Amistad Africans Win Freedom at the Supreme Court

Former President John Quincy Adams argues the Amistad Africans' case before the US Supreme Court for eight hours over two days in February–March 1841. The Court rules 7-1 that the Africans were free people illegally kidnapped, not property, and must be freed. Thirty-five survivors return to Sierra Leone in 1842. The case becomes a landmark in antislavery litigation.