Introduction to Law Martha Rose C.

Serrano Block GO1- COL Human Miseries: The Amistad "All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in the universal Declaration of Human Rights, without distinction of any kind, such as race, creed, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status. Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person."1 Principle 1, ICPD Programme of Action For sometime now, we have been complacent about humanitarian issues, which we ourselves find abusive and unjust. We continuously become restrained and discreet about the voluminous injustices we find in our everyday encounter with the people around us. This made me think whether or not the stated principle is true up tp this time. We have discussed in class the history unveiling the existence of Human Rights in our society today but then, we continue to question why inequality still exists. In a business perspective, equality has been defined as the situation in an economy in which the apportionment of resources or goods among the people is considered fair.2 However, in a social perspective we define equality as the state of being equal, especially in status, rights, or opportunities.3 Given these two perspectives we come to a generic definition of equality as a condition where rights, privileges are considered humane and fair in all aspects conforming the existence of a state. These definitions guided ones interpretation and objective understanding of Human Rights being a fundamental and inherent right. History dictates different kinds of inhumane stories that shaped us as individuals enjoying the privilege of freedom being protected justly by laws. We turn our backs and recall the those times when those before us continuously struggle to be considered as human beings and not as simple goods that perish. Atty. Pura Calleja September 1, 2012

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Principle 1, ICPD Programme of Action http://www.unfpa.org/rights/quotes.htm Business Dictionary http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/economic-equity.html#ixzz24wO10gjr 3 Oxford Dictionary http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/equality!

The movie the Amistad, was a heart-rending movie that reflects the societies view of natives in classes and in a society viewed differently by the rest of the world. The feeling of rejection, fear, and being considered as a 3rd class individual was only a part of the inhumane issue. Prominent individuals in character gave justice to the roles they portrayed thus allowing us to negate issues that governs our quest to have justice in this kind of world.
Main Characters Roger Baldwin Martin Van Buren John Quincy Adams Brief Description -Persistent Lawyer in favor of freeing the African slaves - Baldwins dawning realization that the case he is defending involves human beings, not just property rights4 The American President Seor Calderon, as any true American will tell you, it's the independence of our courts that keeps us free.5 Supreme Court Lawyer in favor of Cinque This man is black. We can all see that. But, can we also see as easily, that which is equally true? That he is the only true hero in this room. Now, if he were white, he wouldn't be standing before this court fighting for his life. []The Declaration of Independence? What of its conceits? "All men created equal," "inalienable rights," "life, liberty," and so on and so forth? What on Earth are we to do with this? I have a modest suggestion.6 African representative in the courts. He was also considered the hero of the story. -Tribal Leader in Africa - The African Slaves who were maltreated and were sold as goods. They were also denied of their rights as human beings. Queen of Spain whose been fighting for her claims over the African Slaves.

Cinque The African Slaves Queen Isabella

In 1839, on a stormy night off the coast of Cuba, fifty-three Africans were held captive on the slave ship La Amistad. Led by Cinque, they break free of their shackles, arm themselves and take control of the ship reclaiming their freedom. They have one goal: to return to Africa. The Africans rely on the two surviving members of the crew to navigate them home. However, after two months the Amistad is captured off the coast of Connecticut by an American naval ship. The Africans are put on trial for the murder of the crew but the case becomes the symbol of a nation divided. The Africans are championed by abolitionists Theodore Joadson and Lewis Tappan and a young real estate attorney Roger Baldwin Seeking re- election, pro-slavery President Martin Van Buren is willing to sacrifice the Africans to appease the South as well as Queen Isabella of Spain. However, Van Burens will is challenged by former President John Quincy Adams who comes out of retirement to fight the Africans cause in the United States Supreme Court. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! "!#$%!&'()*+,!-+)%!(.!/+0*!+.,!/(1'!23!45(0!/6.%57!$**89::$()*653'+**%5);<'=;%,=:,:>":! ?!@=6*%)!A65!B+5*(.!C+.!2=5%.!7$**89::DDD;(',E;06':0$+5+0*%5:0$FFGH"IJ:K=6*%)! L!@=6*%)!A65!M6$.!@=(.03!&,+')7!$**89::DDD;(',E;06':0$+5+0*%5:0$FFGNNF":K=6*%)!

This case challenges the very foundation of a legal system. For the African captives on trial it is not a clash of politics or ideologies but a fight for the basic right of all mankind. 7 Slavery & Trade The story of the Amistad begins in the region of West Africa now occupied by the country of Sierra Leone in the heart of Mende land. Mende culture was flourishing in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries with their political and military influence expanding over an everincreasing area.8 The slave trade brought great wealth to slave traders and the plantation owners whose crops of cotton, sugar, rice and tobacco were produced by slave labor. Slave labor did not require wages. It was cheaper to import a young adult slave than to raise one born in slavery on a plantation. This required continuous fresh shipments of enslaved Africans. The slave traders made huge profits, as did the Africans who sold their fellow countrymen to the slave traders. Slaves were brought down to the coasts of Africa where European slave traders bought them from their African sellers. The Europeans who were considered as the elite befriended African rulers and powerful men and gave them gifts to entice them to sell their slaves willingly. Middle Passage The time spent by Africans in slave ships during the crossing of the Atlantic was commonly referred to as the Middle Passage. The slaves were stripped naked and shaved clean before being herded onto the ships like animals. On some ships, where the slaves were the property of many different owners, they would be branded to identify them. The captives were fed twice a day, once in the morning and once in the afternoon. Deaths occurred before, during and after the Middle !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Amistad Synopsis- http://www.filmeducation.org/pdf/film/Amistad.pdf African Civilisation- http://www.filmeducation.org/pdf/film/Amistad.pdf

Passage. Mortality during the Middle Passage was due to a number of highly infectious diseases, such as dysentery. smallpox and measles. 9 Civil Rights The battle for equality began with the Amistad Africans known as the Amistad Incident in the United States which eventually developed into the Civil Rights Movement after the Civil War was finally won with the passing of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 - over one hundred years after Cinque and his fellow captives were finally freed. Key figures in the Civil Rights Movement, which gathered momentum in the 1940s. 10 The Schindlers List provided another set of inhumane deprivation to certain rights against life, liberty and property. A strict intention to deprive a nation over their pre-existing culture, practices and beliefs has subjected the Jews to rude and prejudiced society. A continuous battle to life against the injustices of the Nazis has been their everyday cry. We may pity their weeps however; we remain outraged with all these practices. The State of War Every State of War is a legal state created and ended by official declaration regardless of actual armed hostilities and usually characterized by operation of the rules of war11. This may be equated to unforgettable afflictions, agonies, and worries that each of us would never want to experience. The dehumanizing conditions suffered by all Jews during that time may be considered as a trauma for their race. Maybe history dictated to us the afflictions theyve gone through just to make us realize that we must take the control and the responsibility of the things we think would be beneficial for our race. We must not think of a dictator or a citizen of class to rule over us and makes us their slaves. The prevalent unjust treatment among individuals against their own civil rights as citizens of a country being neglected by impartial take over of other nation has been reflected. The mere result is the impairment of the system of Government and the maltreatment of their own citizens as a subject and labeled to unfair criticisms because of their race is just an effect to this kind of situation. The inhumane practices of killing and the violence among women and children who have been !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Middle Passage- http://www.filmeducation.org/pdf/film/Amistad.pdf Civil Rights- http://www.filmeducation.org/pdf/film/Amistad.pdf 11 Miriam Dictionary- http://www.merriam-webster.com!

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grievously disturbed and forced to experience this kind of agony of force labor is basically against what we believe is in accordance with the inherent rights of human beings. We never the less had a strict norms of what we wanted to happen as one nation safeguard us over these kinds of afflictions. But, are we prepared to undergo this part of history? This has been my question every time I hear the abusive word, war. It may be considered as a punitive state of the society but the extent as to whether we can compel ourselves to deal with this kind of distraction. The predominant characters in the movie Schindlers List has opened realizations and a story of transformation of certain individuals over those who have been victims of war. A state of heroism and a symbolic factory opened to realize that certain things happen for a reason. As individuals we get to have a purpose, which is to be good, be transformed and be instruments for what is right and inherent.
Name Oskar Schindler Characteristic Saviour of approximately 1,100 Jews. His metamorphosis into a hero is slow in coming. Initially, he is indifferent to the plight of the Jews and has little concern for the moral issues at stake. However, he develops compassion for the Jews and begins to see his factory workers as humans deserving of life. His compassion ultimately compels him to save them at great personal risk. Schindlers motives are never directly stated in the film, and the real-life Schindler never offered an explanation.12 Accountant and conscience. Stern is an intelligent man who never loses his pride in the face of the violent and dehumanizing conditions the Jews face under the Nazi regime. He is able to influence the good, moral side of Schindler. Stern is the first to recognize that Schindlers factory can be a haven for Jews. His paternalistic attitude toward his fellow Jews in the ghetto leads him to take advantage of his position to save those who would otherwise be exterminated. He initially expresses contempt for the materialistic Schindler but gains respect for him as the profiteer changes. Sterns relationship with Schindler contributes greatly to Schindlers decision to save the Schindlerjuden. A Nazi soldier in charge of building of Plaszw work camp. Goeth is a cruel, sadistic man deeply entrenched in Nazi philosophy. Goeth exhibits a true hatred for the Jews, at times shooting them randomly from his balcony high above the labor camp. He and Schindler share many common traits, such as greed and callous selfcenteredness, but Goeth gives himself totally to evil and hatred. He is also deeply conflicted, torn between feelings of attraction and disgust for his Jewish maid. Goeth represents the all-consuming hatred of the Nazi Party.

Itzhak Stern

Amon Goeth

The Proposal The existence of human miseries in the movies (Amistad and the Schindlers List) opened our realization of the existence of human injustices in our world as early as the 18th century. Its been a stated fact that equality may be easily defined in books and studied but very cruel in this humane society. Civilizations come across unjust representations as to individuals considered as slave-goods but harsh enough for us to consider the conscious battle of individuals to become respected and treated humanely. Different organizations look into these issues and try to resolve these kinds of unjust fixations among individuals. All countries are then subjected to this organization to conform to the protection of our rights as citizens and as !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 12 http://www.sparknotes.com/film/schindlerslist/characters.html!

individuals. Looking back in our own history as a country we could see how different civilizations treat us as low class Indios who they considered as barbaric, no system of government and lifeless creatures intended to serve their masters. It took us centuries and hundreds of lives just to satisfy our thirst for freedom, justice and peace in our native land. Like the historic stories of the Amistad and the Schindlers List, in certain ways we continue to battle our human independence against abusers and high-class societies who considers themselves as giants ready to attack our civilization and society. We battle our history as a civilization that hungered for equality, and humane treatment. We adapt to different humanitarian organizations like the UNDP, to contribute and to listen justly and fairly all the issues governing our nation. We have a strong form of government rallying against injustices and strictly conforming to an ideal and humane society but are this enough? I come to this realization that the historic experience of these races may be synonymous to what all of us have experienced daily. We find mental, environmental and social issues like poverty, labor related violence, and discrimination that must be subjected to conform to numerous laws to protect us over those intruders. These questions on whether or not we experience these kinds of issues may be seemingly answered by yes or no, but are we just in making our own evaluation regarding this matter? Human rights are considered fundamental and inherent right yet it must be known and understood by the majority. Education and correct interpretation is a must. As individuals we must be able to preach and live out these rights morally for it to be known and just. We may come across associations or even make small groups that would foster and protect human development and their rights. We must make it a point that we contribute fairly to these opportunities and make it known. We live out what we talk about. We all wanted to live in an equipped society that treats all their citizens justly. We rally against those who are unjust and treat us unfairly as a nation. Thus, we move fast track to what we wanted to achieve as one nation. Dealing with all the other aspects of poverty, education, malnutrition as a hindrance to our growth, we make a share and pledge to take part in this kind of journey, which we come to and which we will benefit of. This is a start of our flight as Human Right Advocates with one goal in mind, which is to perish sufferings and inflictions against our inherent right.