the Africans on board the Amistad were free individuals. Kidnapped and transported illegally, they had never been slaves. Although Justice Story had written earlier that "it was the ultimate right of all human beings in extreme cases to resist oppression, and to apply force against ruinous injustice," the opinion in this case more narrowly asserted the Africans right to resist "unlawful" slavery. The Court ordered the immediate release of the Amistad African. Following its decision, the Supreme Court submitted its statement to the lower court where the case originated. The statement indicated that the decision of the circuit court was in part upheld and in part reversed. The part that was upheld related to the freedom of the Africans. The part that was reversed related to Judge Andrew T. Judson's application of the Congressional Act of March 3, 1819. Judson's decision authorized the President to return the Africans to Africa. Ultimately, the abolitionists arrange for their return in early 1842.The case sparked many disputes. The United States was already torn, divided in into two parts, the North and the South. The North promoted abolitionism and emancipation, while the South endorsed slavery particularly because of its agrarian economy. The South needed the labor of the slaves for production. During the American colonial period, slavery was legal and practiced in all the commercial nations of Europe. The practice of trading in and using African slaves was introduced to the United States by the colonial powers, and when the American colonies received their common law from the United Kingdom, the legality of slavery was part of that law. Trade in slaves was abolished shortly after the formation of the United States, by act of Congress. Many states took steps to abolish slavery within their borders even before the formation of the federal government, and several states even routinely emancipated slaves who came within their borders. At t...
