Amistad Natural Law Vs Positive Law
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Essay Assignment #1: Natural Law Vs. Positive Law
The movie Amistad illustrates how the African's of Sier Leone were captured and brought to the United States by illegal Spanish forces. These captured Africans were to be known as "plantation slaves", but not off their own shores of Africa, but from the country of Cuba. This was due to the fact that slave trading was illegal and indicating to American traders that they are plantation born slaves, from Cuba, grants no legal problems on both the trading Spanish party and potential American parties. However, during the journey to America, the African slaves managed to overthrow the Spaniards in a brutal fight which killed all but two sailors. These Spanish sailors had promised to return to Africa, but instead led the slaves into the hands of American authorities where they were tried for their actions. Natural law would have dissimilar views than positive law in this case and both theories of law would be applied differently to this case. Plato, who believed in the idea of morally correct, and Austin, whose ideas were based on being legally correct, would have different ideologies on the case of Amistad.
Plato, the great natural philosopher, felt that law reflects certain universal, absolute and eternal truths or virtues. Once applied, this concept indicates how law is unchanging...