Customer Reviews

Black Mutiny: Revolt on the Schooner Amistad

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Black Mutiny is a well-written, highly interesting account of the events surrounding the Amistad. It is an excellent companion piece to Spielburg's movie, AMISTAD (this is the book on which the movie was based). The reader should be cautioned, however, that this book is a work of historical fiction. It is not a scholarly account of events, albeit an interesting and -- most probably -- factual one. For me personally this did not detract from the book. But then I am only an amateur historian and enjoy historical fiction if it is done well and does not embellish extensively, and Owens did not. Nevertheless, if the reader is expecting a footnoted text, then this is not the book for you. William Ownes, the late folklorist and English professor, wrote "Black Mutiny" in 1953. To make the book more appealing to today's market, two brief essays by black activists/historians have been added. I recommend not reading either essay until after reading the text, or possibly not reading them at all. They add nothing to Owens' story of Cinque and the Amistad and both essays are bigoted, racially charged and are of interest to only a select audience.

Heard BLACK MUTINY, a novel written by William Owens in 1953 . . . it
is a historical retelling of the true story of 53 illegally enslaved African
who revolted against their captors . . . when their ship was intercepted
and seized by the United States Navy, they were forced to stand trial
for mutiny and murder in a case that reached the Supreme Court.

If any of this sounds familiar, it is because you may have seen
ARMISTAD, a movie that was based on Owen's book . . . I found
the tale a fascinating one; however, its execution left
me wanting something more--perhaps a non-fiction account.

It was difficult to discern what exactly was fact and what was
fiction . . . in fact, after listening, I then went online
to research what actually happened.

Yet that said, BLACK MUTINY did make me more fully appreciate
the many Americans who did stand up to oppose slavery before
it was abolished . . . and, also, made me realize that there were
far too many others who stood by and did nothing.

I set upon to read this book to read a real account of what happened on the Amistad before I saw the movie which I heard was historically flawed. I don't know if that is the case because I have not seen the movie, but this book enriched me in ways I never could have foreseen. This book made me question the "inherent morality" and goodness of America envisioned in the "City on a Hill" analogy invoked by so many people. This book described in vivid detail the plight of Africans that were captured by the Spanish along the Slave Coast and their transport to Cuba. In addition, the book speaks of the complicity of the United States in allowing and, in fact, looking away as the slave trade continued in Havana long after Spain and England had signed a treaty declaring the trade illegal. How ironic that the nation that the United States broke from because of tyranny was the nation almost soley responsible for rescuing captured Africans from their Spanish captors. Owens also tells in the book of how horribly blacks were treated IN THE NORTH being driven out of towns and neighborhoods by people claiming to be Christian. This book makes one take a look at the hipocrisy that fills the history of the United States and how the case of the Amistad underscored the American paradox of "all men are created equal" and the institution of slavery. This book taught me that America has much to be sorry for though HER PROMISE is inspiring. It also taught me why many black people wish to be called African-American...it is the only way to acknowledge a heritage that was lost when upon arrival in Cuba they were given Spanish names denoting a European heritage that is not theirs.