Leading up to the trial of the Africans, Spielberg illustrates the horrors the slaves endured as they were captured and taken from their homes. It is very distressing to see the cruelty that was imposed on the slaves as they were captured. The slaves were shackled and chained, then packed in an unsanitary, overcrowded slave ship, and exposed to inhuman treatment, on the Portuguese slaver Tecora as it makes its way through the Middle Passage towards Cuba. Although a third of the slaves died aboard the Tecora before it reached it's destination, those that survived the trip were eventually auctioned into slavery in Havanna, Cuba..

While Stephen Spielberg did use humor to help subdue the emotional content of the movie the historical content remained relatively true to fact with a few exceptions. There were a few historical facts that were omitted from the move. In the movie, John Quincy Adams was moved to represent the Africans by a talk he had with Cinque in John Quincy Adam's greenhouse. The true facts are that John Quincy Adams was moved to support the Africans in the Supreme Court by a letter that was written by Kali, one of the African children. In this emotional letter she makes the statement, "All We Want Is Make Us Free".

Djimon Hounsou, a 33-year old native of Benin played the role of Cinque a native Mendi African from Sierra Leone. He does an outstanding job in the portrayal Cinque. The most impressive scene being when Cinque, stands up in the courtroom scene where he stands up and says, "Make Us Free", "Make Us Free". I felt this was the most emotional part of the entire movie.

The Abolitionists play a big part in the outcome of this trial. Abolitionists to enhance strong public emotion against slavery, begin publicizing the horror stories and brutalities of slavery. They felt sorry for the slaves and with the help of Edward Tappin, an abolitionist leader, they secured the services of an attorney Roger S. Baldwin of Connecticut to defend the Africans. What amazed me, is that even with odds against the Africans, as the judge in the trial, Andrew T. Judson was an opponent of slavery and he was also under pressure by President Van Buren to send the Africans back

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Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)