Amistad Incident - JOHN QUINCY ADAMS FOR THE DEFENSE

John Quincy Adams, former U.S. President, argues on behalf of the Amistad defendants before the U.S. Supreme Court.  Illustration from Lives of the Presidents, A Graphic History of the United States by John S. C. Abbott (published in 1902).  PD

Roger Baldwin fought the Van Buren administration with a former U.S. President: John Quincy Adams, then a Congressman. At 73-years old, Adams hadn’t argued a case in thirty years. His record on anti-slavery issues was not impressive.

He was, however, a passionate believer in the Declaration of Independence (the link takes you to an original) which his father, John Adams, had signed. (This link, to the 1823 "Stone engraving," is easier to read than the highly faded original. Note John Adams’ signature in the right-hand column of the Declaration.)

Adams met most of the imprisoned Africans on November 17, 1840. His diary reflects his reaction to their plight. More importantly, Adams was touched by the January 4, 1841 letter he received from Kali, an African who had learned some English. That letter pleaded:

All we want is make us free.

Of all the dangers before me, that of losing my self possession is the most formidable - I am yet inable to prepare the outline of the argument which I must be ready to offer the second week of January. Let me not forget my duty.