Amistad Movie Questions
What does Cinque see at Adams' residence that reminds him of home?
African Violets
Why did the President change the judge? What political implications did it have?
Because Baldwin's side is winning. The judge was from the South.
Why were the Africans at such a disadvantage in this case?
Because most of the Supreme Court Judges were Southern slave owners and language
Why did the case go to the Supreme Court?
Because the government wouldn't accept the decision and repealed it.
How does this illustrate the reason slaves were taken from Africa rather than from Native American populations?
Because there were more slaves there to get. (((language - more slaves had the same language so they communicate))))
Explain the argument that they are not legally slaves.
Because they were citizens in Africa and also the Declaration of Independence stated that all men were equal under law.
Who led the revolt aboard the ship?
Cinque
What types of goods would they use to buy the slaves in Africa?
Copper, brass pans, and guns
Where did the captives move to while waiting to go home?
Farmington, Connecticut
From where did the Amistad originally set sail?
Havana Cuba
Why did President Van Buren want the captives to lose their case?
He feared re-election, was worried about a civil war, and feared retaliation from Spain.
How did Josiah Gibbs (part of the Amistad Committee) break the communication problem with the captives? Why was this important?
He learned to speak 1 to 10 in Mende. They went to the docks repeating the #'s until they found the translator
What was the argument used by John Quincy Adams in defending the captives in the Supreme Court?
He used the Declaration of Independence. It stated that all men are equal under the law.
What types of goods, according to the Triangular Trade, would the Spanish get for the slaves?
Textiles, Cotton, and Spices
Who became the translator?
James Covey
Who were the two abolitionists that were looking for someone to take the case?
Joadson and Tappan
Who was the ex-president that eventually joined the Amistad Committee?
John Quincy Adams
What was the decision handed down by Judge Judson (Judge #2)?
That the Africans were free-born and and should be returned to Africa.
What languages did he fluently speak?
Mende
Where was the Amistad captured after the revolt?
Montauk point Long Island New York
What charges were levied against the captives?
Murder and Piracy
List the five groups that argued the issue of the 44 of the Amistad.
Navy, Queen Isabella II, slaves, the lawyer, John Quincy Adams
Who does the kidnapping in Africa?
Other Africans
What country owns that ship?
Protuguese - Tecora /Spain - Amistad
Who became the lawyer for the captives? (part of the Amistad Committee)
Roger Baldwin
What three groups were trying to claim the Africans as property?
Ruiz & Montez, Lt. Gedney of the USS Washington, Queen Isabella II of Spain
Where is Lomboka Slave Fortress?
Sierra Leone
What was the theme or reason for telling the story?
Slaves are humans
Describe the Middle Passage of the slave trade.
The Middle Passage was the stage of the triangular trade in which millions of Africans were shipped to the New World as part of the Atlantic slave trade.
What other boat was involved in Cinque and the other Africans' capture and transport?
The Tecora
What slave ship transported the captives from Lomboka to Cuba?
The Tecora
How did Ruiz and Montez get the ship to Montauk point?
The sailed East during the day and Northeast during the night
What kind of reception did Cinque have when he returned to Africa?
They honored his race.
How did the Supreme Court settle this famous case?
They set the Africans free and let them go home
The year is 1839. What has been happening in the Americas?
They were on the edge of the Civil War.
What part of Africa did most of the slaves come from? What happened to those areas during and after slavery?
Western Africa
