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265:. By 1889 the company had a reported 148 workers on the island for the purpose of mining. Under reports of hazardous work conditions, the miners rioted. During the riot, five supervisors died, and eighteen workers were returned to Baltimore on a U.S. warship to await three separate trials on the charges of murder. The
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deposits. These lands would be proclaimed territory of the United States and, according to
Section 6 of the act, any crimes or offenses committed on or adjacent to these islands "shall be deemed committed on the high seas, on board a merchant ship or vessel belonging to the United States; and shall
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belong to or the state in which the accused originates from. On this, Gray deemed Jones subject to the jurisdiction of
Maryland, despite not being within its boundaries when committing the crime. Because of this reasoning, it was concluded that Section 6 of the Guano Islands Act was in line with
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It was then stated that
Navassa Island fell within the act as it had confirmed supplies of guano and thus fell within all the rules and conditions stated within the act. Thus the court affirmed the decisions of the lower courts to charge Jones with murder and to sentence him to death.
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was a contentious case publicly at the time. Many saw it as a case of worker and black rights versus white overseers as all the supervisors killed on
Navassa Island were white, and all those charged with murder were people of color.
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While the court upheld Henry Jones' death sentence, efforts by black-run organizations and communities, as well as white jurors from the trials, to have the sentence commuted eventually reached
President
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In the specific case of worker Henry Jones, he was charged with the murder of Thomas N. Foster. The defense claimed the accused were justified in their action under the contention that Jones acted in
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The court examined the issue of the Guano
Islands Act enabled the jurisdiction of the United States over Navassa Island and thus the murderers. The court held that it did. Justice
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In 1857, the
Navassa Island, claimed under the Guano Islands Act, was under the ownership of the Navassa Phosphate Company of
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be punished according to the laws of the United States relating to such ships or vessels and offenses on the high seas ..."
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of any existing statues or laws pertaining to high seas. The case originated from claims the
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https://www.globalsecurity.org/military/ops/navassa-island.htm
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case in which the court upheld the constitutionality of the
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United States
Supreme Court cases of the Fuller Court
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List of United States Supreme Court cases, volume 137
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United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
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426:Fanning, Leonard M. "Guano Islands for Sale".
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296:The case was appealed from the
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407:Guano Islands Act (11
267:Order of Galilean Fishermen
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385:Jones v. United States
334:Jones v. United States
210:Jones v. United States
34:Jones v. United States
167:Lucius Q. C. Lamar II
111:) is constitutional.
19:For other uses, see
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318:territorial waters
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273:Facts of the case
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