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The film Amistad is based on a true event that occurred in 1839. It is about a
mutiny by recently captured slaves, who take over a ship known as La
Amistad, and the legal battle that followed regarding their freedom. The
movie begins by showing many Africans chained together on the lower deck
of La Amistad. They manage to break free and go to the upper deck and
attack the sailors, leading a mutiny and taking over the ship. They leave two
men alive to guide them back to Africa, but they point them towards the US.
When they arrive in the states, the Africans are thought to be runaway
slaves, and are imprisoned. The case of their freedom is taken to court, to
decide whether the Africans were originally slaves or free men. One lawyer
decides to fight for them, and pleads his case that the Africans were never
slaves and were indeed free men. The case eventually makes it to the
Supreme Court and a translator is eventually found to communicate with the
leader of the Africans, and he tells his story. He was one of many illegally
captured in Africa, and sold into slavery. When the time comes for the trial,
John Quincy Adams pleas for their freedom. After a grueling trial, the slaves
are said to be free men, and are to be sent back to their homeland, Africa.
The film gives an overall accurate picture of these events, though it adds and
takes away some pieces of it. The Africans had been captured in Africa, then
smuggled into Cuba. At the time the trading of slaves was illegal due to a
treaty signed in 1817. The treaty forbid the trading of slaves between Britain
and Spain. The mutiny itself occurred in July, 1839 just north of Cuba. La
Amistad, the ship they were being carried on, was soon taken captive by
them. Those they did not kill were...
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...f struggles at that time. Though there are some people who may find the
film to be slow at some points, it is an interesting story and captures the
interest of the audience rather easily. Therefore, the movie Amistad should
be used by teachers as a classroom tool.

Works Cited

Dugdale-Pointon, T (23 October 2008), The Amistad Mutiny of 1839 ,

http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/amistad_mutiny.html

Howard Jones, Mutiny on the Amistad: The Saga of a Slave Revolt and Its
Impact on American Abolition, Law, and Diplomacy, rev. ed. (1998);
Iyunolu Folayan Osagie, The Amistad Revolt: Memory, Slavery, and the
Politics of Identity in the United States and Sierra Leone (2000).

Amistad Review

Steven Spielberg's "Amistad" is centered on the legal status of

Africans caught and brought to America on a Spanish slave ship. The

Africans rise up and begin a mutiny against their captors on the high

seas and are brought to trial in a New England court. The court must

decide if the Africans are actually born as slaves or if they were

illegally brought from Africa. If the Africans were born as slaves

then they would be guilty of murder, but if their being brought here

from Africa is illegal, they had the right to defend themselves. This

was not such a simple issue since the slave trade had been banned by
treaties at the time of the Amistad incident in 1839. The movie starts

on board the Amistad. On the ship the leader of the Africans, Cinque,

frees himself from his chains and frees the rest of his tribe. They

slaves are being taken from a Havana slave market to another

destination in Cuba. The two men who bought them are spared, and

promise to take the slaves back to Africa. Instead, the Amistad is

guided into US waters, and the Africans end up being tried in a New

England court. Luckily, it is a Northern court. If the slaves had

ended up in the South they would have no chance of getting off. The

slaves are first defended by Roger Baldwin a well-off real estate

lawyer who bases the case on property law. Only slowly does Baldwin

come to see his clients, the slaves, as human beings. Also, two Boston

abolitionists, an immigrant called Tappan, and a former slave named

Joadson are in the defense. Together these men work to try to free the

53 slaves aboard the Amistad. After the slaves are tried and freed at

the New England district court, they must go to the Supreme Court. In

the Supreme Court John Quincy Adams, former president, who is fighting

for the freedom of all men, defends them. He gives an 11 minute speech
and persuades the Supreme Court to free the slaves as individuals

because all men are free under the Declaration of Independence. The

slaves are freed once and again and choose to return to their

homeland. However, Cinque discovers that his village has been

destroyed and the rest of his family has already been sold into

slavery. This is where Cinque emerges as a powerful character. He was

The Amistad

The Amistad was a Spanish ship built in Baltimore for the purpose of
transporting slaves. For three years, it sailed the high seas delivering its
cargo to various locations. But in August of 1838, a scandalous injustice
was uncovered after the ship was seized by an American vessel, the USS
Washington, a coast guard ship under the command of Lt. Thomas R.
Gedney. Lt. Gedney and his crew towed the Amistad into a New England
harbor in Connecticut where soon many controversies amounted and drama
would unfold.

For 63 days, the Amistad had been drifting toward the American shoreline.
As conditions deteriorated aboard the vessel, it's inhabitants at the time,
Africans, sick and dying, were in need of food and water. Desperate, they
took a chance, anchored the ship and went aboard land in hopes of trading
with natives, the ships cargo for needed supplies. On land, they were
confronted by two sea captains, one of whom was named Henry Green.
Green convinced the Africans that he would help them sail back to Sierra
Leone. Having an ulterior motive, he intended to get a hold of the ship, sail
it into port and claim it's cargo for salvage. However, before Green could
carry out his plan, the USS Washington arrived, boarded the ship, took the
Africans captive, and towed the vessel into New London, Connecticut.

Two Spaniards, Montes and Ruiz, were found aboard the ship and told their
side of the story. They claimed the Amistad was traveling with their
property of 53 African slaves to Cuba from Havana, when on the fourth day
of their voyage the slaves escaped their chains and took control of the ship.
Fearing death, they bargained with the slaves promising to return them to
Africa, when in fact, they purposely steered the ship ...

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...with the aid of Lewis Tappan and his missionaries, money was raised and
the Africans traveled home.

In conclusion, I think it is important to note that during the last trial, it was
brought out that the Spanish government was aware, as well as, involved in
the illegal slave industry happening on her islands. Also, that Montes and
Ruiz were well aware that they had purchased the Africans illegally, as all
of their dealings were done under the cover of night. Furthermore, that once
the Africans returned to Africa, many left the missionaries and returned to
their villages and their native ways.

Bibliography

Cable, M. Black Odyssey: The Case of the Slave Ship Amistad. New York:
The Viking Press, 1971.
Some five hundred years ago, ships began transporting millions of enslaved
Africans across the Atlantic Ocean to the Americas. This massive
population movement helped create the African Diaspora in the New World.
Many did not survive the horrible ocean journey. Enslaved Africans
represented many different peoples, each with distinct cultures, religions,
and languages. Most originated from the coast or the interior of West Africa,
between present-day Senegal and Angola. Other enslaved peoples originally
came from Madagascar and Tanzania in East Africa
In February of 1839, Portuguese slave hunters abducted a large group of
Africans from Sierra Leone and shipped them to Havana, Cuba, a center for
the slave trade. This abduction violated all of the treaties then in existence.
Fifty-three Africans were purchased by two Spanish planters and put aboard
the Cuban schooner Amistad for shipment to a Caribbean plantation. The
Africans seized the ship, killed the captain and the cook, and ordered the
planters to sail to Africa. In August 1839, the Amistad was seized off Long
Island, NY, by the U.S. brig Washington. The planters were freed and the
Africans were imprisoned in New Haven, CT, on charges of murder.
Although the murder charges were dismissed, the Africans continued to be
held in confinement as the focus of the case turned to salvage claims and
property rights. President Van Buren was in favor of extraditing the
Africans to Cuba. However, abolitionists in the North opposed extradition
and raised money to defend the Africans. Claims to the Africans by the
planters, the government of Spain, and the captain of the brig led the case to
trial in the Federal District Court in Connecticut. The court ruled that the
case fell within Federal jurisdiction and that the claims to the Africans as
property were not legitimate because they were illegally held as slaves. The
case went to the Supreme Court in January 1841, and former President John
Quincy Adams argued the defendants' case. Adams defended the right of the
accused to fight to regain their freedom. The Supreme Court decided in
favor of the Africans, and 35 of them were returned to their homeland. The
others died at sea or in prison while awaiting trial.
http://www.archives.gov/digital_classroom/lessons/amistad_case/amistad_c
ase.html
In a special document display in Washington, the National Archives and
Records A...

... middle of paper ...

... Short-staple, or upland cotton, dominated the market. An area still called
the Black Belt, which stretched across Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, and
Louisiana, grew some 80 percent of the nation's crop. Simultaneously cotton
expanded into the new states of Arkansas and Texas. In parts of the Black
Belt enslaved African Americans made up more than three-fourths of the
total population. Even though slavery existed throughout the original
thirteen colonies, nearly all the northern states, inspired by American
independence, abolished slavery by 1804. As a matter of conscience some
southern slaveholders also freed their slaves or permitted them to purchase
their freedom. Until the early 1800s, many southern states allowed these
manumissions to legally take place. Although the Federal Government
outlawed the overseas slave trade in 1808,
AMISTAD

Amistad is a recreation of the true story about a 1839 slave

revolt on a small Spanish schooner, La Amistad, ironically the
Spanish word for "friendship." Spielberg does a great job in
recreating the Amistad revolt that spurred a series of trials
beginning in the lower courts of Connecticut and ultimately
ending in the Supreme Court. Events following the revolt raise
controversial questions about slavery and freedom. This case
not only marks a milestone for Abolitionists in their fight
against slavery but it also questioned the natural laws of our
Constitution.

Leading up to the trial of the Africans, Spielberg illustrates the

horrors the slaves endured as they were captured and taken
from their homes. It is very distressing to see the cruelty that
was imposed on the slaves as they were captured. The slaves
were shackled and chained, then packed in an unsanitary,
overcrowded slave ship, and exposed to inhuman treatment, on
the Portuguese slaver Tecora as it makes its way through the
Middle Passage towards Cuba. Although a third of the slaves
died aboard the Tecora before it reached it's destination, those
that survived the trip were eventually auctioned into slavery in
Havanna, Cuba..

The revolt on the slave ship Amistad resulted in the deaths of

the captain and cook of the ship. The Africans did spared the
lives of two Spaniards who were needed to help navigate the
ship back to Africa. The Africans had control of the Amistad
for only a short time before it was seized by the U.S. Army,
capturing the Africans and forcing them to face a trial, on
charges of murder and mutiny. This trial marked the beginning
of a court case that dramatically challenged our judicial system.

The Abolitionists play a big part in the outcome of this trial.

Abolitionists to enhance strong public emotion against slavery,
begin publicizing the horror stories and brutalities of slavery.
They felt sorry for the slaves and with the help of Edward
Tappin, an abolitionist leader, they secured the services of an
attorney Roger S. Baldwin of Connecticut to defend the
Africans. What amazed me, is that even with odds against the
Africans, as the judge in the trial, Andrew T. Judson was an
opponent of slavery and he was also under pressure by
President Van Buren to send the Africans back to Cuba, justice
prevailed for the Africans.
What an eye-opening film by Steven Spielberg! The movie, La Amistad,
was based on historical events. Blacks from West Africa were captured and
sold into slavery. They were put on a boat called the Tecora and later
transferred to the clipper called La Amistad. Spielberg did a beautiful job in
accurately recreating the events that lead to the historical court hearings of
the imprisoned blacks. The hearings began at the state level. Then it was
taken to the Supreme Court. Questions about slavery, equality, and freedom,
sprung forth during the Amistad case. Not only was this case a milestone for
the abolitionist movement, it also questioned the writings of the Declaration
of Independence. Where all men created equal, like the constitution stated?
Throughout the movie, Spielberg uses flashbacks to tell the story of one of
the characters named Joseph Cinque. These flashbacks showed how he was
captured. Blacks from other tribes kidnapped him and handed over to the
Portuguese slave hunters. In return, these blacks received weapons and other
goods. The next flashback Joseph had, was about his journey to Cuba,
which was dangerous. Many blacks died on this journey. Cuba was the slave
hunter’s first destination. One of the reasons many blacks died at sea was
because of the gruesome living conditions. They were shackled and
whipped. At one point in the film, it looked like the Spanish crew members
were kissing the black women, which is sexual harassment. Their living
conditions were unsanitary and they received meager meals. If a black
person was sick he or she did not receive food. This historic event parallels
with another one that would later surface and that event was called the
Holocaust. Another thing that stood out was the way the Por...

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... sea or in prison while awaiting trial.” One of the discrepancies in this
movie was that, it looked like all the blacks returned home. The viewer did
not get the feeling that at least twenty blacks had died.
The selling and purchasing of blacks has been around at least a thousand
years. As of the early 15th century, ships began moving millions of African
blacks to new lands such as Cuba, Caribbean’s, and then into America. The
voyage across the Atlantic was a difficult one. Many of them died at sea.
The majority of the blacks came from “West Africa” (pathways thinkport).
The movie, La Amistad, portrays the challenges, the fears, and the hope the
blacks faced during this historical event.

Work Cited:
A slave during the 1860s was considered to be any black
person that was under the ownership of a white owner. Slavery
in the United States was a topic of controversy and conflict; a
topic which became enflamed with the writing of the
Constitution, a promise of freedom to all, yet interpreted as
freedom for the white man. The Constitution claimed that “all
men are created equal,” yet slavery was very common during
those times. Slavery was often disregarded during the first fifty
years of the nation in order to maintain a sense of order and
without debates over equality. However, between the 1840s
and 1850s, debates over slavery greatly increased, leading the
nation into a change in the social and political structure of the
United States.
The…show more content…
In 1839, he was captured and was to be sold and put to work as
a slave on Cuban sugar plantations. Before the ship could land
in Cuba, however, there was a revolt on board and the captain
was forced to turn the boat around. Instead of turning back to
Africa, he landed the ship in Rhode Island and all the captured
negroes were taken to court and charged with mutiny. In both
district and circuit courts, there were debates to see what laws
applied to the slaves, but due to not coming to a consensus, the
negroes that were onboard the ship were cleared of all charges
and were free to go back to Africa. The Spaniards Jose Ruiz
and Pedro Montez claimed that the Africans were “legally their
slaves because they had rebelled in Cuban coastal waters,
aboard a Cuban ship, and that slavery was legal in Cuba”
(Oakes 354). If Cuban law was applied to the men, then they
would be returned to slavery. However, if Ruiz and Montez
were trading slaves, under Spanish law, they were committing
illegal acts since Spain had outlawed the trading of slaves in
the Atlantic. In other words, Cinque, along with the other
Africans were enslaved
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In April of 1839, a group of militant Portuguese abducted a

group of 53 Africans, and shipped them to Havana, Cuba. In
June of 1839, the Africans were purchased as slaves by four
Spaniards and put on the schooner La Amistad (Spanish for
“the friendship';) for a voyage to Principe, an island
republic, off the west coast of Africa, in the Gulf of Guinea.
During this voyage, in the summer of 1839, the Africans
performed mutiny on the ship, led by Cinque (Djimon
Hounsou), they kill two of the crew, and take control of the
ship. They have one goal: return to Africa. With little or no
navigational skills, the Africans had to rely on the remaining
two Spaniards to get them to the coast of Africa. They ordered
the crew to sail to Africa, but they were tricked. After two
months on a sketchy course up the Eastern Seaboard, La
Amistad is captured off the coast of Long Island (in the film,
the Africans are captured off the coast of Connecticut, but in
actuality, they were imprisoned in New Haven and and
Hartford, Connecticut). The Africans are charged for murder
and piracy. In the beginning, they are embraced by abolitionists
Theodore Joadson (Morgan Freeman) and Lewis Tappan
(Stellan Skarsgard), as well as a young, idealistic real
estate/property attorney named Roger Baldwin (Matthew
McConaughey). During the proceedings this case divides a
nation. Two great American figures butt heads in debate as to
what the outcome should be. Pro-Slavery Martin Van Buren
(Nigel Hawthorne), seeking re-election in 1840, is willing to
convict the Africans to gain favor with voters in the South, as
well as with Queen Isabella of Spain (Anna Paquin). His
actions are challenged by former President John Quincy Adams
(Sir Anthony Hopkins), who comes out of political retirement
to fight the African’s side in the United States Supreme
Court. The Spanish men have claimed the Africans as their
property and others claimed that they had saved La Amistad in
the cargo contained therein, and the Africans were American
property, determining a salvage amount given to them (under
maritime law of salvage, those who saved a sea vessel were
entitled to a portion of the value they saved). The case went to
trial in September of 1839, where the Federal District Court
ruled that the Africans were illegally held, and therefore were
not liable for their acts, and they were not property.