Letter to Hon. Roger M. Sherman
Description
An unsent letter to Roger M. Sherman stating that the Amistad Committee deem it their duty to protect the captives "against any unconstitutional measure that may be adopted by the Executive of the U.S., or other authority, for their conveyance out of the United States." The Committee desires a writ of habeas corpus "to be served the moment any attempt is made to remove them from Westville." The writer of the letter states that he was instructed to procure Sherman to draft a writ provided his judicial office does not prohibit such. Sherman reports that Roger Baldwin is in Washington, but the Supreme Court case has been delayed and John Quincy Adams is serving as associate counsel. According to Sherman, the opinion in Washington is that the Court will rule unfavorably to the Africans and that in such event President Martin Van Buren "will lose no time in dispatching the [USS] Grampus or other vessel to take them forthwith to Cuba."