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The Amistad Slave Revolt and American Abolition
The Amistad Slave Revolt and American Abolition Author:Karen Zeinert In 1839, fifty-three West Africans brought to Cuba and sold as slaves, seized the ship La Amistad; killed two men; and sailed toward the rising sun. This way, their leader Cinque reasoned, they would reach home. But at night their Spanish captives steered west, and so the Amistad zig-zagged north to Long Island, New York. Here it was captured by... more » the U.S. Navy and towed to New Haven in the slave state of Connecticut. Over the next two years, the Amistad incident was to write a new chapter in the history of American abolition.
At issue were the salvage rights to the vessel, its "cargo" of Africans, and murder. Enthusiastically embraced by leading abolitionists, the cause of the Mende people was pleaded successfully in the lower courts. But President Martin Van Buren intervened, and the case dragged its way to the U.S. Supreme Court. Pitted against the president and Southern and foreign interests, an aged John Quincy Adams rose in defense of the Mende- and won.
During their detention, the Africans had been "civilized"-- taught English by Yale students, converted to Christianity, and shown off for the abolitionist cause. The Mende were heartsick, but willing. Their ordeal brought home to Americans as never before the injustice of ripping people from their land and their loved ones to be sold as chattel. Their plea was simple: "All we want is make us free." For the thirty-eight men and children who survived, it was finally answered.
In this carefully researched and gripping story, author Karen Zeinert clarifies the complexities of the Amistad incident: international relations; economic realities; political and legal maneuverings; and of course, human rights.« less