Amistad

A detailed Summary of Amistad


Steven Spielberg's "Amistad" is centered on the legal status of

Africans caught and brought to America on a Spanish slave ship. The Africans rise up and begin a mutiny against their captors on the high seas and are brought to trial in a New England court. The court must decide if the Africans are actually born as slaves or if they were illegally brought from Africa. If the Africans were born as slaves then they would be guilty of murder, but if their being brought here from Africa is illegal, they had the right to defend themselves. This was not such a simple issue since the slave trade had been banned by treaties at the time of the Amistad incident in 1839. The movie starts on board the Amistad. On the ship the leader of the Africans, Cinque, frees himself from his chains and frees the rest of h


A translator is found who helps him express his consternation at the legal system that may free him but will not correct or even address the real crime against him. Cinque learns enough of America to see it's faults. Also, in this movie is President Martin Van Buren, who is portrayed as a feeble man of compromise who wants only to keep the South off his back.

slavery. This is where Cinque emerges as a powerful character. He was once a free farmer living in peace with his now lost wife and family. His wife and his village are shown, which helps to understand how cruelly he and the others were all ripped from their lives and ambitions. Cinque spoke no English at the beginning of the movie, but he learns some while he is in prison

destination in Cuba. The two men who bought them are spared, and pr

Some common words found in the essay are:
Declaration Independence, Roger Baldwin, Africa Africans, America Spanish, Africans Cinque, Quincy Adams, Luckily Northern, Spielberg's Amistad, Instead Amistad, Supreme Court, supreme court, england court, court supreme, brought africa, born slaves, court supreme court,

Approximate Word count = 542
Approximate Pages = 2 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Movies

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