Amistad: Questions & Answers

1. Where was the Amistad captured after the revolt?

- Montuak Point, Long Island, New York
2. From where did the Amistad originally set sail?
- Havana, Cuba
3. Who led the revolt aboard the ship?
- Joseph Cinque (Sengbe Pieh), he was Mende from the
village of Mani in Sierra Leone
4. How did Ruiz and Montez get the ship to Mantuak point?
- They sailed east during the day and north-east at
night
5. What charges were levied against the captives?
- Murder & Piracy
6. Who were the 2 abolitionists that were looking for someone
to take the case?
- Lewis Tappin & Theodore Joadson
7. Who became the lawyer for the captives? (part of the
Amistad Committee
- Roger Sherman Baldwin
8. What three groups were trying to claim the Africans as
property?
- Ruiz & Montez
- Lt. Gedney of the USS Washington
- Queen Isabella II of Spain
9. Who was the ex-president that eventually joined the
Amistad Committee?
- John Qunicy Adams

10.
How did Josiah Gibbs (part of the Amistad Committee)
break the communication problem with the captives? Why
was this important?
- He learned to speak 1 to 10 in Mende. They went to
the docks repeating the #s until they found the
translator
11. Who became the translator?
- A British sailor named James Covey
12. What slave ship transported the captives from Lomboka to
Cuba?
- The Tecora
13.Why did President Van Buren want the captives to loose
their case?
- He feared re-election, was worried about a civil war,
feared retaliation from Spain
14.What was the decision handed down by Judge Judson?
- That the Africans were free-born and should be
returned to Africa. Ruiz & Montez were to be arrested
for illegal slave trading.
15.What was the argument used by John Quincy Adams in
defending the captives in the Supreme Court?
- He used the Declaration of Independence. It stated
that all men are equal under the law.
16.Where did the captives move to while waiting to go home?
- They lived in Farmington, Connecticut while waiting for
enough money to be raised to send them home.