09:29,040
My name is Kai Nyagua -
656
01:09:29,041 --> 01:09:31,085
My name is Kai Nyagua -
and James Covey.
657
01:09:31,418 --> 01:09:35,422
I speak Mende and English -
his language.
658
01:09:35,631 --> 01:09:40,636
You and he will talk to each other through me.
659
01:09:42,888 --> 01:09:44,431
The clothes?
660
01:09:44,640 --> 01:09:46,559
And the names.
661
01:09:46,725 --> 01:09:49,645
I was rescued off a slave
ship by the British Navy.
662
01:09:49,854 --> 01:09:52,314
I never went back.
663
01:09:56,944 --> 01:09:58,654
A problem has arisen.
664
01:10:00,656 --> 01:10:03,367
The judge we had, who believed,
I believe,
665
01:10:03,450 --> 01:10:06,620
that you should be freed,
has been dismissed.
666
01:10:07,621 --> 01:10:11,375
A new judge has been called upon
to hear the case,
667
01:10:11,458 --> 01:10:13,002
this time without a jury.
668
01:10:23,512 --> 01:10:26,390
How is that possible?
A chief cannot be replaced.
669
01:10:26,473 --> 01:10:29,977
I can't explain it in any way
that you would understand, Cinque.
670
01:10:30,060 --> 01:10:34,064
Or me, for that matter.
Only that, well, it has happened.
671
01:10:40,696 --> 01:10:44,658
I am not a great orator
or advisor, Cinque.
672
01:10:45,701 --> 01:10:48,412
I'm not a big man in my profession.
673
01:10:48,495 --> 01:10:52,166
I don't know that I alone can convince
this next judge to set you free.
674
01:10:54,627 --> 01:10:56,295
I need your help.
675
01:10:58,672 --> 01:11:02,843
When we go to court,
I need you to speak.
676
01:11:10,267 --> 01:11:12,436
I'm not an advisor of any kind.
677
01:11:12,811 --> 01:11:15,022
I cannot speak for the others.
678
01:11:15,105 --> 01:11:17,441
Cinque, the others, they say you can.
679
01:11:17,524 --> 01:11:20,861
They say you're the big man here.
680
01:11:23,238 --> 01:11:24,698
I am not.
681
01:11:30,955 --> 01:11:33,040
What's this I hear about a lion?
682
01:11:36,669 --> 01:11:39,838
They say you alone, alone, Cinque,
683
01:11:39,922 --> 01:11:43,884
slew the most terrifying beast
anyone has ever seen.
684
01:11:44,009 --> 01:11:45,886
Is it not true?
685
01:12:30,180 --> 01:12:32,474
It had killed several people.
686
01:12:35,102 --> 01:12:37,021
Even hunters among us.
687
01:12:38,188 --> 01:12:40,607
Everyone, including me, was afraid.
688
01:12:43,068 --> 01:12:47,364
I was lying down with my family
when out of nowhere it appeared.
689
01:12:49,199 --> 01:12:51,493
As it came for me,
690
01:12:52,286 --> 01:12:55,789
I picked up this big rock and I threw it.
691
01:13:00,044 --> 01:13:03,839
And by some miracle, you see, I hit it.
692
01:13:08,135 --> 01:13:10,220
He don't know how that killed it,
but it did.
693
01:13:15,476 --> 01:13:16,810
A rock.
694
01:13:20,522 --> 01:13:22,107
A rock.
695
01:13:42,961 --> 01:13:45,339
I received the gratitude
of everyone in the village.
696
01:13:51,845 --> 01:13:54,348
I was given respect.
697
01:13:57,226 --> 01:14:00,020
They treated me as if I was a prince.
698
01:14:04,233 --> 01:14:07,194
They gave me the fine country cloth.
699
01:14:16,995 --> 01:14:20,207
All these things they gave me,
I took them all.
700
01:14:25,295 --> 01:14:27,881
But I knew I didn't deserve it.
701
01:14:33,428 --> 01:14:36,306
For when I threw that rock at that beast
702
01:14:36,390 --> 01:14:38,308
if I had missed him...
703
01:14:38,392 --> 01:14:39,643
He said he wouldn't be
sitting here today
704
01:14:39,726 --> 01:14:42,271
trying to explain these things
to you or me or...
705
01:14:42,354 --> 01:14:43,730
He'd just be dead.
706
01:14:49,069 --> 01:14:50,988
Understand?
707
01:14:56,869 --> 01:14:58,787
You understand?
708
01:15:13,719 --> 01:15:18,223
I'm not a big man, just a lucky one.
709
01:15:28,275 --> 01:15:32,654
I might agree with you, Cinque,
except you're forgetting something.
710
01:15:37,784 --> 01:15:39,703
The other lion.
711
01:15:42,915 --> 01:15:45,459
The Amistad, Cinque. The insurrection.
712
01:15:45,542 --> 01:15:48,587
That, too, was an accident?
I hardly think so.
713
01:15:55,594 --> 01:15:57,846
That wasn't bravery.
714
01:16:03,352 --> 01:16:05,854
Any man would do the same
to get back to his family.
715
01:16:07,314 --> 01:16:09,441
You yourself would do it.
716
01:16:20,369 --> 01:16:22,746
Someone said that might be yours.
717
01:16:28,752 --> 01:16:31,213
My wife gave it to me.
718
01:16:39,513 --> 01:16:41,139
To keep me safe.
719
01:16:42,766 --> 01:16:47,688
Cinque, I need you to tell me
how you got here.
720
01:17:21,138 --> 01:17:23,473
I'll hit you in the head again if you talk.
721
01:17:23,640 --> 01:17:26,601
I'll share the profit of my harvest.
I'll give you all of it if you -
722
01:17:47,956 --> 01:17:52,210
Lomboko Slave Fortress
723
01:22:14,097 --> 01:22:18,059
This one's sick, don't give him any.
724
01:22:26,693 --> 01:22:28,028
Her.
725
01:22:28,361 --> 01:22:30,030
Not her.
726
01:22:30,780 --> 01:22:32,115
Her.
727
01:24:06,292 --> 01:24:09,629
Havana, Cuba
728
01:25:31,127 --> 01:25:33,171
Bernardo.
729
01:26:09,791 --> 01:26:12,085
I wanted to kill them, too.
730
01:26:14,379 --> 01:26:18,341
For they convinced some of us
that they would take us back home.
731
01:26:25,098 --> 01:26:27,183
Thank you, sir.
732
01:26:34,274 --> 01:26:36,067
Mr. Holabird.
733
01:26:41,739 --> 01:26:43,700
Quite a tale.
734
01:26:43,783 --> 01:26:46,202
Intrigue, abduction,
735
01:26:46,286 --> 01:26:49,414
courage in the face
of unspeakable suffering.
736
01:26:49,497 --> 01:26:53,167
And all true. All right.
Now tell me if this is true.
737
01:26:53,251 --> 01:26:55,753
Certain tribes in Africa,
for hundreds of years,
738
01:26:55,837 --> 01:26:58,965
thousands, perhaps,
have owned slaves.
739
01:27:02,969 --> 01:27:04,929
Translate.
740
01:27:12,437 --> 01:27:13,605
Yes.
741
01:27:13,688 --> 01:27:16,608
And under what circumstances
might one become a slave,
742
01:27:16,691 --> 01:27:19,819
say, among the Mende,
of which you claim to belong?
743
01:27:21,654 --> 01:27:23,573
Translate.
744
01:27:32,165 --> 01:27:34,584
Wars, debts.
745
01:27:34,667 --> 01:27:36,127
I see.
746
01:27:36,210 --> 01:27:38,588
And how many men
are indebted to you?
747
01:27:38,671 --> 01:27:40,214
- I don't think you do see.
- Excuse me?
748
01:27:40,340 --> 01:27:41,925
- Your Honor, Mr. Holabird...
- It's different.
749
01:27:42,008 --> 01:27:43,593
...is trying to intimidate my colleague.
750
01:27:43,676 --> 01:27:46,721
The Mende word for "slave"
is closer in meaning to "worker."
751
01:27:46,804 --> 01:27:49,265
Do these workers
own the land they work on?
752
01:27:49,349 --> 01:27:51,267
Do they receive wages?
753
01:27:51,351 --> 01:27:54,938
Are these workers free to
not work for you, if they so choose?
754
01:27:55,021 --> 01:27:56,940
Your Honor,
he's questioning the translator.
755
01:27:57,023 --> 01:27:59,359
No, the translator is answering
for the witness, Your Honor.
756
01:27:59,442 --> 01:28:02,111
- The witness isn't being given a chance.
- Mr. Baldwin!
757
01:28:02,195 --> 01:28:04,572
Fine, fine, Mr. Baldwin!
758
01:28:05,198 --> 01:28:07,951
Slavery, indentured servitude.
759
01:28:08,034 --> 01:28:10,203
Whatever they want to call it,
I don't mind.
760
01:28:10,286 --> 01:28:12,080
The concept is the same.
761
01:28:12,163 --> 01:28:15,166
Now, he is familiar with the concept.
762
01:28:16,209 --> 01:28:19,128
After all, when you come down to it,
it's all about money, isn't it?
763
01:28:19,212 --> 01:28:22,757
Slaves, production, money.
I mean, that's the idea of it.
764
01:28:22,840 --> 01:28:25,802
Whether it's here or there. I'm confused.
765
01:28:28,221 --> 01:28:33,267
Do your people
routinely slaughter their slaves
766
01:28:33,393 --> 01:28:36,646
in the manner that you just
so vividly described to us?
767
01:28:39,565 --> 01:28:43,736
Of course they don't.
What would be the point of that?
768
01:28:43,820 --> 01:28:47,323
I mean, killing your own slaves is rather
like burning down your own house
769
01:28:47,407 --> 01:28:49,492
or hut, isn't it?
770
01:28:51,995 --> 01:28:54,330
How do you explain that paradox?
771
01:29:00,586 --> 01:29:02,672
I don't understand what you mean.
772
01:29:02,755 --> 01:29:06,509
Sure you do. As does everyone here.
773
01:29:06,592 --> 01:29:09,345
The behavior you attribute
to your tormentors,
774
01:29:09,429 --> 01:29:11,347
your victims, to be more precise,
775
01:29:11,431 --> 01:29:14,851
and therefore every other
aspect of your testimony,
776
01:29:14,934 --> 01:29:18,104
makes no sense.
777
01:29:19,981 --> 01:29:22,025
Not even to you.
778
01:29:22,108 --> 01:29:23,526
But thank you for it.
779
01:29:23,609 --> 01:29:26,446
Like all good works of fiction,
it was entertaining.
780
01:29:26,946 --> 01:29:28,781
Nothing more.
781
01:29:39,500 --> 01:29:41,294
Captain Fitzgerald, please explain to us
782
01:29:41,377 --> 01:29:44,213
your primary duties
in Her Majesty's navy.
783
01:29:44,297 --> 01:29:47,216
To patrol the Ivory Coast for slave ships.
784
01:29:47,300 --> 01:29:49,218
Because?
785
01:29:49,302 --> 01:29:52,764
Because slavery is banned
in British law, sir.
786
01:29:53,264 --> 01:29:56,225
Yet the abduction of free men from
the British protectorate of Sierra Leone
787
01:29:56,309 --> 01:29:58,686
and their illegal transportation
to the New World,
788
01:29:58,770 --> 01:30:01,022
as described by Cinque,
is not unheard of, is it?
789
01:30:01,564 --> 01:30:04,192
Not even unusual, regrettably.
790
01:30:04,484 --> 01:30:09,614
Well, what, if anything, in his account
of his ordeal do you find believable?
791
01:30:11,157 --> 01:30:15,161
His description of the slave fortress,
for one thing.
792
01:30:15,953 --> 01:30:17,580
There is such a place.
793
01:30:17,872 --> 01:30:19,499
You've seen it?
794
01:30:20,166 --> 01:30:22,585
No, sir. We've not managed to locate it,
795
01:30:22,668 --> 01:30:25,671
but there is overwhelming evidence
that it is real.
796
01:30:25,797 --> 01:30:28,091
What evidence, exactly? Rumor?
797
01:30:30,009 --> 01:30:31,928
Reports.
798
01:30:32,011 --> 01:30:36,474
By "reports" you mean of the variety
Cinque shared with us today?
799
01:30:37,475 --> 01:30:41,062
Its existence, sir, has been reported.
800
01:30:41,395 --> 01:30:43,272
Cinque describes
the cold-blooded murder
801
01:30:43,356 --> 01:30:45,817
of a significant portion of the people
on board the Tecora.
802
01:30:45,900 --> 01:30:49,362
Mr. Holabird sees this as a paradox.
Do you, sir?
803
01:30:50,321 --> 01:30:55,284
Often when slavers are intercepted,
or believe they may be,
804
01:30:55,368 --> 01:30:57,662
they simply throw all
their prisoners overboard
805
01:30:57,745 --> 01:31:01,040
and thereby rid themselves
of the evidence of their crime.
806
01:31:01,916 --> 01:31:04,252
Drown hundreds of people?
807
01:31:04,335 --> 01:31:05,878
Yes.
808
01:31:06,462 --> 01:31:10,550
It hardly seems a lucrative business
to me, this slave-trading.
809
01:31:10,633 --> 01:31:12,510
Going to all that trouble
rounding everybody up
810
01:31:12,593 --> 01:31:14,011
only to throw them overboard.
811
01:31:14,345 --> 01:31:16,514
No, it's very lucrative.
812
01:31:17,306 --> 01:31:20,893
If only we could corroborate
Cinque's story somehow
813
01:31:23,229 --> 01:31:25,565
with evidence of some kind.
814
01:31:25,648 --> 01:31:27,692
The inventory.
815
01:31:32,321 --> 01:31:35,324
This? From the Tecora?
816
01:31:35,658 --> 01:31:39,245
If you look,
there's a notation made on May 10
817
01:31:39,328 --> 01:31:43,374
correcting the number of slaves on
board, reducing their number by 50.
818
01:31:43,457 --> 01:31:45,710
What does that mean?
819
01:31:45,793 --> 01:31:48,671
Well, if you look at it
in conjunction with Cinque's testimony,
820
01:31:48,754 --> 01:31:51,382
I would say that it means this.
821
01:31:51,465 --> 01:31:53,968
The Tecora crew,
having greatly underestimated
822
01:31:54,051 --> 01:31:57,221
the amount of provisions
required for their journey,
823
01:31:57,305 --> 01:32:00,600
solved the problem
by throwing 50 people overboard.
824
01:32:48,981 --> 01:32:51,567
I'm looking at the same
inventory, Captain,
825
01:32:51,651 --> 01:32:54,737
and I'm sorry, I don't see where it says,
826
01:32:54,820 --> 01:32:57,907
"This morning,
we threw 50 slaves overboard."
827
01:32:57,990 --> 01:32:59,825
On May 10 or any other day.
828
01:33:00,284 --> 01:33:02,328
As of course you would not.
829
01:33:16,050 --> 01:33:18,844
I do see that the cargo weight changed.
830
01:33:18,928 --> 01:33:22,306
They reduced the poundage, I see,
but that is all.
831
01:33:38,406 --> 01:33:40,992
It's simple, ghastly arithmetic.
832
01:33:42,076 --> 01:33:44,912
Well, for you, perhaps.
833
01:33:44,996 --> 01:33:48,416
I may need a quill and parchment
and a better imagination.
834
01:33:48,916 --> 01:33:54,422
And what poundage do you imagine
the entry may refer to, sir?
835
01:33:54,547 --> 01:33:56,507
A mast and sails, perhaps?
836
01:33:57,174 --> 01:34:00,886
Give us, us free.
837
01:34:05,141 --> 01:34:09,312
Give us free.
838
01:34:12,064 --> 01:34:14,900
Give us, us free.
839
01:34:19,030 --> 01:34:23,284
Give us free.
840
01:34:24,201 --> 01:34:26,746
Your Honor,
please instruct the defendant
841
01:34:26,829 --> 01:34:29,498
that he cannot disrupt
these proceedings with such outbursts.
842
01:34:29,582 --> 01:34:32,960
Give us, us free!
843
01:34:33,252 --> 01:34:36,172
If we are to have any semblance
of order in this court, Your Honor...
844
01:34:36,255 --> 01:34:40,176
- Give us, us free! Give us, us free!
- He cannot keep crying out...
845
01:34:40,259 --> 01:34:43,095
Cannot keep crying out, "Give us free,"
846
01:34:43,179 --> 01:34:45,181
- or anything else...
- Give us, us free!
847
01:34:45,264 --> 01:34:47,850
...while I am trying
to question this witness!
848
01:34:47,933 --> 01:34:50,269
Give us, us free!
849
01:34:52,480 --> 01:34:55,191
Give us, us free!
850
01:35:55,751 --> 01:36:00,673
You don't have to pretend to be interested in that.
851
01:36:01,173 --> 01:36:04,385
Nobody's watching but me.
852
01:36:04,635 --> 01:36:09,515
I'm not pretending.
I'm beginning to understand it.
853
01:36:24,780 --> 01:36:28,868
Their people have suffered more than ours...
Their lives were full of suffering.
854
01:36:31,537 --> 01:36:37,168
Then he was born and everything changed.
855
01:36:45,259 --> 01:36:46,594
Who is he?
856
01:36:46,886 --> 01:36:53,559
I don't know, but everywhere he goes,
he is followed by the sun.
857
01:37:00,483 --> 01:37:04,236
Here he is healing people with his hands.
858
01:37:10,034 --> 01:37:12,620
Protecting them...
859
01:37:17,541 --> 01:37:20,586
Being given children...
860
01:37:29,261 --> 01:37:31,096
What's this?
861
01:37:31,680 --> 01:37:34,808
He could also walk across the sea.
862
01:37:41,023 --> 01:37:43,484
But then something happened...
863
01:37:45,194 --> 01:37:49,365
He was captured. Accused of some crime.
864
01:37:49,907 --> 01:37:54,203
Here he is with his hands tied.
865
01:37:57,122 --> 01:37:58,958
He must have done something.
866
01:37:59,124 --> 01:38:02,127
Why? What did we do?
867
01:38:02,628 --> 01:38:08,926
Whatever it was, it was serious enough
to kill him for it.
868
01:38:09,927 --> 01:38:13,472
Do you want to see how they killed him?
869
01:38:21,480 --> 01:38:23,482
This is just a story, Yamba.
870
01:38:23,816 --> 01:38:28,821
But look. That's not the end of it.
871
01:38:31,073 --> 01:38:35,619
His people took his body down
from this... thing... this...
872
01:38:45,629 --> 01:38:52,261
They took him into a cave.
They wrapped him in a cloth, like we do.
873
01:38:52,845 --> 01:38:59,018
They thought he was dead, but he appeared
before his people again... and spoke to them.
874
01:39:01,604 --> 01:39:08,402
Then, finally, he rose into the sky.
875
01:39:19,955 --> 01:39:25,461
This is where the soul goes when you die here.
876
01:39:28,297 --> 01:39:32,926
This is where we're going when they kill us.
877
01:39:37,473 --> 01:39:40,768
It doesn't look so bad.
878
01:40:23,644 --> 01:40:25,395
Buakei...
879
01:40:25,396 --> 01:40:27,022
Buakei... Hold your head up.
880
01:41:00,848 --> 01:41:02,599
All rise.
881
01:42:03,243 --> 01:42:06,872
After careful review
and thorough reflection,
882
01:42:08,749 --> 01:42:13,045
I find it impossible to deny
the power of the government's position.
883
01:42:15,380 --> 01:42:19,968
There is no doubt in my mind
that District Attorney Holabird,
884
01:42:20,886 --> 01:42:24,640
Her Catholic Majesty, Isabella of Spain,
885
01:42:24,723 --> 01:42:27,810
and her trusted minister,
Señor Calderon,
886
01:42:27,893 --> 01:42:30,813
have all proceeded with the utmost faith
887
01:42:31,897 --> 01:42:34,608
in the soundness of their case.
888
01:42:37,152 --> 01:42:42,074
I also believe
that Señors Ruiz and Montes
889
01:42:42,157 --> 01:42:45,702
may have misrepresented
890
01:42:45,786 --> 01:42:48,747
the origin of the prisoners.
891
01:42:50,123 --> 01:42:53,961
An issue which weighs crucially
upon their fate,
892
01:42:54,044 --> 01:42:56,630
and that of the Spaniards as well.
893
01:43:02,636 --> 01:43:05,722
Were they born in Africa?
894
01:43:13,397 --> 01:43:15,816
But since the answer
to that fundamental question
895
01:43:15,899 --> 01:43:18,235
shall so heavily govern every
determination of this court,
896
01:43:18,318 --> 01:43:19,987
I ask it again.
897
01:43:22,781 --> 01:43:25,450
Were they born in Africa?
898
01:43:39,506 --> 01:43:41,466
I believe they were.
899
01:43:47,973 --> 01:43:53,395
As such, Her Catholic Majesty's
claims of ownership have no merit.
900
01:43:55,564 --> 01:43:57,482
Neither, of course, do those for salvage
901
01:43:57,566 --> 01:43:59,860
made by Lieutenants Meade
and Gedney.
902
01:44:00,193 --> 01:44:01,653
This is outrageous!
903
01:44:01,987 --> 01:44:07,409
I hereby order the immediate arrest and
detention of Señors Ruiz and Montes
904
01:44:10,704 --> 01:44:14,416
by federal marshals
905
01:44:14,499 --> 01:44:17,878
on the charge of slave-trading!
906
01:44:17,961 --> 01:44:19,922
Yes!
907
01:44:23,467 --> 01:44:25,677
The release of the Africans
908
01:44:25,844 --> 01:44:28,847
and their conveyance,
by this government
909
01:44:28,931 --> 01:44:31,433
at her earliest convenience
and expense,
910
01:44:31,516 --> 01:44:34,186
back to their homes in Africa!
911
01:44:34,269 --> 01:44:35,354
Yes!
912
01:44:44,863 --> 01:44:48,575
We've done it, Joadson!
We've done it! Yes!
913
01:44:48,659 --> 01:44:50,994
- Covey, tell them! Tell them now!
- I think they know.
914
01:44:58,251 --> 01:44:59,878
Look at 'em.
915
01:45:55,976 --> 01:45:58,645
What's most bewildering to Her Majesty
916
01:45:58,729 --> 01:46:03,191
is this arrogant independence
of the American courts.
917
01:46:03,275 --> 01:46:07,154
After all, if you cannot rule the courts,
you cannot rule.
918
01:46:07,237 --> 01:46:09,823
Señor Calderon,
as any true American will tell you,
919
01:46:09,906 --> 01:46:13,368
it's the independence of our courts
that keeps us free.
920
01:46:22,252 --> 01:46:25,047
John, glad you're here.
921
01:46:25,130 --> 01:46:27,716
- Mr. Forsyth.
- The President...
922
01:46:27,799 --> 01:46:30,761
Mr. President? Senator Calhoun is here.
923
01:46:30,844 --> 01:46:32,637
John!
924
01:46:33,430 --> 01:46:36,433
I was afraid you weren't
going to be able to join us.
925
01:46:36,516 --> 01:46:38,477
You may put that fear to rest,
Mr. President.
926
01:46:38,560 --> 01:46:40,395
Thank you. Please.
927
01:46:40,479 --> 01:46:43,815
I'd like you to meet Señor Calderon,
ambassador from Spain.
928
01:46:49,488 --> 01:46:51,031
I thought you said he wasn't coming.
929
01:46:51,114 --> 01:46:53,033
He said he wasn't.
930
01:46:53,992 --> 01:46:56,828
You see, Señor Calderon,
931
01:46:56,912 --> 01:47:00,749
there's a growing number of people
in this part of the country
932
01:47:00,832 --> 01:47:03,960
that regard us in the South
933
01:47:04,044 --> 01:47:07,714
as not only geographically
beneath them.
934
01:47:09,341 --> 01:47:10,759
They ignore the fact
935
01:47:10,842 --> 01:47:15,222
that slavery is so interwoven
into the fabric of this society,
936
01:47:15,305 --> 01:47:19,726
that to destroy it would be
to destroy us as a people.
937
01:47:21,186 --> 01:47:24,523
It's immoral. That's all they know.
938
01:47:25,148 --> 01:47:27,859
Therefore, so are we.
939
01:47:28,860 --> 01:47:31,988
Immoral and inferior.
940
01:47:34,407 --> 01:47:37,577
We are inferior in one area.
941
01:47:38,245 --> 01:47:42,124
We're not as proficient in the art of gain.
942
01:47:42,207 --> 01:47:46,169
We're not as wealthy
as our northern neighbors.
943
01:47:46,253 --> 01:47:49,381
We're still struggling.
944
01:47:49,464 --> 01:47:52,175
Take away our life's blood now...
945
01:47:54,553 --> 01:47:58,974
Well, we all know what happens then,
946
01:47:59,057 --> 01:48:01,059
North and South.
947
01:48:02,644 --> 01:48:06,690
They become the masters,
and we the slaves.
948
01:48:08,191 --> 01:48:11,069
But not without a fight.
949
01:48:14,406 --> 01:48:16,992
Senator Calhoun is being modest.
950
01:48:17,075 --> 01:48:20,954
He's not inferior in another area.
The art of exaggeration.
951
01:48:25,584 --> 01:48:29,171
Ask yourself, Señor Calderon,
952
01:48:29,254 --> 01:48:34,217
what court wants to be responsible for
the spark that ignites the firestorm?
953
01:48:35,594 --> 01:48:39,931
What President wants to be in office
954
01:48:40,015 --> 01:48:42,684
when it comes crashing
down around him?
955
01:48:45,270 --> 01:48:48,064
Certainly no court before this one.
956
01:48:49,941 --> 01:48:53,111
Certainly no President before this one.
957
01:48:55,238 --> 01:48:56,448
So,
958
01:48:57,032 --> 01:48:59,784
judge us not too harshly, sir,
959
01:49:00,952 --> 01:49:04,873
and bid Her Majesty like,
960
01:49:04,956 --> 01:49:09,711
because the real determination our
courts and our President must make
961
01:49:09,794 --> 01:49:13,215
is not whether
this ragtag group of Africans
962
01:49:13,298 --> 01:49:16,134
raised swords against their enemy,
963
01:49:16,218 --> 01:49:19,554
but rather, must we?
964
01:49:47,832 --> 01:49:50,168
Come along, Mr. Joadson.
965
01:49:50,835 --> 01:49:53,171
This news...
966
01:49:53,672 --> 01:49:57,384
Well, of course, it's bad news,
but the truth is
967
01:49:57,467 --> 01:50:01,888
they may be more valuable
to our struggle in death than in life.
968
01:50:06,518 --> 01:50:09,437
Martyrdom, Mr. Joadson.
969
01:50:09,521 --> 01:50:14,317
From the dawn of Christianity, we have
seen no stronger power for change.
970
01:50:16,152 --> 01:50:17,779
Well, you know it's true.
971
01:50:20,740 --> 01:50:24,035
What is true, Mr. Tappan,
972
01:50:24,119 --> 01:50:28,039
and believe me when I tell you
I've seen this,
973
01:50:28,123 --> 01:50:30,667
is that there are some men
whose hatred of slavery
974
01:50:30,750 --> 01:50:34,587
is stronger than anything
975
01:50:34,671 --> 01:50:37,299
except for the slave himself.
976
01:50:40,385 --> 01:50:44,597
If you wish to inspire such hatred
in a man, Mr. Joadson,
977
01:50:44,681 --> 01:50:47,892
speak to him in that fashion
and it may come true.
978
01:51:19,299 --> 01:51:24,346
Our President, our big, big man,
979
01:51:24,429 --> 01:51:27,015
has appealed the decision
to our Supreme Court.
980
01:51:33,855 --> 01:51:35,815
What does that mean?
981
01:51:38,902 --> 01:51:41,696
We have to try the case again.
982
01:51:49,037 --> 01:51:51,748
Now, I know it's hard
to understand, Cinque.
983
01:51:51,831 --> 01:51:53,625
I don't understand, for that matter.
984
01:51:57,170 --> 01:51:58,421
You said there would be a judgment,
985
01:51:58,505 --> 01:52:00,507
and if we won the judgment
we would go free!
986
01:52:00,590 --> 01:52:03,968
No, no. What I said is that
we won it at the state level.
987
01:52:04,052 --> 01:52:06,596
- No, no, no.
- That's what you said!
988
01:52:06,679 --> 01:52:10,683
What I said, that if we won it
at the state level, we then go on.
989
01:52:11,601 --> 01:52:13,019
That's what you said!
990
01:52:13,228 --> 01:52:16,564
- That's what you said.
- All right, yeah. Yes, I said it!
991
01:52:16,648 --> 01:52:20,777
I said it, but I shouldn't have.
What I should've said...
992
01:52:21,778 --> 01:52:23,446
- I can't translate that.
- You can't translate what?
993
01:52:23,530 --> 01:52:24,989
I can't translate "should."
994
01:52:25,073 --> 01:52:26,616
You saying
there's no word in Mende for "should"?
995
01:52:26,699 --> 01:52:29,494
No. Either you do something,
or you don't do it.
996
01:52:29,577 --> 01:52:32,580
What I meant to say...
What I meant to say?
997
01:52:32,664 --> 01:52:35,166
Not in the way you mean it.
998
01:52:38,878 --> 01:52:40,046
Try and understand me.
999
01:52:40,130 --> 01:52:43,258
"Meant" is the same as "should."
You're misunderstanding the language.
1000
01:52:43,341 --> 01:52:45,260
Cinque, Cinque. Cinque!
1001
01:52:45,343 --> 01:52:48,096
Listen to me. Listen to me.
Understand what I'm saying.
1002
01:52:48,179 --> 01:52:51,933
What I said to you
before the judgment...
1003
01:52:52,183 --> 01:52:55,937
What I said to you before the judgment
is almost how it works here.
1004
01:52:56,020 --> 01:52:58,064
Almost.
1005
01:53:01,609 --> 01:53:03,069
Almost.
1006
01:53:03,194 --> 01:53:05,280
Yes, Cinque. But not always.
1007
01:53:07,949 --> 01:53:11,161
Yes. And that's what's happened.
1008
01:53:21,880 --> 01:53:24,549
What kind of place is this?
1009
01:53:29,679 --> 01:53:33,600
Where you almost mean what you say?
Where laws almost work?
1010
01:53:33,725 --> 01:53:37,353
How can you live like that?
1011
01:54:50,468 --> 01:54:53,721
"To His Excellency,
John Quincy Adams,
1012
01:54:53,805 --> 01:54:57,642
"Massachusetts member,
House of Representatives.
1013
01:54:57,767 --> 01:55:00,228
"I have understood from Mr. Joadson
1014
01:55:00,311 --> 01:55:04,524
"that you are acquainted with
the plight of the Amistad Africans.
1015
01:55:04,649 --> 01:55:07,819
"If that is true, then you
are aware that we have been,
1016
01:55:07,902 --> 01:55:11,239
"at every step, successful in
our presentation of their case.
1017
01:55:11,322 --> 01:55:12,782
"Yet despite this,
1018
01:55:12,865 --> 01:55:16,369
"and despite the unlikelihood
of President Van Buren's re-election,
1019
01:55:16,452 --> 01:55:19,581
"he has appealed our most recent
favorable decision
1020
01:55:19,664 --> 01:55:21,749
"to the highest court in the land.
1021
01:55:22,584 --> 01:55:25,003
"As I'm sure you are well aware,
1022
01:55:25,086 --> 01:55:27,255
"seven of nine of these
Supreme Court justices
1023
01:55:27,338 --> 01:55:30,341
"are themselves Southern slave owners.
1024
01:55:38,558 --> 01:55:41,603
"Sir, we need you.
1025
01:55:41,686 --> 01:55:45,607
"If ever there was a time for a man
to cast aside his daily trappings
1026
01:55:45,690 --> 01:55:48,776
"and array himself for battle,
that time has come."
1027
01:55:48,860 --> 01:55:51,362
Thank you.
1028
01:55:51,654 --> 01:55:55,533
"Cicero once said, appealing to
Claudius in defense of the Republic,
1029
01:55:55,617 --> 01:55:57,452
"that the whole result of this entire war
1030
01:55:57,535 --> 01:56:00,913
"depends on the life of one
most brave and excellent man.
1031
01:56:00,997 --> 01:56:05,293
"In our time, in this instance,
I believe it depends on two.
1032
01:56:05,376 --> 01:56:09,130
"A courageous man, at present in irons
in New Haven, named Cinque,
1033
01:56:09,213 --> 01:56:10,757
"and you, sir.
1034
01:56:18,556 --> 01:56:21,017
"Sincerely, Roger S. Baldwin,
attorney-at-law."
1035
01:56:31,694 --> 01:56:34,614
Mr. Tippings, excuse me
a moment, please.
1036
01:56:41,913 --> 01:56:44,415
- Any word from Mr. Adams?
- What did Cinque say?
1037
01:56:45,333 --> 01:56:47,794
He won't talk to you.
1038
01:56:47,877 --> 01:56:50,254
He won't talk to me?
1039
01:56:50,338 --> 01:56:51,547
No.
1040
01:56:56,302 --> 01:56:58,221
How's your English coming?
1041
01:56:58,304 --> 01:57:00,765
No better than my Mende, I suppose.
1042
01:57:02,308 --> 01:57:04,394
You know, Cinque,
I realize this isn't something
1043
01:57:04,477 --> 01:57:06,688
you necessarily want to think about,
1044
01:57:06,771 --> 01:57:10,733
but has it occurred to you
that I'm all you've got?
1045
01:57:11,609 --> 01:57:13,027
Because as it happens,
1046
01:57:13,111 --> 01:57:16,197
since my practice has completely
deteriorated in the past months,
1047
01:57:16,280 --> 01:57:18,324
you're all I've got.
1048
01:57:28,126 --> 01:57:30,795
See, this is me. You see?
1049
01:57:31,462 --> 01:57:33,297
You see? You see how this works?
1050
01:57:33,673 --> 01:57:39,220
And this here, Cinque, is for me.
1051
01:57:41,639 --> 01:57:42,807
More death threats.
1052
01:57:43,891 --> 01:57:47,311
Some of them signed.
By my own clients, no less.
1053
01:57:48,229 --> 01:57:51,023
I should say former clients, shouldn't I?
1054
01:57:57,488 --> 01:58:01,993
There is one more consequence
to having no clientele to speak of.
1055
01:58:04,746 --> 01:58:06,080
I am now free
1056
01:58:06,456 --> 01:58:10,835
to sit here as long as it takes
for you to acknowledge me.
1057
01:58:10,918 --> 01:58:14,839
Yes, you understood that word,
didn't you? "Free."
1058
01:58:16,257 --> 01:58:18,176
All right.
1059
01:58:22,013 --> 01:58:24,265
Then we'll just sit.
1060
01:58:27,310 --> 01:58:29,020
Caesar.
1061
01:58:31,564 --> 01:58:34,692
Cicero's appeal was to Julius Caesar,
not Claudius.
1062
01:58:34,776 --> 01:58:38,029
Claudius would not be born
for another hundred years.
1063
01:58:38,112 --> 01:58:40,740
You were right, there was one of them.
1064
01:58:42,074 --> 01:58:43,451
Is that him?
1065
01:58:43,534 --> 01:58:45,036
Yes, Mr. President.
1066
01:58:46,579 --> 01:58:48,206
Please unlock this door.
1067
01:58:48,289 --> 01:58:51,125
Adams has flirted with
the abolitionists for 15 years,
1068
01:58:51,209 --> 01:58:52,919
but has yet to take one
home from the dance.
1069
01:58:53,002 --> 01:58:54,962
How old is he anyway?
1070
01:58:55,046 --> 01:58:58,132
Old enough to know he's too old
to take anyone home from the dance.
1071
01:58:58,216 --> 01:59:00,718
I hear he sleeps through three-quarters
of the sessions on the Hill.
1072
01:59:00,802 --> 01:59:03,971
Let's see. President, slumbering
congressman from Massachusetts,
1073
01:59:04,055 --> 01:59:08,226
jail-house lawyer, one waits
with great anticipation for what's next.
1074
01:59:08,976 --> 01:59:11,604
- Well, what must that be like?
- What?
1075
01:59:11,687 --> 01:59:15,066
Knowing all your life,
whatever your accomplishments,
1076
01:59:15,149 --> 01:59:17,985
you'll only be remembered
as the son of a great father.
1077
01:59:18,069 --> 01:59:20,488
The only thing John Quincy Adams
will be remembered for
1078
01:59:20,571 --> 01:59:22,031
is his middle name.
1079
01:59:25,243 --> 01:59:29,288
I wonder, is there anything
as pathetic as an ex-President?
1080
01:59:35,628 --> 01:59:38,172
I was talking about John...
1081
02:00:06,576 --> 02:00:09,036
- Sir.
- Yes?
1082
02:00:09,120 --> 02:00:12,957
Cinque has asked me to ask you
1083
02:00:13,040 --> 02:00:16,210
whether you have thought about
the question of jurisdiction.
1084
02:00:16,294 --> 02:00:17,420
What?
1085
02:00:17,503 --> 02:00:21,966
That since they took over the ship
far out to sea,
1086
02:00:23,050 --> 02:00:26,262
and since neither Spain
nor America owns the sea,
1087
02:00:26,345 --> 02:00:28,973
how is it that the treaty applies?
1088
02:00:31,350 --> 02:00:34,979
Tell him the treaty recognizes
no jurisdictional limitations.
1089
02:00:37,023 --> 02:00:40,151
- Well?
- He will ask me why.
1090
02:00:40,276 --> 02:00:43,029
Because I said so.
1091
02:00:55,166 --> 02:00:57,084
Excuse me, sir.
1092
02:00:57,168 --> 02:00:58,753
Yes?
1093
02:00:58,836 --> 02:01:01,047
Cinque would like to know
1094
02:01:01,130 --> 02:01:04,342
that if he is the legal property
of Ruiz and Montes,
1095
02:01:04,425 --> 02:01:08,804
then how does the treaty apply,
since it is between America and Spain?
1096
02:01:08,888 --> 02:01:11,766
Or their citizens.
1097
02:01:11,849 --> 02:01:16,646
"Or their citizens" is included
in the language, if he must know.
1098
02:01:16,729 --> 02:01:18,856
Thank you, sir.
1099
02:01:22,276 --> 02:01:24,987
It's a good point, though.
1100
02:01:32,286 --> 02:01:34,956
Does Great Britain have
any treaties with West Africa
1101
02:01:35,039 --> 02:01:37,249
which may override those
between Spain and America?
1102
02:01:37,333 --> 02:01:38,626
No.
1103
02:01:38,709 --> 02:01:40,586
Does Great Britain have
any treaties with America
1104
02:01:40,670 --> 02:01:42,546
which might override
those between Spain and...
1105
02:01:42,630 --> 02:01:44,090
No.
1106
02:01:44,173 --> 02:01:46,258
Does the American government have
any treaties with West Africa?
1107
02:01:46,342 --> 02:01:47,301
No.
1108
02:01:47,385 --> 02:01:48,970
Does Spain have
any treaties with West Africa?
1109
02:01:49,053 --> 02:01:50,304
No!
1110
02:01:50,388 --> 02:01:52,807
Does the Commonwealth of Connecticut
have any treaties with West Africa?
1111
02:01:52,890 --> 02:01:56,560
No, no, no, no! Now stop this!
1112
02:02:02,400 --> 02:02:04,860
Unshackle him.
1113
02:02:04,944 --> 02:02:07,363
I'm sorry, sir.
I'm under strict orders to ensure the...
1114
02:02:07,446 --> 02:02:09,907
Unshackle him, please.
1115
02:02:12,576 --> 02:02:15,246
Yes, Mr. President.
1116
02:02:23,337 --> 02:02:28,342
This is a Phalaenopsis, moth orchid,
I brought over from China.
1117
02:02:29,719 --> 02:02:32,847
And this is a primrose
from an English garden.
1118
02:02:34,598 --> 02:02:39,562
And this spear lily,
from the south of France.
1119
02:02:42,732 --> 02:02:45,526
This is my rose, Blush Noisette.
1120
02:02:45,609 --> 02:02:49,238
This came all the way
from Washington DC,
1121
02:02:49,321 --> 02:02:52,074
but don't tell anyone.
1122
02:03:05,379 --> 02:03:07,423
Go on, go on.
1123
02:03:22,646 --> 02:03:26,776
African violet. I can't tell you
how difficult that was to come by.
1124
02:03:40,790 --> 02:03:45,002
Now, you understand
you're going to the Supreme Court.
1125
02:03:46,629 --> 02:03:48,214
Do you know why?
1126
02:03:56,013 --> 02:03:58,182
It is the place where they finally kill us.
1127
02:03:58,724 --> 02:04:01,727
No. Well, yes, that may be true, too.
1128
02:04:03,604 --> 02:04:05,481
That's not what I meant.
1129
02:04:05,564 --> 02:04:08,734
No, there is another reason
and a more important reason.
1130
02:04:08,818 --> 02:04:13,739
Although, I'll admit that
perhaps more so to us than you.
1131
02:04:14,782 --> 02:04:17,868
All right, don't... Yeah.
1132
02:04:18,077 --> 02:04:20,079
Cinque.
1133
02:04:22,123 --> 02:04:27,044
Do you know who I am?
Has anyone told you about me?
1134
02:04:31,882 --> 02:04:33,050
Yes.
1135
02:04:33,217 --> 02:04:34,635
What have they told you?
1136
02:04:39,390 --> 02:04:40,891
That you are a chief.
1137
02:04:41,058 --> 02:04:43,060
I was a chief, yes.
1138
02:04:49,650 --> 02:04:53,237
A chief cannot become anything
less than a chief, even in death.
1139
02:04:55,197 --> 02:04:58,784
How I wish such were true here, Cinque.
1140
02:04:58,868 --> 02:05:00,953
You've no idea.
1141
02:05:02,663 --> 02:05:06,584
One tries to govern wisely,
strongly, but...
1142
02:05:06,667 --> 02:05:10,421
One tries to govern in a way that
betters the lives of one's villagers.
1143
02:05:13,090 --> 02:05:16,260
One tries to kill the lion.
1144
02:05:19,513 --> 02:05:24,435
Unfortunately, one isn't always
wise enough or strong enough.
1145
02:05:27,271 --> 02:05:29,231
Time passes
1146
02:05:30,941 --> 02:05:33,068
and the moment is gone.
1147
02:05:35,905 --> 02:05:39,575
Now, listen, Cinque. Listen.
1148
02:05:39,658 --> 02:05:44,747
We're about to bring your case
1149
02:05:44,830 --> 02:05:47,583
before the highest court in our land.
1150
02:05:47,666 --> 02:05:50,544
We're about to do battle with a lion
1151
02:05:50,628 --> 02:05:54,131
that is threatening
to rip our country in two.
1152
02:05:56,091 --> 02:06:00,679
And all we have on our side is a rock.
1153
02:06:03,724 --> 02:06:07,102
Of course, you didn't ask
to be at the center
1154
02:06:07,645 --> 02:06:09,605
of this historic conflagration
any more than I did,
1155
02:06:09,688 --> 02:06:11,941
but we find ourselves here nonetheless
1156
02:06:12,024 --> 02:06:15,819
by some mysterious mix
of circumstances
1157
02:06:15,903 --> 02:06:18,822
and all the world watching.
1158
02:06:18,906 --> 02:06:22,076
So, what are we to do?
1159
02:06:26,497 --> 02:06:32,503
Is he going to help? He has far
many more questions than answers.
1160
02:06:33,087 --> 02:06:36,715
- What'd he just say?
- Sorry. I didn't catch it.
1161
02:06:36,799 --> 02:06:41,303
Cinque, look. I'm being honest with you.
1162
02:06:41,387 --> 02:06:44,181
Anything less would be disrespectful.
1163
02:06:46,141 --> 02:06:49,770
I'm telling you, I'm preparing you,
1164
02:06:49,853 --> 02:06:53,649
I suppose I'm explaining to you
1165
02:06:53,732 --> 02:06:57,027
that the test ahead of us is
an exceptionally difficult one.
1166
02:07:03,450 --> 02:07:04,952
We won't be going in there alone.
1167
02:07:05,411 --> 02:07:07,705
Alone? Indeed not. No.
We have right at our side.
1168
02:07:07,788 --> 02:07:09,957
We have righteousness at our side.
1169
02:07:10,040 --> 02:07:12,251
We have Mr. Baldwin over there.
1170
02:07:19,717 --> 02:07:22,303
I meant my ancestors.
1171
02:07:26,724 --> 02:07:28,392
I will call into the past,
1172
02:07:30,561 --> 02:07:32,563
far back to the beginning of time,
1173
02:07:33,731 --> 02:07:36,191
and beg them to come and help me
1174
02:07:38,110 --> 02:07:39,528
at the judgment.
1175
02:07:40,946 --> 02:07:44,074
I will reach back and draw them into me.
1176
02:07:46,410 --> 02:07:48,162
And they must come,
1177
02:07:49,371 --> 02:07:53,667
for at this moment, I am the
whole reason they have existed at all.
1178
02:08:31,038 --> 02:08:32,247
Thank you.
1179
02:08:36,251 --> 02:08:38,504
Your Honors,
1180
02:08:40,631 --> 02:08:42,591
I derive much consolation
1181
02:08:42,674 --> 02:08:46,970
from the fact that my colleague,
Mr. Baldwin here,
1182
02:08:48,931 --> 02:08:51,934
has argued the case
1183
02:08:52,017 --> 02:08:55,687
in so able and so complete a manner
1184
02:08:57,940 --> 02:09:01,652
as to leave me scarcely anything to say.
1185
02:09:02,694 --> 02:09:04,738
However,
1186
02:09:06,615 --> 02:09:08,951
why are we here?
1187
02:09:10,202 --> 02:09:13,997
How is it that a simple,
plain property issue
1188
02:09:14,081 --> 02:09:17,751
should now find itself so ennobled
as to be argued before
1189
02:09:17,835 --> 02:09:20,921
the Supreme Court of
the United States of America?
1190
02:09:21,004 --> 02:09:23,882
I mean, do we fear the lower courts,
which found for us easily,
1191
02:09:23,966 --> 02:09:25,592
somehow missed the truth? Is that it?
1192
02:09:25,676 --> 02:09:30,514
Or is it, rather, our great
and consuming fear of civil war
1193
02:09:30,597 --> 02:09:32,683
that has allowed us to heap symbolism
1194
02:09:32,766 --> 02:09:35,436
upon a simple case
that never asked for it?
1195
02:09:35,519 --> 02:09:38,480
And now would have us disregard truth
1196
02:09:38,564 --> 02:09:42,192
even as it stands before us,
tall and proud as a mountain.
1197
02:09:43,610 --> 02:09:45,863
The truth,
1198
02:09:45,946 --> 02:09:51,368
in truth, has been driven
from this case like a slave,
1199
02:09:51,910 --> 02:09:55,789
flogged from court to court,
wretched and destitute.
1200
02:09:56,999 --> 02:10:01,211
And not by any great legal acumen
1201
02:10:01,295 --> 02:10:04,131
on the part of the opposition,
I might add.
1202
02:10:05,716 --> 02:10:09,970
But through the long,
powerful arm of the executive office.
1203
02:10:11,221 --> 02:10:13,891
Yea, this is no mere property case.
Gentlemen, I put it to you thus.
1204
02:10:13,974 --> 02:10:17,478
This is the most important case
ever to come before this court.
1205
02:10:17,561 --> 02:10:21,565
Because what it in fact concerns
1206
02:10:23,066 --> 02:10:25,569
is the very nature of man.
1207
02:10:29,281 --> 02:10:31,074
These are...
1208
02:10:35,787 --> 02:10:37,581
These are transcriptions of letters
1209
02:10:37,664 --> 02:10:43,003
written between our
Secretary of State, John Forsyth,
1210
02:10:43,086 --> 02:10:45,923
and the Queen of Spain, Isabella II.
1211
02:10:47,591 --> 02:10:50,511
Now, I ask that you
1212
02:10:50,594 --> 02:10:53,931
accept their perusal
as part of your deliberations.
1213
02:10:54,431 --> 02:10:55,724
Thank you, sir.
1214
02:10:57,893 --> 02:11:00,479
I would not touch on them now
except to notice
1215
02:11:00,562 --> 02:11:03,815
a curious phrase
which is much repeated.
1216
02:11:05,275 --> 02:11:09,780
The Queen again and again
refers to our "incompetent courts."
1217
02:11:11,156 --> 02:11:15,118
Now what, I wonder,
would be more to her liking?
1218
02:11:16,453 --> 02:11:19,665
A court that finds against the Africans?
1219
02:11:20,290 --> 02:11:22,251
Well, I think not.
1220
02:11:23,794 --> 02:11:27,130
And here is the fine point of it.
1221
02:11:27,214 --> 02:11:31,718
What Her Majesty wants is a court
that behaves just like her courts,
1222
02:11:31,802 --> 02:11:35,556
the courts
this 11-year-old child plays with
1223
02:11:35,639 --> 02:11:38,725
in her magical kingdom called Spain.
1224
02:11:38,809 --> 02:11:40,811
A court that will do what it is told.
1225
02:11:40,894 --> 02:11:44,565
A court that can be toyed with
like a doll.
1226
02:11:45,649 --> 02:11:50,362
A court, as it happens,
of which our own President,
1227
02:11:51,989 --> 02:11:54,408
Martin Van Buren, would be most proud.
1228
02:11:54,491 --> 02:11:55,784
Thank you.
1229
02:11:56,785 --> 02:12:00,330
This is a publication
of the office of the President.
1230
02:12:00,414 --> 02:12:05,335
It's called The Executive Review,
and I'm sure you all read it.
1231
02:12:06,253 --> 02:12:09,881
At least I'm sure
the President hopes you all read it.
1232
02:12:10,007 --> 02:12:14,886
This is a recent issue,
and there's an article in here
1233
02:12:14,970 --> 02:12:19,391
written by
"a keen mind of the South," who...
1234
02:12:20,267 --> 02:12:23,812
My former Vice President,
John Calhoun, perhaps.
1235
02:12:23,895 --> 02:12:25,397
Could it be?
1236
02:12:26,064 --> 02:12:28,984
Who asserts that "there has never
existed a civilized society
1237
02:12:29,067 --> 02:12:34,156
"in which one segment did not
thrive upon the labor of another.
1238
02:12:34,990 --> 02:12:37,159
"As far back as one chooses to look,
1239
02:12:37,242 --> 02:12:40,162
"to ancient times, to biblical times,
1240
02:12:40,245 --> 02:12:42,706
"history bears this out.
1241
02:12:43,290 --> 02:12:47,044
"In Eden, where only two were created,
1242
02:12:47,127 --> 02:12:51,465
"even there, one was pronounced
subordinate to the other.
1243
02:12:52,633 --> 02:12:57,721
"Slavery has always been with us
and is neither sinful nor immoral.
1244
02:13:00,307 --> 02:13:05,437
"Rather, as war and antagonism
are the natural states of man,
1245
02:13:05,562 --> 02:13:10,233
"so, too, slavery,
as natural as it is inevitable."
1246
02:13:12,986 --> 02:13:17,032
Well, gentlemen, I must say I differ
with the keen minds of the South
1247
02:13:17,115 --> 02:13:19,826
and with our President,
who apparently shares their views,
1248
02:13:19,910 --> 02:13:22,829
offering that the natural state
of mankind is instead,
1249
02:13:22,913 --> 02:13:26,541
and I know this is a controversial idea,
1250
02:13:26,625 --> 02:13:28,794
is freedom.
1251
02:13:31,421 --> 02:13:33,382
Is freedom.
1252
02:13:35,133 --> 02:13:37,386
And the proof is the length
to which a man,
1253
02:13:37,469 --> 02:13:39,971
woman or child will go
to regain it, once taken.
1254
02:13:40,764 --> 02:13:43,517
He will break loose his chains.
1255
02:13:43,600 --> 02:13:46,478
He will decimate his enemies.
1256
02:13:46,561 --> 02:13:49,856
He will try and try and try,
1257
02:13:49,940 --> 02:13:54,528
against all odds, against all prejudices,
1258
02:13:54,611 --> 02:13:56,530
to get home.
1259
02:14:00,075 --> 02:14:03,954
Cinque, would you stand up,
if you would,
1260
02:14:05,163 --> 02:14:07,624
so everyone can see you.
1261
02:14:10,585 --> 02:14:14,297
This man is black. We can all see that.
1262
02:14:15,507 --> 02:14:19,886
But can we also see as easily
that which is equally true?
1263
02:14:20,387 --> 02:14:24,224
That he is the only
true hero in this room.
1264
02:14:25,142 --> 02:14:28,186
Now, if he were white, he wouldn't be
standing before this court,
1265
02:14:28,270 --> 02:14:29,855
fighting for his life.
1266
02:14:29,938 --> 02:14:32,065
If he were white
and his enslavers were British,
1267
02:14:32,149 --> 02:14:34,067
he wouldn't be able to stand,
1268
02:14:34,151 --> 02:14:35,986
so heavy the weight of
the medals and honors
1269
02:14:36,069 --> 02:14:38,280
we would bestow upon him.
1270
02:14:38,989 --> 02:14:42,242
Songs would be written about him.
1271
02:14:42,325 --> 02:14:45,620
The great authors of our times
would fill books about him.
1272
02:14:45,912 --> 02:14:47,998
His story would be told
1273
02:14:48,081 --> 02:14:51,668
and retold in our classrooms.
1274
02:14:53,587 --> 02:14:57,966
Our children,
because we would make sure of it,
1275
02:14:58,049 --> 02:15:01,720
would know his name
as well as they know Patrick Henry's.
1276
02:15:03,430 --> 02:15:05,807
Yet, if the South is right,
1277
02:15:05,891 --> 02:15:10,145
what are we to do with that
embarrassing, annoying document,
1278
02:15:10,771 --> 02:15:13,690
the Declaration of Independence?
1279
02:15:13,774 --> 02:15:16,610
What of its conceits?
1280
02:15:17,861 --> 02:15:20,280
"All men created equal,"
"inalienable rights,"
1281
02:15:20,363 --> 02:15:23,366
"life, liberty," and so on and so forth?
1282
02:15:25,452 --> 02:15:28,121
What on Earth are we to do with this?
1283
02:15:28,205 --> 02:15:30,791
I have a modest suggestion.
1284
02:15:50,811 --> 02:15:55,190
The other night I was talking
with my friend Cinque.
1285
02:15:55,273 --> 02:15:59,236
He was over at my place, and we were
out in the greenhouse together.
1286
02:15:59,820 --> 02:16:04,366
And he was explaining to me
how when a member of the Mende,
1287
02:16:04,449 --> 02:16:07,035
that's his people...
1288
02:16:07,118 --> 02:16:09,746
How when a member of the Mende
encounters a situation
1289
02:16:09,830 --> 02:16:13,375
where there appears no hope at all,
1290
02:16:13,458 --> 02:16:16,419
he invokes his ancestors.
1291
02:16:17,128 --> 02:16:19,256
Tradition.
1292
02:16:22,926 --> 02:16:26,888
See, the Mende believe that if one can
summon the spirit of one's ancestors,
1293
02:16:26,972 --> 02:16:30,433
then they have never left,
1294
02:16:30,517 --> 02:16:34,938
and the wisdom and strength
they fathered and inspired
1295
02:16:35,021 --> 02:16:37,440
will come to his aid.
1296
02:16:45,240 --> 02:16:49,119
James Madison, Alexander Hamilton,
1297
02:16:49,202 --> 02:16:51,872
Benjamin Franklin,
1298
02:16:51,955 --> 02:16:53,957
Thomas Jefferson,
1299
02:16:55,959 --> 02:16:57,919
George Washington,
1300
02:17:01,298 --> 02:17:03,216
John Adams.
1301
02:17:11,558 --> 02:17:15,145
We have long resisted
asking you for guidance.
1302
02:17:15,228 --> 02:17:18,064
Perhaps we have feared in doing so,
1303
02:17:18,148 --> 02:17:20,650
we might acknowledge
that our individuality,
1304
02:17:20,734 --> 02:17:25,155
which we so, so revere,
is not entirely our own.
1305
02:17:26,990 --> 02:17:29,284
Perhaps we've feared
1306
02:17:29,367 --> 02:17:32,329
an appeal to you
might be taken for weakness.
1307
02:17:33,997 --> 02:17:39,336
But we've come to understand, finally,
that this is not so.
1308
02:17:41,171 --> 02:17:44,382
We understand now,
1309
02:17:44,466 --> 02:17:48,011
we've been made to understand
1310
02:17:48,094 --> 02:17:51,348
and to embrace the understanding
1311
02:17:54,017 --> 02:17:59,940
that who we are is who we were.
1312
02:18:09,115 --> 02:18:11,910
We desperately need
your strength and wisdom
1313
02:18:11,993 --> 02:18:17,082
to triumph over our fears,
our prejudices, ourselves.
1314
02:18:18,041 --> 02:18:21,419
Give us the courage to do what is right.
1315
02:18:21,503 --> 02:18:25,423
And if it means civil war,
then let it come.
1316
02:18:27,133 --> 02:18:29,344
And when it does,
1317
02:18:29,427 --> 02:18:31,846
may it be, finally,
1318
02:18:31,930 --> 02:18:35,058
the last battle
of the American Revolution.
1319
02:18:43,900 --> 02:18:46,236
That's all I have to say.
1320
02:19:31,823 --> 02:19:37,746
In the case of The United States
of America v. The Amistad Africans,
1321
02:19:37,829 --> 02:19:40,707
it is the opinion of this court
1322
02:19:40,790 --> 02:19:45,336
that our treaty of 1795 with Spain,
1323
02:19:45,420 --> 02:19:50,008
on which the prosecution has
primarily based its arguments,
1324
02:19:50,133 --> 02:19:52,802
is inapplicable.
1325
02:19:52,886 --> 02:19:56,222
While it is clearly stipulated in Article 9
1326
02:19:56,306 --> 02:20:00,894
that, and I quote,
seized ships and cargo
1327
02:20:00,977 --> 02:20:04,647
are to be returned entirely
to their proprietary,
1328
02:20:05,315 --> 02:20:06,691
the end of quote,
1329
02:20:06,775 --> 02:20:09,694
it has not been shown
to the court's satisfaction
1330
02:20:10,403 --> 02:20:14,199
that these particular Africans
fit that description.
1331
02:20:15,450 --> 02:20:18,203
We are then left with the alternative,
1332
02:20:18,286 --> 02:20:21,081
that they are not slaves
1333
02:20:21,164 --> 02:20:24,501
and therefore cannot
be considered merchandise
1334
02:20:25,710 --> 02:20:29,547
but are, rather, free individuals
1335
02:20:29,631 --> 02:20:33,093
with certain legal and moral rights,
1336
02:20:33,176 --> 02:20:36,888
including the right
to engage in insurrection
1337
02:20:36,971 --> 02:20:41,434
against those who would
deny them their freedom.
1338
02:20:41,518 --> 02:20:45,105
And therefore, over one dissent,
1339
02:20:45,188 --> 02:20:46,773
it is the court's judgment
1340
02:20:47,190 --> 02:20:51,319
that the defendants are to be
released from custody at once
1341
02:20:52,403 --> 02:20:54,823
and, if they so choose,
1342
02:20:54,906 --> 02:20:58,701
to be returned to their homes in Africa.
1343
02:21:16,136 --> 02:21:18,054
Good job.
1344
02:21:18,138 --> 02:21:19,931
Thank you.
1345
02:21:26,563 --> 02:21:27,730
Well...
1346
02:21:33,319 --> 02:21:35,905
What did you say to them?
1347
02:21:39,367 --> 02:21:42,704
What words did you use
to persuade them?
1348
02:21:44,747 --> 02:21:46,082
Yours.
1349
02:22:29,125 --> 02:22:31,544
To keep you safe.
1350
02:23:07,163 --> 02:23:12,710
Thank you, Baldwin.
1351
02:23:57,714 --> 02:24:02,468
The Liberation of Lomboko Slave Fortress
1352
02:24:06,389 --> 02:24:07,890
Fire!
1353
02:24:09,350 --> 02:24:12,562
Let's get a move on! Lively now!
1354
02:24:42,258 --> 02:24:44,427
All clear, sir.
1355
02:24:44,510 --> 02:24:46,262
- Fire.
- Fire!
1356
02:24:50,933 --> 02:24:52,560
- Fire.
- Fire!
1357
02:24:57,523 --> 02:24:58,983
Fire.
1358
02:25:02,236 --> 02:25:03,237
Fire.
1359
02:25:04,697 --> 02:25:05,782
Fire.
1360
02:25:12,622 --> 02:25:18,920
William Henry Harrison defeated Martin Van Buren
to become the ninth President of the United States.
1361
02:25:24,008 --> 02:25:25,635
Take a letter, Ensign.
1362
02:25:26,677 --> 02:25:31,349
To His Honor, the United States
Secretary of State, Mr. John Forsyth.
1363
02:25:31,432 --> 02:25:33,226
"My dear Mr. Forsyth,
1364
02:25:33,309 --> 02:25:37,772
"it is my great pleasure to inform you
that you are, in fact, correct.
1365
02:25:38,314 --> 02:25:42,777
"The slave fortress in Sierra Leone
does not exist."
1366
02:26:45,798 --> 02:26:52,054
Queen Isabella of Spain continued to argue the
Amistad matter with seven more American Presidents.
1367
02:27:00,104 --> 02:27:06,527
In 1864, her hopes of "compensation" finally collapsed
with the Confederate Army's defeat at Atlanta.
1368
02:27:10,406 --> 02:27:16,579
Cinque returned to Sierra Leone
to find his own people engaged in civil war.
1369
02:27:17,330 --> 02:27:21,417
His village was destroyed and his family gone.
1370
02:27:22,293 --> 02:27:26,464
It is believed they were sold into slavery.