Amistad Page #3

You go.

Here. This is where I'm from.

Here. This.

All of this. All of this is...

is... my home.

Here.

Cuba. Cuba's an island.

The Amistad. This is where...

where you...

where everyone... was killed.

Here. Cuba, the Amistad.

Now, Cuba... Is this your home?

I don't think so.

But... Excuse me.

Now...

Africa.

This is your home, isn't it?

This... is... your home.

Yes?

You came...

all the way...

from... here.

Secure the ballast, transport!

Put your backs into it, boys.

This is a court order granting us

permission to search this vessel.

- What did they want?

- To come aboard.

I informed them they needed to obtain

one of these... an authentic one.

Aren't you coming?

Heave-ho!

My light! Light... ?

Light the lamp, Mr. Baldwin.

I'm trying.

Mr. Joadson!

Here.

Are you all right?

Yes.

These papers - and I shall

ask you to examine them -

are portions of a ship's manifest I

retrieved from the Amistad yesterday.

At first glance, they may appear

to bolster the prosecution's case.

You see, they list cargo.

Cargo bearing the very Spanish names

Messrs Ruiz and Montes

insist represent my clients,

hand-scrawled in the margins.

But no, this is not the manifest

of the Amistad at all. Look.

This is part of the cargo manifest

of a Portuguese vessel,

the notorious transatlantic

slave ship the Tecora.

The Tecora.

I can bring you as many witnesses

as you wish, Mr. Holabird...

Tecora!

Their clients trade primarily off

the coast of West Africa.

The Ivory Coast, Sierra Leone.

I know what you're thinking.

Sierra Leone is a protectorate

of the British Crown.

Slavery is outlawed there.

Its principal port, in fact,

has been re-christened "Freetown".

How, then, can the

Portuguese Tecora...

engage in the slave trades

in these waters?

I'll tell you how. In a word...

Illegally.

Whatever these men say

clearly matters not

because this proves them liars.

My clients' journey

did not begin in Havana,

as they keep claiming more

and more emphatically.

No, my clients' journey...

began much, much further away.

I underestimated you, sir!

I really did!

- I should take that as a compliment.

- Oh, you should indeed, sir.

I can't imagine there's no not

reaching a favourable conclusion...

Hey! Hey!

A-Am I bleeding?

There's nothing there.

What did I do to deserve this?

You took the case, Mr. Baldwin.

You took the case, sir.

I should take that as a compliment.

"As you may perceive,

"I wish you to act promptly

"before this matter becomes

a weight on our two countries."

Uh, "great countries."

"Our great countries.

"After all, the business of

great countries is to do business."

Excelente, Su Alteza.

"Slavery is our pillar of

commerce in the New World.

"Without it, our goodwill

and excellent trade relations sh... "

- Uh, "should be imperilled."

- "Should be imperilled.

"Without it, we might

have been denied the glory

"of aiding you in your rebellion

against the British.

"As slave-owning nations,

we must together stand firm.

"Speak the words of humaneness

for the masses of your citizens,

"but hold tightly to the power

that protects them.

"That power, of course,

is their wealth.

"The Africans must never go free.

"With sincerest admiration,

"Isabella the Second,

Queen of all of Spain."

I am not about to bend to the will

of some pubescent queen.

Forget about them.

They're unimportant.

- Prepubescent.

- You need to concern yourself

with what this matter means here,

not an ocean away.

Someone would tell me what it means!

Leder, you yourself

said it was meaningless.

Well, not any more.

- John Calhoun paid me a visit.

- Oh, God.

To explain to me why this case

is of much greater import...

- much greater symbolism, to use his

word - to the South than the North.

If the Africans are executed,

the abolitionists will

make good use of it.

And yes, they will make

some converts.

If, on the other hand,

they are freed,

Calhoun says the Southern states

will so ally themselves against you

that you can forget

about re-election.

- Over this?

- It's worse than that.

Worse? What could be

worse than that?

Calhoun believes, and I am not sure

I can disagree with him,

that this could take us all

one long step closer to civil war.

- This?

- Yes, Mr. President.

But all is not lost.

The jury appears likely to free them,

but juries can be dismissed.

They can?

But I believe we must go further

and remove the judge.

We can do that?

He could be prevailed upon to

recuse himself for various reasons.

With that in mind,

I've taken the liberty of

exploring possible replacements.

I've found one I strongly

believe to be better.

He's young, which means he has a

career before him rather than behind,

he has yet to feel the hankering

for magnanimous last gestures

for the sake of posterity.

And he is monumentally insecure,

particularly about

his Catholic heritage.

- He's Catholic?

- His grandfather was Catholic,

which young Mr. Coglin has striven

all his days to keep quiet.

Mr. President, Judge Coglin.

Judge Coglin,

we are so pleased to meet you.

Thank you so much for coming.

I've been reading in the papers

the continuing saga

of the, uh, Amistad.

Real papers.

Real papers. Yes, sir.

Yes. Bad luck,

this last unfolding chapter.

What to do now, eh?

Which is why I came here

and imposed on you, sir.

No imposition... really.

Yeah.

How did that, uh...

How did that young lawyer

take the news?

Oh, in stride, sir. In stride.

The thing is, sir,

he did everything right.

- He proved the case.

- Did he?

Oh, yes, sir. Surprisingly, he did.

Hmm. Good.

Well, he'll just have

to do it again, then.

But like most things, it should

be easier second time around.

Well, I'm afraid it doesn't matter

what he does now, sir.

Rumour has it our next judge

was hand-picked by Van Buren himself.

No!

I'm embarrassed to admit that

I was under the misconception

that our executive

and judicial branches were separate.

No more so than these, Mr. Joadson.

No more so than these.

- So now you know.

- Yes.

- Sir?

- Yeah?

Mr. President, if it was you

handling the case...

Well, it isn't me.

And thank God for that.

- But if it was, sir,

- Huh?

What would you do?

Well, when I was an attorney,

a long time ago, young man,

I, er, I realised

after much trial and error,

that in a courtroom,

whoever tells

the best story wins.

In unlawyer-like fashion, I give you

that scrap of wisdom free of charge.

I'm much obliged

for your time, sir.

What is their story,

by the way?

- Sir?

- What is their story?

Why, they're, um,...

from West Africa.

No. What is their story?

Mr. Joadson, you're

from where originally?

Why, Georgia, sir.

- Georgia.

- Yes, sir.

Does that sum up what you are?

A Georgian? Is that your story?

No. You're an ex-slave,

who's devoted his life

to the abolition of slavery,

and overcoming great hardships

along the way, I should imagine.

That's your story, isn't it?

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