The Amistad Rebellion

• Author: Center for History and New Media/American Social History Project
• Subject: Humanities
• Institution Name: American Social History Project/Center for History and New Media
• Collection: Many Pasts (CHNM/ASHP)
• Grade Level: Secondary, Post-secondary

• Abstract: In July 1839, captive West Africans rebelled and took over the Spanish slaveship Amistad . They ordered the owners to Africa but, instead, the Amistad was taken on a meandering course, finally waylaid by a U.S. Navy brig. The Africans were charged with the murder of the captain and jailed in New Haven, Connecticut. Abolitionists came to their support; ex-President John Quincy Adams represented them in court. After a long legal battle, the Supreme Court freed the "mutineers" in 1841. The following year they returned to Africa.

• Languages: English
• Material Types: Primary Source
• Media Formats: Graphics/Photos, Text/HTML

• Conditions of Use: Custom License

  Fair Use for educational purposes