John Quincy Adams' "Amistad Address": Eloquence in a Generic Hybrid A. CHEREE CARLSON* John Quincy Adams' Supreme Court argument in the Amistad trial of 1841 is an example of a generic hybrid serving both forensic and deliberative purposes. Adams desired not only to win his case before the court, but also to convince a Northem audience to be wary of slavery legislation. He achieved both purposes by premising his argu- ments upon vsdues held in common by his audiences. Adams' success indicates the impor- tance of the audience in determining the final form of a hybrid. X HE SUPREME COURT has played a significant role in the long struggle to obtain civil rights for Black Americsms, whether ruling in favor of them, as in Brown versus the Board of Education, or against them, as in the Dred Scott case. Among the court's earliest decisions regarding Blacks is one of the most his- torically and rhetorically dramatic cases of the nineteenth century. It called upon the oratorical skills of a powerful figure in American politics, John Quincy Adams. It ostensibly concemed the fate of a number of African captives, but eventually becjime a struggle for moral and political superiority between the executive and judicial branches ofthe United States govemment, and a con- frontation between American strength and foreign influence. The trijil was the Amistad case of 1841. The case was significant in the career of Adams, and it influenced the growth of abolitionism in the United States. For Adams it was a major victory.* Prior to the case, Adams was unpopular with most Northem leaders. His long fight against the "gag rule" in Congress, begun in 1836, alienated his fellow congress- men, and abolitionists erroneously thought him a friend to slavery because he would not support abolitionist bills.' The Amistad trial brought Adams acco- lades from both quarters' and thus played an integral role in rebuilding Adams' political popularity. The trial became a rallying point for abolitionists. Even non-abolitionists "tumed their thoughts to Africa and, with pangs of conscience, felt an urgent need to send it missionaries instead of slave traders."* Wyatt-Brown reported that "Gentlemen who were silent about more pressing questions of slavery . . . congratulated themselves on their liberality in supporting the Amistads."' Wyatt- Brown also noted that "the fate of a hsmdful of bewildered Africans could arouse The Western Joumal of Speech Communication, 49 (Winter 1985), 14-26