Amistad: The Slave Uprising Aboard the Spanish Schooner [Paperback]

Helen Kromer (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 1997

Echoing a cry for freedom that can still be heard today, "Amistad" portrays the dignity and agony of the charismatic leader Cinque and 52 other kidnapped Africans, who overthrew their captors and embarked on a long journey toward liberty in a world that aimed to deny them justice. Written for readers of all ages, the book includes period illustrations and maps.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Kromer, a New York-based playwright and writer of television scripts, here considers the 1839 mutiny by 53 Africans aboard a Spanish slave ship, La Amistad ("Friendship") off the Cuban coast. The mutineers were tricked by the two surviving crew members into sailing to the Long Island coast instead of Africa; they were seized by the U.S. Navy, imprisoned, and charged with murder and piracy. From documents, newspaper articles, and testimonies, Kromer presents a lively account, similar to Howard Jones's Mutiny on the Amistad (Oxford Univ., 1987), of the intrigues and horrors of the slave trade on the northwestern coast of Africa and the classic Supreme Court trial, with the Africans' abolitionist legal team joined by former President John Quincy Adams. In March 1841, the U.S. Supreme Court freed the surviving 35 Africans, and ten months later they returned to Sierra Leone. La Amistad is the only slave schooner known to have been successfully commandeered by its captives. Highly recommended for all readers. [The recently released Steven Spielberg film, Amistad, should heighten interest in this new book.?Ed.]?Edward G. McCormack, Univ. of Southern Mississippi Gulf Coast Lib., Long Beac.
-?Edward G. McCormack, Univ. of Southern Mississippi Gulf Coast Lib., Long Beach
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Paperback: 98 pages
• Publisher: Pilgrim Press (December 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0829812652
• ISBN-13: 978-0829812657
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 5 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #356,721 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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5.0 out of 5 stars Amistad: The Slave Uprising Abord the Spanish Schooner, January 21, 2012

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This review is from: Amistad: The Slave Uprising Aboard the Spanish Schooner (Paperback)

As a budding teacher, I am dismayed to find that children do not know American History. This version of Amistad will help young ones realize that slavery was not "being grounded" but a system that hurt entire nations of people from Africa. The lives of the passengers of Amistad fought fiercely for freedom and there were whites in America who did care to help them. ALL Americans need to know this story so that they can reflect on their own advantages and disadvantages - then put both in the right perspective.Amistad: The Slave Uprising Aboard the Spanish Schooner