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##### DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY -- NAVAL HISTORICAL CENTER805 KIDDER BREESE SE -- WASHINGTON NAVY YARD WASHINGTON DC 20374-5060

## The U.S. Navy and the *Amistad*

On 26 August 1839, the officers of the U.S. brig 
Washington
made a shocking discovery: they found a Spanish slave schoonerlying at anchor near Montauk Point, New York, clearly in distress.The ship proved to be the Spanish schooner 
Amistad
 (meaning"friendship" in Spanish).
The ship was carrying a cargo of some fifty slaves illegallybrought from Africa to Cuba in the summer of 1839; they were enroute from Havana, Cuba to Puerto Principe, Cuba, when the blackcaptives rose and overpowered the white crew. The slaves killedthe captain and one of the crew, sparing the lives of two Spanishpassengers whom they thought could sail the vessel back to Africa.The Spaniards, however, tricked the Africans by sailing the vesselnorthward and westward by night in hopes that the 
Amistad
would be intercepted. For two months, the vessel had sailed aimlesslyuntil they ran low on food and water.
After being discovered off Long Island, the Africans werearrested and taken to New Haven, Connecticut, where they werecharged with piracy and murder. Their trial aroused great publicinterest and helped to galvanize the abolitionist movement inAmerica. Abolitionists argued that the Africans were illegallybrought to Cuba, and therefore were free men and women who wereacting in self-defense when they rose and killed the captain andcrew of the Spanish vessel. The two surviving Spanish passengershoped their vessel and the illegal cargo of slaves would be returnedto them by the court.
Eventually the case was argued before the Supreme Courtby former President John Quincy Adams. The Africans were acquittedof all charges and most decided to return to Africa as free menand women after the trial ended.
The case was a defining moment in the struggle to abolishslavery in the United States. The American Missionary Association,which raised funds for the defense and repatriation of the Africans,continued its work by educating Freedmen after the Civil War andfounding a number of black colleges, including Fisk, Hampton,Howard, and Talledega.
The Brig *Washington*
The U.S. brig 
Washington
 was one of a number ofvessels employed by the navy to survey and map the coasts andharbors of the United States for the Coast Survey. The Coast Survey(predecessor to today's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration)was part of the Treasury Department, but employed officers ofthe U.S. Navy. A number of young, scientifically- minded navalofficers were assigned to survey duty when their services werenot needed for naval operations.
The brig 
Washington
, under the command of LieutenantThomas R. Gedney, U.S.N., was employed in the summer of 1839 insurveying and sounding operations off the eastern end of LongIsland. While working between Gardiner's Island and Montauk Pointin August, the ship's crew spotted and captured a suspicious vessel,the 
Amistad
, lying at anchor off Culloden Point. LieutenantGedney took possession of the 
Amistad
, taking her firstto New London, and then turning her over to authorities in NewHaven, Connecticut, the closest port with a U.S. District Marshal.
The brig 
Washington
 was transferred to the CoastSurvey on 23 April 1840, but was called back to naval serviceduring the Mexican War. The vessel was stationed at New Orleansat the outbreak of the Civil War and was taken over by Louisianaauthorities. No more is known of her subsequent service.
The Officers
Lieutenant Thomas R. Gedney's naval career began monthsafter the Treaty of Ghent ended the War of 1812. This was a timeof slow promotion in the Navy, and it was ten years before Gedneywas promoted to the rank of lieutenant, and sixteen more untilhe reached the rank of Commander. Thomas R. Gedney was a nativeof South Carolina. His personal views on slavery are not known.He died in 1857.
Lieutenant Richard W. Meade, who led the armed party thatfirst boarded the 
Amistad
, had entered the Navy in 1826and was a junior lieutenant on the "reserved list" whenhe was assigned to survey work on the brig 
Washington
.Meade was born in Spain while his father was acting as a commercialagent for the U.S. Government. He lived there for ten years untilhe returned with his mother to their home in Pennsylvania. Hewas educated at private Catholic schools and attended St. Mary'sCollege in Baltimore before he entered naval service.
Prize Money for Capture
Under the maritime law of nations, the captors of vesselslegally seized are entitled to a percentage of the value of theship and goods. In the United States, this principal is upheldby the Constitution and enforced by the federal courts.
Lieutenant Thomas R. Gedney and the other officers andcrew members of the brig 
Washington
 filed a claim for thevalue of the captured schooner 
Amistad
. Their claim wasupheld by the Supreme Court, which granted them one-third of thevalue of the captured ship and cargo, with the other two-thirdsgoing to the government.
The 
Amistad
 was sold at auction in New London, Connecticutin September 1840. The ship and cargo sold for a total of about$6000; the 
Amistad
 by this time was in poor condition withher sails and rigging in tatters, and sold for only $245. LieutenantGedney, who as commanding officer was entitled to one-twentiethof the prize money, would receive approximately $400 for the captureof 
Amistad
 (his annual salary as a lieutenant commandinga vessel was $1800). The other officers and seamen received lessersums in proportion to their respective ranks.
For additional reading see:

Hoyt, Edwin Palmer. *The Amistad Affair*. London; New  York: Abelard-Schuman, 1970.

Jackson, Donald Dale. "Mutiny on the *Amistad*."  *Smithsonian*: 28 (December 1997), 115-124.

Jones, Howard. "All We Want is to Make Us Free."  *American History*32, no.6 (Feb. 1988): 22-28, 78.

*_____, Mutiny on the Amistad: The Saga of a Slave Revolt  and Its Impact on American Abolition, Law, and Diplomacy*.  New York: Oxford University Press, 1986.

Owens, William A. *Black Mutiny: The Revolt on the Schooner  Amistad*. Philadelphia: Pilgrims Press, 1968.

Related Web Sites

The  Amistad Case, National Archives and Records Administration

*Amistad* Research  Center, Tulane University

Exploring  *Amistad*Project

Mystic Seaport Museum

*31 March 1998*