A high-resolution version of this object is only available for registered users - register here.
High-resolution images are also available to schools and libraries via subscription to American History, 1493-1943. Check to see if your school or library already has a subscription or click here for more information.
- GLC#
- GLC05636.05-View header record
- Type
- Letters
- Date
- 4 May 1840
- Author/Creator
- Holabird, William S., 1794-1855
- Title
- to Henry D. Gilpin
- Place Written
- Winchester, Connecticut
- Pagination
- 2 p. : address ; Height: 25.3 cm, Width: 20.2 cm
- Primary time period
- National Expansion and Reform, 1815-1860
- Sub-Era
- Age of Jackson
Holabird, United States District Attorney of Connecticut, writes to Gilpin, Attorney General. Relates that the Amistad case did not spend much time at the circuit court level, because "the counsel for the negroes [interposed?] a plea in abatement of the appeal from the decree of the district court, they contended that the U. S. had no interest in the matter, & could not appeal, that by the Treaty with Spain our courts were open to the claimants of the property, or to the representatives of the Spanish Government, that they should appear in person, & not through our Govt. upon this question the judge decided that the appeal was well taken, & at the same time, (without any further hearing) he pro forma affirmed the decree of the district Court, suggesting that it would be a waste of time to go into a trial here, as the parties & especially the Spanish Govt would not be satisfied short of the decision of the highest tribunal... the case has been conducted by the course of the abolitionists from the commencement with a view to political capital, on that account I did not regret that the judge should take the course he did..."
Citation Guidelines for Online Resources
- Copyright Notice
- The copyright law of the United States (title 17, United States Code) governs the making of photocopies or other reproductions of copyrighted material. Under certain conditions specified in the law, libraries and archives are authorized to furnish a photocopy or other reproduction. One of these specific conditions is that the photocopy or reproduction is not to be “used for any purpose other than private study, scholarship, or research.” If a user makes a request for, or later uses, a photocopy or reproduction for purposes in excess of “fair use,” that user may be liable for copyright infringement. This institution reserves the right to refuse to accept a copying order if, in its judgment, fulfillment of the order would involve violation of copyright law.