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When Lt. Thomas Gedney discovered La Amistad on the shore of Long Island, he was commander of the navy brig U.S. Washington. At the time, the law allowed naval officers such as Gedney to claim salvage rights when they found vessels such as Amistad. Gedney and his fellow officers did file a salvage claim on August 29, 1839. Gedney gave a written statement (his "libel") to the court, detailing what he found. He estimated the entire detailed salvage claim to be worth $40,000 (of which $25,000 was his claim for the "slaves"). Roger Sherman Baldwin, and others, responded to Lt. Gedney's claim as "proctor" for the Amistad captives. Here is page one of the proctor's January 7, 1940 answer to Gedney's claim. Supreme Court Justice Story wrote the opinion that gave the Amistad captives their freedom. Here is Justice Story in later years. New World Outlook - LaAmistad Links Cornell Law School - Plagiarism case regarding Spielberg's movie "All We Want is Make Us Free" - article by Howard Jones UMKC Law School - Amistad Trials (1839-1840)  | GO TO STORY INDEX | |
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