:09:31
These papers - and I shall
ask you to examine them -
:09:35
are portions of a ship's manifest I
retrieved from the Amistad yesterday.
:09:40
At first glance, they may appear
to bolster the prosecution's case.
:09:44
You see, they list cargo.
:09:48
Cargo bearing the very Spanish names
Messrs Ruiz and Montes
:09:52
insist represent my clients,
:09:55
hand-scrawled in the margins.
:09:58
But no, this is not the manifest
of the Amistad at all. Look.
:10:03
This is part of the cargo manifest
of a Portuguese vessel,
:10:08
the notorious transatlantic
slave ship the Tecora.
:10:12
The Tecora.
:10:15
I can bring you as many witnesses
as you wish, Mr Holabird...
:10:20
Tecora!
:10:21
Their clients trade primarily off
the coast of West Africa.
:10:25
The Ivory Coast, Sierra Leone.
:10:27
I know what you're thinking.
:10:29
Sierra Leone is a protectorate
of the British Crown.
:10:33
Slavery is outlawed there.
:10:35
Its principal port, in fact,
has been rechristened "Freetown".
:10:38
How, then, can the
Portuguese Tecora...
:10:41
engage in the slave trades
in these waters?
:10:44
I'll tell you how. In a word...
:10:50
Illegally.
:10:53
Whatever these men say
clearly matters not
:10:56
because this proves them liars.
:10:59
My clients' journey
did not begin in Havana,