Amistad

=The Amistad Case=

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. On July 1, 1839, the Africans seized the ship, killed the captain and the cook, and ordered the planters to sail to Africa. On August 24, 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.

[|The Amistad Case]
Students should analyze the //Amistad// case, using primary materials to examine the manner in which the enslaved Africans were portrayed by both sides in attempt to curry popular favor.

[|Teaching With Documents:The Amistad Case]
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