About this item
On June 28, 1839, the Spanish slave schooner Amistad set sail from Havana on a routine delivery of human cargo. On a moonless night, after four days at sea, the captive Africans rose up, killed the captain, and seized control of the ship. They attempted to sail to a safe port, but were captured by the U.S. Navy and thrown into jail in Connecticut. Their legal battle for freedom eventually made its way to the Supreme Court, where their cause was argued by former president John Quincy Adams. In a landmark ruling, they were freed and eventually returned to Africa. The rebellion became one of the best-known events in the history of American slavery, celebrated as a triumph of the legal system in films and books, all reflecting the elite perspective of the judges, politicians, and abolitionists involved in the case.
About the Author
Marcus Rediker is Distinguished Professor of Atlantic History at the University of Pittsburgh and Senior Research Fellow at the Collège d'études mondiales in Paris. He is the author of numerous prize-winning books, including *The Many-Headed Hydra* (with Peter Linebaugh) , *The Slave Ship*, and *The Amistad Rebellion*. He produced the award-winning documentary film *Ghosts of Amistad* (Tony Buba, director) , about the popular memory of the *Amistad* rebellion of 1839 in contemporary Sierra Leone.Photo credit Curtis Reaves.
