The United States Supreme Court case of The United States v. the Libellants and Claimants of the Schooner Amistad, her Tackle, Apparel, and Furniture, Together with Her Cargo, and the Africans Mentioned and Described in the Several Libels and Claims was a landmark decision that established an important precedent for freedom from slavery. At issue was whether or not a group of African captives who had seized control of their slave ship were legally slaves under American law. The court held that they were free persons as they had been illegally taken into captivity by non-Spanish captors while on board a Spanish vessel in international waters. This ruling set forth an important principle: no person can be enslaved against his will within U.S borders regardless if he is foreign born or not; this has since become known as habeas corpus rights which are still recognized today throughout much of the world's legal systems.

In the case of The United States v. The Libellants and Claimants of the Schooner Amistad, Justice McLean delivered a dissenting opinion in which he argued that the Africans on board should be returned to their home country as slaves. He believed that they had been taken illegally from Africa by Spanish subjects, and thus were not legally free persons when they arrived in America. Furthermore, he argued that since slavery was recognized under international law at the time, it would have been illegal for them to remain in American waters without being subject to some form of legal authority or control. As such, Justice McLean concluded that returning them back to Africa was necessary both for their own safety and protection as well as for upholding international law.