Our Collection

At the Institute’s core is the Gilder Lehrman Collection, one of the great archives in American history. More than 85,000 items cover five hundred years of American history, from Columbus’s 1493 letter describing the New World through the end of the twentieth century.

Holabird, William S., 1794-1855 [Brief from the Circuit Court regarding the Amistad case]

Order a pdf of this item here.

Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC05636.02 Author/Creator: Holabird, William S., 1794-1855 Place Written: s.l. Type: Autograph document Date: April-June 1840 Pagination: 17 p. : Height: 33.5 cm, Width: 20 cm Order a Copy

Referring to Lieutenant Thomas R. Gedney, includes information pertaining to the Amistad case: "Gidney & others v. The Amistad Negroes. Circuit court U.S." Considers four principle points: "shall the vessel, & the blacks, be restored to the Spanish Government from whence they came;" "whether these negroes shall be restored to the Spanish Govt or be sit at liberty here;" "The Spanish Govt claim that the Amistad being a Sp vessel, and not having violated the laws of nations, on the municipal laws of this country... that the Courts of no other nation can hold jurisdiction of them;" and "whether it is the duty of our Govt under the treaty with Spain to surrender this vessel & these people to that Govt." This brief has sustained severe damage from water, mold and insects and has a consequent loss of text at the outer margins. Extremely fragile.

Holabird, William S., 1794-1855
Gedney, Thomas R., ?-1857

Citation Guidelines for Online Resources