Just as Amistad case upheld the right to stand up against dehumanising bondage, Ambedkar’s Constitution enshrined the dominance of nature’s law of social equality
Published Date – 24 April 2025, 05:55 PM
By MN Bhushi and B Maria Kumar
The Amistad episode and Dr BR Ambedkar’s legacy share a striking similarity in how both represent the triumph of natural justice over other forms of justice. The Amistad case of 1841 — exactly 50 years before Dr Ambedkar’s birth in 1891 — was among the earliest recorded legal battles where the principles of natural justice took precedence over rigid legal formalities. It awakened the world to the idea that justice, rooted in moral truth and human dignity, must guide the course of criminal jurisprudence towards a more just, authentic and fulfilled human existence.
Deeply inspired by the unwritten laws of nature’s moral order, Dr Ambedkar, even in his youth, long before he became the chief architect of the Indian Constitution, resolved to champion ethically sound and rational postulates that transcended the confines of the mere letter of the law.
Amistad Saga
The Amistad saga revolved around a group of Africans who were initially kidnapped from their homeland, Sierra Leone, in 1839 and sold into slavery. While being transported aboard the Spanish ship ‘La Amistad’ (ironically named after the Spanish word for ‘friendship’), Africans revolted in order to reclaim their freedom. They were eventually captured and brought to trial in the United States.
John Quincy Adams, former US President and a seasoned lawyer, stepped forward to defend the Africans before the Supreme Court. At that time, slavery was still legal in several American States. In a powerful appeal to natural law, Adams argued that the captives had simply exercised their inherent natural right to resist inhumane enslavement. He insisted that since the Africans had been violently and wrongfully abducted from their home country, no human-made law could strip them of their liberty. His impassioned defence swayed the Supreme Court, which, in 1841, ruled in favour of the Africans, granting them their long-denied freedom.
Supremacy of Natural Law
This landmark judgment not only affirmed the supremacy of natural law over societal legal systems but also gave fresh momentum to the abolitionist movement in America. Nearly a century later, a similar defining moment unfolded in India. The Amistad victory finds a significant parallel in Dr Ambedkar’s drafting of the Indian Constitution.
The Amistad saga revolved around a group of Africans who were kidnapped from their homeland, Sierra Leone, in 1839 and sold into slavery. While being transported aboard the Spanish ship, they revolted to reclaim their freedom
Just as the Amistad case upheld the right to stand up against dehumanising bondage, Ambedkar’s Constitution enshrined the dominance of nature’s law of social equality above the centuries-old hierarchies of caste and gender discrimination. With its adoption on November 26, 1949, and enforcement on January 26, 1950, the Indian Constitution became a revolutionary instrument, securing liberty, fraternity, dignity, justice, equality and other rights for all, and marking India’s moral and legal emancipation from age-old structural subjugation.
While there is no direct evidence that Dr Ambedkar was influenced by Adams or the Amistad proceedings, it is quite plausible that he was aware of such landmark events. Given his vast exposure, discerning intellect, wide-ranging reading and incisive engagement with themes like fundamental rights, it’s reasonable to assume that he encountered these defining moments in the annals of the world in some form.
It is pertinent to mention that from 1913 to 1916, Dr Ambedkar was a student at Columbia University in New York, a vibrant centre of progressive thought and scholarship. Columbia’s intellectual environment offered extensive exploration of American history, constitutionalism, abolitionism and the civil rights movement. Even more influential was his close transformative academic bond with his mentor Prof John Dewey, the renowned thinker known as the father of pragmatic philosophy and progressive education.
Dewey’s Impact
At the time, Dewey was 54, and Dr Ambedkar was just 22. Yet the moral clarity and philosophical depth of Dewey’s teachings lit a spark in the young scholar — a spark that grew into a lifelong commitment to merging justice with ethics and law with humanity. The ethically grounded, rational ideals upheld by Adams and Dewey found powerful echoes in Dr Ambedkar’s vision of deliverance and fairness. While Adams’ moral stance, notably his defence of natural justice over unjust human-made laws in the Amistad case may have left a mark on Dr Ambedkar indirectly, Dewey’s progressive philosophy and humanistic doctrines had a direct and formative impact on him.
Particularly influential was Dewey’s conception of pragmatism. Dewey believed that life’s inherent uncertainties and the everyday affairs of real life fundamentally shape our actions and choices. This perspective had a lasting impact on the sharp mind of his young mentee, broadening his worldview with multifaceted insights into human relations, societal responsibilities, and the potential for meaningful reform.
Realisation of Social Justice
Dr Ambedkar recognised that real-time thoughts and activities, whether initiated by individuals or by the collective inevitably, influenced those around them. Each passing day, therefore, presented an opportunity to recast everyday interactions and transactions into mutually beneficial exchanges that uplift society as a whole.
Viewing life through this pragmatic lens, Dr Ambedkar meticulously analysed the challenges faced by millions in disadvantaged groups while also scrutinising the status of women in Indian society during that era. Identifying the crux of these complex issues, he dedicated himself to deciphering them through practical and innovative solutions.
After returning to India following his rigorous academic pursuits in America and Britain, he discovered that remedying persistent socioeconomic woes required applying the humane, natural laws that ensure, among other things, the realisation of social justice. In his view, methodically addressing systemic inequalities was the key to ending long-standing suffering and injustice.
Dr Ambedkar’s unwavering advocacy for education as the cornerstone of empowerment was founded on the firm conviction that access to knowledge, being a component of natural justice, liberates individuals from the shackles of ignorance. Education, he exhorted, illuminates the path to understanding one’s intrinsic human rights and the boldness to claim them. These epoch-making milestones continue to guide the spirit of the Republic of India. Carrying forward and safeguarding his historic mission serves as a fitting tribute to Dr Ambedkar whose birth anniversary was celebrated on April 14.
(MN Bhushi is a 95-year-old retired Professor, who interacted with Dr Ambedkar during 1950s. B Maria Kumar, a recipient of National Rajbhasha Gaurav and De Nobili Awards, is a retired IPS officer)