Episode 2 of 3
Supreme Court Ruling
- When
- March 9, 1841
- Where
- Supreme Court Building
The Supreme Court affirmed the lower court's finding that the Africans were illegally enslaved, authorizing their release but denying government-funded return to Africa.
On March 9, 1841, the Supreme Court ruled that the Africans mutinied to regain freedom after being kidnapped and sold illegally. The decision affirmed the district court's finding that the transport violated U.S. laws against international slave trade. It authorized the release of the Mende but overturned the order for their return to Africa at government expense.
Sources
- United States v. The Amistad Wikipedia, revision of 2026-08-16
- Joseph Cinqué Wikipedia, revision of 2026-08-11
Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.