STORY OF THE AMISTAD
193
The desired appropriation was not made, but as late as February 2, 1858, the claim was before Congress with a recommendation from President Buchanan that it be paid. But it never was paid, and it might now be forgotten but for the fact that the Supreme Court of the United States, when it heard the case, decided then, for the first time, that black men carried from their homes in Africa as slaves had the right, when seeking their liberty, to kill any who would deprive them of it.
