Examines the legendary Amistad case which questioned whether or not Africans imported illegally into the United States were free men or slaves.

Through court documents, supporting details, and narrative language, students will discover how Sengbe Pieh, also known as Joseph Cinqué, staged a mutiny on a slave ship that not only gave him and his fellow captives freedom, but also spurred a court case that began an international debate over the morality and legality of slavery. Readers will gain a deeper understanding of the politics involved in the transatlantic slave trade, as well as a part of history that has shaped our society.

This volume presents the first full-scale treatment of the only instance in history where African blacks, seized by slave dealers, won their freedom and returned home. Jones describes how, in 1839, Joseph Cinqué led a revolt on the Spanish slave ship, the Amistad, in the Caribbean. The seizure of the ship by an American naval vessel near Montauk, Long Island, the arrest of the Africans in Connecticut, and the Spanish protest against the violation of their property rights created an international controversy. The Amistad affair united Lewis Tappan and other abolitionists who put the "law of nature" on trial in the United States by their refusal to accept a legal system that claimed to dispense justice while permitting artificial distinctions based on race or color. The mutiny resulted in a trial before the U.S. Supreme Court that pitted former President John Quincy Adams against the federal government. Jones vividly recaptures this compelling drama--the most famous slavery case before Dred Scott--that climaxed in the court's ruling to free the captives and allow them to return to Africa.

"Vividly drawn . . . this stunning book honors the achievement of the captive Africans who fought for—and won—their freedom.”—The Philadelphia Tribune A unique account of the most successful slave rebellion in American history, now updated with a new epilogue—from the award-winning author of The Slave Ship In this powerful and highly original account, Marcus Rediker reclaims the Amistad rebellion for its true proponents: the enslaved Africans who risked death to stake a claim for freedom. Using newly discovered evidence and featuring vividly drawn portraits of the rebels, their captors, and their abolitionist allies, Rediker reframes the story to show how a small group of courageous men fought and won an epic battle against Spanish and American slaveholders and their governments. The successful Amistad rebellion changed the very nature of the struggle against slavery. As a handful of self-emancipated Africans steered their own course for freedom, they opened a way for millions to follow. This edition includes a new epilogue about the author's trip to Sierra Leona to search for Lomboko, the slave-trading factory where the Amistad Africans were incarcerated, and other relics and connections to the Amistad rebellion, especially living local memory of the uprising and the people who made it.

Originally published as: Geschichte der Amistad. Stuttgart: Reclam, 2012.

In a balanced approach to an explosive subject, a history professor portrays the rise, apogee, and decline of the slave trade, exposing its impact on world politics and civilization. of photos. Maps. Copyright © Libri GmbH. All rights reserved.

This book describes the historical account of the "Amistad" and the freeing of Africans who had been kidnapped in the 1830s.

"Explores the mutiny aboard the Amistad, including the slave revolt onboard, the trial of the slaves in U.S. courts, the appeal to the Supreme Court, and the inspiration for the movie, Amistad"--Provided by publisher.

Davis begins with the dramatic "Amistad" case, and then looks at slavery in the American South and the abolitionists who defeated one of human history's greatest evils.