La Amistad
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
.jpg/350px-La_Amistad_(ship).jpg)
La Amistad (Spanish: "Friendship") was a 19th-century two-masted schooner of about 120 feet. Built in the United States, La Amistad was originally named Friendship but was renamed after being purchased by a Spaniard. La Amistad became a symbol in the movement to abolish slavery after a group of African captives aboard revolted in July 1839. Its recapture resulted in a legal battle over their status.
Contents |
[edit] The Incident
On July 2, 1839, 53 Africans (49 adults and 4 children) being carried aboard La Amistad from Havana were led by fellow captive Sengbe Peah, known in America as Joseph Cinqué, in a revolt against their captors. After gaining control of the ship, the Africans demanded to be returned home, but the ship’s navigator deceived them about their course, and sailed them north along the North American coast to Long Island, New York. The schooner was subsequently taken into custody by the United States Navy and the Africans were taken to Connecticut to be sold as slaves. There ensued a widely publicized court case in New Haven, CT about the ship and the legal status of the African captives. At that time the transport of slaves from Africa to the Americas was illegal, so they were fraudulently described as having been born in Cuba. It needed to be decided whether the Africans could be considered salvage and the property of Naval officers who had taken custody of the ship, whether they were the property of the Cuban buyers, or of Spain as the Queen of Spain claimed, or lastly if the circumstances of their capture and transportation meant they were free. The issues became the focus of the Amistad (1841) Supreme Court case, which figured prominently in abolitionism in the United States.
[edit] The Ship
Strictly speaking, La Amistad was not a slave ship in the sense that she was not designed to transport slaves, nor did she engage in the Middle Passage of Africans to the Americas. La Amistad engaged in shorter, coastal trade. The primary cargo carried by La Amistad was sugar-industry products, and her normal route ran from Havana to her home port, Guanaja. She also took on passengers and, on occasion, slaves for transport. The captives that La Amistad carried during the incident had been illegally transported to Cuba aboard the slave ship Tecora.
[edit] More Ships
True slave ships, such as Tecora, were designed for the purpose of carrying as many slaves as possible. Some very large slave ships carried up to 400 slaves. One distinguishing feature that enabled this amount of efficiency was the half-height between decks, which allowed slaves to be chained down in a sitting or lying position, but which were not high enough to stand in, and thus were not suitable for any other cargo. The crew of La Amistad, lacking the slave quarters, placed half the captives in the main hold, and the other half on deck. The captives were relatively free to move about, and this freedom of movement aided their revolt and commandeering of the vessel.
[edit] Later years
After being moored at the wharf behind the Custom House in New London, Connecticut, for a year and a half, La Amistad was auctioned off by the U.S. Marshal in October 1840. Captain George Hawford, of Newport, Rhode Island, purchased the vessel and then had to get an Act of Congress passed so that he could register her. He renamed her Ion and, in late 1841, sailed her to Bermuda and Saint Thomas with a typical New England cargo of onions, apples, live poultry, and cheese.
After sailing her for a few years, he sold the boat in Guadeloupe in 1844. There appears to be no record of what became of the Ion under her new French owners in the Caribbean.
[edit] La Amistad in culture
On 2 September 1839, a play entitled The Long, Low Black Schooner, purporting to be based on the revolt, opened in New York City and played to full audiences. La Amistad was painted black at the time of the revolt.
A 1997 film, Amistad, directed by Steven Spielberg, examines the historical incident. The film adheres closely to the historical event with minor changes that do not effect the overall event and account. Major actors are Morgan Freeman, as a freed black man; Sir Anthony Hopkins, as John Quincy Adams; Matthew McConaughey, as an unorthodox, but influential lawyer; and Djimon Hounsou, as Cinque (Sengbe Peah).
Artist Hale Woodruff completed a mural depicting the events that occurred on board the Amistad. The six-panel sequence is on display at the Savery Library (named for founder William Savery), on the campus of Talladega College, Alabama. A mural of the ship itself is also embedded in the floor of the library, and school tradition dictates that it not be trodden on.
In honour of the described events, the name "Amistad" is carried as a street in a China-town of Havana.
Pusha T of hip-hop supergroup Re-Up Gang reference La Amistad in their song "20k Money Making Brothers on the Corner" from their mixtape We Got It 4 Cheap, Volume 3: The Spirit of Competition (We Just Think We're Better) with the lyrics
"Big chain around my neck like I’m fresh off The Amistad... We won’t stop ‘till you give us us free"
[edit] Freedom Schooner Amistad
Between 1998 and 2000, Freedom Schooner Amistad, a recreation of La Amistad, was built in Mystic Seaport, Mystic, Connecticut, using traditional skills and construction techniques common to wooden schooners built in the 19th century, but using modern materials and engines. The modern day Amistad is not an exact replica of La Amistad, as the ship is slightly longer and has higher freeboard. There were no old blueprints of the original. The new schooner was built using a general knowledge of the Baltimore Clippers and art drawings from the era. Some of the tools used in the project were the same as those that might have been used by a 19th century shipwright while others were electrically powered. Tri-Coastal Marine[1], designers of Freedom Schooner Amistad, used modern computer technology to provide plans for the vessel. Bronze bolts are used as fastenings throughout the ship. Freedom Schooner Amistad has an external ballast keel made of lead and two Caterpillar diesel engines. None of this technology was available to 19th century builders.
Freedom Schooner Amistad is operated by Amistad America Inc., a non-profit organization based in New Haven, Connecticut.[2] The ship's mission is to educate the public on the history of slavery, discrimination, and civil rights. Her homeport is New Haven, where the Amistad trial took place. She also travels to port cities for educational opportunities. The Freedom Schooner Amistad is the State Flagship and Tall ship Ambassador of Connecticut.[3]
[edit] The Atlantic Freedom Tour
Freedom Schooner Amistad set sail on June 21, 2007, from New Haven on the "Atlantic Freedom Tour", a 14,000-mile transatlantic voyage to Great Britain, Lisbon, West Africa, and the Caribbean to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the abolition of the Atlantic slave trade in Britain (1807) and the United States (1808). The ship arrived in Bristol on 30 August.[4]
London was one of the ports of the United Kingdom portion of the Amistad's Tour. The schooner sailed up the Thames under the Tower Bridge on August 14, 2007, and moored for several days in London Docklands, where she attracted a great deal of attention.
August 23, 2007, UNESCO's designated International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade, which fell during the ship's visit to Liverpool, was marked by the opening of the International Slavery Museum in Liverpool - the first museum of its type to open in the United Kingdom.
[edit] See also
- The Amistad, a Supreme Court case arising out of the rebellion aboard the ship
- Amistad (film), a movie about the court case.
[edit] References
- ^ Tri-Coastal Marine
- ^ Amistad America Inc.
- ^ STATE OF CONNECTICUT, Sites º Seals º Symbols; Connecticut State Register & Manual; retrieved on January 4, 2007
- ^ Amistad Sails Into Bristol For Slave Trade Commemorations. 24 Hour Museum. Retrieved on 2007-09-04.
