Picture of La
Amstrad schooner
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Picture of La Amstrad Ship
The picture of La Amstrad cargo schooner depicts the
events on 26 August 1839, off Culloden Point, Long
Island, New York, when the slave ship was intercepted by
the USS Washington of the US Navy, which is pictured on
the left.
La Amstrad Ship
The
La Amstrad schooner was a small, sharp-built vessel,
with two masts. The length of La Amstrad was about 120
feet (37 m) and was built to carry cargo on short
coastal trips. La Amstrad was not built as a purpose
built slave ship, it was usually engaged in the sugar
trade. There were no slave quarters and the slaves were
held in the main hold and on deck which gave them some
freedom to move about which helped in their revolt.
Ironically, La Amstrad was built by Americans and
originally called the "Friendship" until it was bought
and renamed La Amstrad by its new Spanish owners.
La
Amistad Slave Ship History for kids: The Slave Trade
The
Anglo-Spanish treaties of 1817 and 1835 had made the African slave
trade a capital offence but the treaties were often violated.
Slavery was still legal in Cuba, and once smuggled ashore, the
captives were sold at slave auctions in Havana. The United States
joined with Great Britain in abolishing the African slave trade in
1807, although the trading of slaves within the United States was
not prohibited. The United States 'Act Prohibiting Importation of
Slaves of 1807' stated that no new slaves were permitted to be
imported into the United States which ended the legality of the U.S.
based transatlantic slave trade. The law was not well enforced and
slavery itself continued in the US until the end of the
Civil War
and the adoption of the
13th
Amendment to the Constitution.
La
Amistad Slave Ship History for kids: Mende people are taken captive
The history of the La Amistad Slave
rebellion began in 1839 in Mendiland, Sierra Leone, West Africa when
men, women and children of the Mende people were taken captive by
slave traders. They were taken to the African slave port of Lomboko
where a total of 500 people were purchased by a slave trader.
La
Amistad Slave Ship History for kids: The Tecora Slave Ship
The African
captives were then boarded on to a Portuguese slave ship called the
Tecora. The Tecora was a purpose built slave ship. The destination
of the Tecora was Havana, Cuba. The horrendous voyage meant crossing
the Atlantic or "middle passage" under the most brutal conditions.
The voyage on the Tecora took approximately two months and many of
the kidnapped Africans died during the crossing.
La
Amistad Slave Ship: Havana, Cuba, the destination of the Tecora
La Amistad Slave Ship arrived in Havana, Cuba and the captives were
initially taken to a barracoon, a type of barracks or a "slave pen"
where they were prepared for the slave auction.
La
Amistad Slave Ship for kids: Jose Ruiz and Pedro Montez purchase the captives
at the Slave Auction
Two
Spanish plantation owners called Jose Ruiz and Pedro Montez, bought
53 Mende
captives to take back to their sugar
plantation 300 miles away in Puerto Principe. Montez and Ruiz
acquired documents claiming the slaves were legally obtained as
Cuban slaves, not imported from Africa which was illegal. The
Mende captives
were fraudulently classified as Cuban-born slaves so they could be
sold and were all given Spanish names. Then 53 Africans and 7 crew
members boarded La Amstrad cargo schooner on June 28, 1839 for the
next part of their journey.
Pedro Montez, who was once a sea captain and navigator, and
Jose Ruiz joined the crew on La Amistad. The captain of La Amistad
was called Raman Ferrer. they were fraudulently classified as
Cuban-born slaves so they could be sold
La
Amistad Slave Ship Mutiny
The
mutiny on the Amistad Slave Ship erupted on 2 July, 1839 and was
sparked by Celestino the schooner's cook. The cook had terrified the
slaves by indicating that they would be killed, cooked and eaten
when they disembarked. The leader of the slave mutiny was
26-year-old Sengbe Pieh, known as Cinque and aided
by another slave called Grabeau. Cinque found a rusty nail and was
able to pick the locks to the slave's shackles and set them free.
They found weapons in the form of long sugar cane knives. They
stormed the deck and killed Celestino the cook and the ship's
captain Raman Ferrer. Other members
of the crew jumped overboard but drowned in their effort to escape.
Jose Ruiz and Pedro Montez were injured in the fight but the slaves
spared their lives on condition they would return the captives to
Africa. Pedro Montez acted as the navigator but had no intention of
leading the slaves back to Africa. During the day he navigated La
Amistad towards the sun but, guided by the stars, turned back toward
Havana at night. The La Amistad mutiny lasted for 60 days by which
time the schooner had reached the coast of New York.
Interception of La
Amistad Slave Ship
The
La Amistad Slave Ship was intercepted on
26 August 1839. La Amistad had dropped anchor half a
mile off Long Island, New York at Culloden Point. Some of the
Africans went to shore to find fresh water and provisions. La
Amistad was intercepted by Lieutenant Thomas R. Gedney the commander
of the USS Washington of the US Navy. Lieutenant Thomas R. Gedney
took the African slaves to the state of Connecticut and presented a
written claim for salvage of the vessel and the human cargo.
Lieutenant Gedney chose to land in Connecticut where, unlike New
York, slavery was still legal.
Abolitionists and La
Amistad Slave Ship
The
35 surviving Africans on the La Amistad Slave Ship were imprisoned
as mutineers in New London, Connecticut. Spain demanded the
extradition of the Africans to face trial in Cuba for piracy and
murder. President Martin Van Buren was willing to agree to the
requests of the Spanish Ambassador
but the
Abolitionist Movement
took up the cause of the Africans and mounted a legal defense
on their behalf. The plight of the Africans was initially taken up
by Lewis Tappan, Simeon S. Jocelyn and the Reverend Joshua Leavitt
who was editor of the anti-slavery journal, Emancipator. The
publicity surrounding the case brought help from many Abolitionists
including John Quincy Adams.
Amistad Slave Ship
for kids
The info about the Amistad Slave Ship provides interesting facts and
important information about this important event that occured during the presidency of the 8th President of the United States of America.
Amistad Slave Ship for kids: La Amistad Case and John Quincy Adams
The
La Amistad case attracted even more prominence due to the support of
John Quincy Adams, a former President of the United States and the
son of one of the country's most important Founding Fathers. An
interpreter obtained a testimony of the events
leading to the La Amistad case
which was used as a basis of their defense.
Amistad Slave Ship Trial
The
abolitionists hired attorney Roger S. Baldwin of Connecticut to
defend the case who argued their freedom on the grounds of humanity
and justice. On appeal, the United
States v. The Amistad case reached the US Supreme Court. The La Amistad
case went before the Supreme Court on February 22, 1841 where
defending counsel John Quincy Adams successfully argued that the men
should be freed. The Supreme Court ruled that the Mende had been
illegally transported and held as slaves, and ordered them to be
freed. In January 1842, the thirty-five Amistad Africans who had
survived the ordeal were returned to their homeland in Africa.
Amistad Slave Ship for kids: La Amistad Case Significance
The
La Amistad Slave Ship incident was highly significant:
● The La
Amistad case was a significant victory for the Abolitionists
● The La
Amistad case connected the cause of anti-slavery with the
nation's basic principles of liberty and equality
● Prior to
the Dred Scott decision, the La Amistad case was, arguably, the
single most important legal case involving slavery during the
1800's
● This event
was one of the
Causes of the Civil War
Black
History for kids: Important People and Events
For visitors interested in African American History
refer to
Black History - People and Events.
A useful resource for
teachers, kids, schools and colleges undertaking
projects for the Black History Month.
Amistad Slave Ship for kids - President Martin Van Buren Video
The article on the
Amistad Slave Ship provides an overview of one of the Important issues of his presidential term in office. The following
Martin Van Buren video will
give you additional important facts and dates about the political events experienced by the 8th American President whose presidency spanned from March 4, 1837 to March 4, 1841.
Amistad Slave Ship
●
Interesting Facts about
Amistad Slave Ship for kids and schools
●
Facts about the Amistad Slave Ship
●
The Amistad Slave Ship, a Important
event in US history
●
Martin Van Buren Presidency from March 4, 1837 to March 4, 1841
●
Fast, fun, interesting facts about the Amistad Slave
Ship
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The Amistad Slave Ship and John Quincy Adams
● The
Amistad Slave Ship for schools,
homework, kids and children |