The Amistad Rebellion: An Atlantic Odyssey of Slavery and Freedom

by Marcus Rediker

On June 28, 1839, the Spanish slave schooner Amistad set sail from Havana on a routine delivery of human cargo. On a moonless night, after four days at sea, the captive Africans rose up, killed the captain, and seized control of the ship. They attempted to sail to a safe port, but were captured by the U.S. Navy and thrown into jail in Connecticut. Their legal battle for freedom eventually made its way to the Supreme Court, where their cause was argued by former president John Quincy Adams. In a landmark ruling, they were freed and eventually returned to Africa. The rebellion became one of the best-known events in the history of American slavery, celebrated as a triumph of the legal system in films and books, all reflecting the elite perspective of the judges, politicians, and abolitionists involved in the case. In this powerful and highly original account, Marcus Rediker reclaims the rebellion for its true the African rebels who risked death to stake a claim for freedom. Using newly discovered evidence, Rediker reframes the story to show how a small group of courageous men fought and won an epic battle against Spanish and American slaveholders and their governments. He reaches back to Africa to find the rebels’ roots, narrates their cataclysmic transatlantic journey, and unfolds a prison story of great drama and emotion. Featuring vividly drawn portraits of the Africans, their captors, and their abolitionist allies, he shows how the rebels captured the popular imagination and helped to inspire and build a movement that was part of a grand global struggle between slavery and freedom. The actions aboard the Amistad that July night and in the days and months that followed were pivotal events in American and Atlantic history, but not for the reasons we have always thought. The successful Amistad rebellion changed the very nature of the struggle against slavery. As a handful of self-emancipated Africans steered their own course to freedom, they opened a way for millions to follow. This stunning book honors their achievement. 

Genres: History, Nonfiction, American History, Africa, Biography, Race, African American

304 pages, Hardcover

First published November 1, 2012

About the author

Marcus Rediker is Distinguished Professor of Atlantic History at the University of Pittsburgh and Senior Research Fellow at the Collège d’études mondiales in Paris. He is the author of numerous prize-winning books, including The Many-Headed Hydra (with Peter Linebaugh), The Slave Ship, and The Amistad Rebellion. He produced the award-winning documentary film Ghosts of Amistad (Tony Buba, director), about how the Amistad Mutiny of 1839 lives on today in popular memory among the people of Sierra Leone.

Reviews

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just have time to write a brief review now. I knew about the Amistad mutiny from the 1997 film starring Djimon Hounsou as Cinque, the leader of the rebels who took control of the Spanish slave ship "Amistad." The author focused on the Africans. It was their determination to free themselves and return home to Africa that was the main reason that they succeeded. Cinque became a powerful symbol of a fighter against oppression and, as Rediker points out, perhaps the main result of the Amistad case was the increased militancy of the abolition movement. African Americans would join the Union Army and Navy and fight for their freedom in the Civil War--in the spirit of Cinque.

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

Most people know about the Amistad, if they know of it at all, from Spielberg's 1997 movie. But there is much more to the story, and no one is better suited to tell it than University of Pittsburgh historian Marcus Rediker, whose previous book looked at the transatlantic slave trade through the device of the slave ship itself.

Rediker's book sets the Amistad rebellion in the context of growing ferment over the slave trade. Just 20 years away from the Civil War, the case began when a group of African slaves being transported on a small boat from Havana to Haiti took control of the ship, killing the captain and a cook, and then tried to sale the boat back to Sierra Leone, from which they had been shipped as slaves. Their navigator fooled them by sailing east when he was being watched but then heading north when he was not, so that the ship was eventually seized off Long Island and the slaves, led by the charismatic Mende warrior Cinque, were taken to a jail in Connecticut.

The judge in the case as known for his racism, and yet surprisingly ruled that because the Africans had not lived for very long in the Spanish territories and because both the United States and Spain had banned the slave trade at that point, the men had been seized illegally and were free to go. However, the pro-Southern president, Martin Van Buren, immediately had the case appealed, and so it took more than two years before the African captives could get a hearing before the Supreme Court, which again surprisingly (given the preponderance of Southerners on the court) upheld the slaves' freedom. Eventually they raised enough money to sail back to Sierra Leone as free men.

Those are the bare facts of the case, but Rediker offers much more. He showed how American abolitionists were absolutely crucial to the Africans' release, but how the abolitionists' goals -- to prove how much they had civilized and Christianized the captives -- were at odds with the Africans' goals, which were to learn English and please their supporters primarily so they could argue the case to return to their homes. Even after they arrived in Sierra Leone, there was conflict, because missionaries who traveled with them thought the Amistad crew would become a Westernized force for Christian mission, whereas most of the former slaves left the missionaries quickly and resumed the lives of freedom they had always wanted.

Rediker also demonstrates what a sensation the case caused. Within days of their capture, the Amistad slaves' story had been turned into a jam-packed New York play. One artist painted a huge canvas of their rebellion, twice as long as the Amistad itself. And another sculpted each of the Africans in lifesize wax for an exhibition. As they awaited their appeals, the Africans also performed gymnastics on the green in New Haven to earn money. Some of their abolitionist supporters thought this an undignified exercise, but the Africans were actually performing tricks that were part of their secret society initiation rituals from Africa.

It is these rich details and Rediker's sense of narrative flow that make this book so worthwhile to read.

[Christopher Saunders · Rating 5 out of 5]

Marcus Rediker's The Amistad Rebellion provides a fresh perspective on that most famous of slave revolts: the mutiny aboard a Spanish slave ship that became a cause celebre when its participants were captured and tried by the American government on charges of piracy and murder. Rediker (The Slave Ship) goes beyond the well-chronicled courtroom battles inspired by the case to explore the lives of Cinque and his followers, painting an account of Mende life in West Africa and their complex interaction with the transatlantic slave trade. Rediker makes clear that, though slavery certainly existed in West Africa at the time, it was largely a consequence of war until the influx of Europeans made the slave trade profitable. Rediker spares not the horror of the voyage or the bloody mutiny before segueing into the Rebellion's impact on American society. Almost immediately, the slaves became a symbol for abolitionists, whose cause was galvanized by the event; Cinque became a national icon celebrated in song, painting and plays as he and his followers awaited trial. The book convincingly argues that the case's impact, while far from a death blow to slavery, helped make abolition a mainstream cause by showcasing the cruelties inflicted upon trade - and how legalistic half-measures did nothing to stop an illicit traffic in human cargo. A masterful account of a well-trod historical event.

[Beige Alert · Rating 4 out of 5]

My new book selection process is going well so far. I'm liking how approaching reading lists topically and chronologically is assisting with context. Nat Turner (well/kinda considering the book), Amistad, Tacky, and now Harriot Tubman contextualize, refer back, and reinforce each other.

Odd I've never tried something like this before.

...Oh wait, it's not. I am undisciplined and disorderly and I have tried this before.

Amistad Rebellion is a worthy successor to The Slave Ship, which was a very tough but excellent read. Rediker works hard and succeeds at making sure the story centers on the group of enslaved rebels rather than supporters and/or opponents.

I didn't know that Rediker and a film crew went to Sierra Leone and made a documentary until reading the epilogue which I'm going to watch soon. The (comparative) wealth of primary materials really helped add a lot of color to the story though besides Cinqué I still had some difficulties with the who's who from time to time, which is a recurring theme with me. I should make a posterboard of characters to refer to for future books.

As for the Hollywood movie version of this story, um, maybe, no? It's Spielberg, so I wouldn't be shocked to find out the movie ends up being about John Quincy Adams.


JOHN QUINCY ADAMS

[Doria · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an absolutely terrific book, exhaustively researched, written with sensitivity and imagination. And the narrative it describes is truly extraordinary, improbable and almost impossible to fathom. Not only did the story of the taking of the ship Amistad make history, it changed it as well.

It is unusual for a work of strictly historical non-fiction to be a nail-biting page-turner, at times impossible to put down. Even knowing the ultimate outcome of Cinque and his shipmates - and the broader impact that their actions had on the destiny of the United States - I still was drawn in by the tension and sheer excitement and exhilaration provoked by the narrative. Brilliantly paced, expertly narrated, drawn exclusively from first-person accounts, newspaper articles, letters, plays, paintings and oral descriptions - even quotes from the Amistad rebels themselves, the story is told with economy, but also with sufficient background and supporting information so as to give the reader a sense of broad and also local context, on both sides of the Atlantic.

The dramatic and true tale of the Amistad ex-captives created an outpouring of literary, artistic, legal, journalistic, and political responses when they arrived on American soil. They galvanized the Abolitionist movement, among both white Americans and African-Americans, as well as provoking angry outbursts from the Ant-abolitionists. They inspired further acts of defiance and rebellion in their wake, and they acted enzymatically upon the broader Anti-Slavery movement in the U.S.

The author has done a brilliant job of articulating the many voices and viewpoints represented by the intersection of the many diverse people and groups who played a part in the Amistad story. He skillfully weaves all of these voices into a coherent narrative which was a joy to read, as well as being fascinating and thought-provoking. Highly recommended to readers everywhere! If I had read this book in high school, I might have been inspired to be a United States historian. Hopefully, others will feel the same!

[Igor · Rating 5 out of 5]

A somehow different account as it happened in so many different places. Interior and litoral of Africa, Brazil, EUA, Haiti and Canada. Quite a journey, isn't it? Still a very short autobiography.

The poor fellow suffered a lot indeed.

The book tells about a anonymous panphlet: "No Rum! No Sugar! or, the Voice of Blood, being half an hour's conversation between a Negro and an English Gentleman shewing the horrible nature of the slave trade, etc".

Huge title as it was usual those days in 1792. I found it on 'Google books' for free to be read.

Interesting because it was the first time I found a material from that period, linking slavery and its abuses with consuming of run, sugar, and other tropical itens.

Not so well known book. Still very interesting.

[Cara Wittich · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow! This was an exceptional read. I was not well versed in this horrific historic event; this book was a great way to learn. I would recommend this read to anyone looking to expand their understanding of the complex and tragic slave trade.

[Sandy Lewis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent book on a horrible event in history

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting book about the Amistad and those who became embroiled in its saga, which tells a lot about the slave trade and the world in the 1830s, the African men and their various backgrounds, the cities and towns where they lived in, the secret societies they belonged to, and the skills they brought to recover their freedom, along with sketches of the white Americans who assisted them or just found them fascinating, down to sketches of the various artists who came by the New Haven jail to draw their portraits, because you could pay entry to the jail in New Haven and visit with the Amistad captives and that was the hot thing to do on the East Coast for a while in the 1830s.

[Jlsimon · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a re-read/listen for me. I've been in the mood to revisit stories I enjoyed in the past.

Here we have the story of free Africans stolen from their homes to be enslaved by slave traders. I love that all of the main players in this book are real. I love that the author relies upon letters written by the Africans after having been here long enough to learn the language.

This is not a book telling the movie. The movie, though portraying the same story does not do this one justice. Cinqué, is a marvelous leader. His determination to return home is profoundly moving. His bravery is inspiring. His ability to lead, undeniable.

We learn the fates of those who made the journey with him across the Atlantic. We learn how they had to earn their passage home. We learn how they were driven in their need to learn English so that they had a say in their own fate. We learn how these people were strong enough to assimilate in order to reach their goals without having to compromise who they truly were.

We further learn the experience of the abolitionists that journeyed with the Africans back to Africa experienced their return to their home land and customs.

This story is one of my very favorites. I have no doubt I will read or listen to it again.

I would recommend this book to everyone. This book should be required reading in high school. It teaches about history, world culture, values, strength, determination, hardship, diversity, and what we should all know long before high school, meaning:

1. Stealing is wrong.
2. Bigotry is bad.
3. Change is hard but often worth while.
4. Work for what you want/need.
5. Stand up for what is right.

[Naomi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rediker is one of the finest social historians writing today, one who has revealed the working poor and enslaved who rebelled and found a life in piracy, and who has written at great length on the slave trade. _The Amistad Rebellion_ demonstrates once again why Rediker is a master of his craft. The story of the rebellion was compelling in 1839 and is compelling today. But Rediker makes it even more interesting, in giving us more than bare outlines of the major characters, connecting popular support for the freedom fighters with the arts and with issues and events in labor, and bringing forward, more clearly than any other history of the Amistad Rebellion that I have read, the seamen of African descent who made it possible for the imprisoned to survive and for the case to be won in the name of freedom. Rediker gives a fine account of the backgrounds of those who survived and lead the fight for freedom, what happened to them after they won their legal case as free people, and ramifications of their bravery for the enslaved upon _The Creole_, the Vigilance Committees, and the American antislavery movement. Absolutely thrilling history, and one that gives considerable food for thought, and ethical questions to explore.

[Bill O'driscoll · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very useful and well-written book. Rediker tells the story of the Africans from their point of view, and explains the cultural context as well as the personalities that made the successful rebellion possible. He also argues persuasively that the Africans -- despite their limited English -- played a key role in their own court defense in a series of cases leading to the USSC showdown depicted in the Spielberg film. Of particular interest is the Africans' complex relationship with the abolitionists who aided them, but who didn't necessarily want the Africans seen as the Africans saw themselves -- as warriors fighting for their freedom. Redikers' "history from below" approach, in which the actions of ordinary people (not just those of presidents and generals) take precedence, deserves more widespread employment.

[DaveH · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm in a slump. Once again, wanted to like this book a lot. Great subject, lots of information I didn't get from the movie. But it was written like a term paper. Jumped around time-wise without reason, couldn't tell the story clearly or straight through. Didn't even finish it.

[Monica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rediker did a great job recounting the Amistad rebellion and the men involved in it, expressly focusing on the Africans involved.

Most popular knowledge about the Amistad focuses on the American court action, especially before the Supreme Court and the advocacy of former president John Quincy Adams. Rediker covers that in a scant few pages.

Instead, he focuses on the Africans themselves: their names, what we know of their lives before they were enslaved, their culture, their travails during transportation, and the rebellion itself. He then continues the focus with their efforts to get home, their seizure and imprisonment in the US, and their further efforts to get home.

Throughout Rediker shows the agency of the Africans: how they retook their freedom, their efforts to shape the legal arguments used in their cases, etc. He shows many instances of how their actions and behaviors were shaped by their culture and history, and their determination to achieve their ends on their terms, but also their adaptability when they needed it to get ahead. That was exemplified in their relationship with the abolitionists that helped them in the US: they played to their audience to gain allies and get home, and then reverted to themselves and their own culture once they got home.

All in all, a very good read and a great example of telling history from the bottom up; Rediker did a great job at restoring the Africans to their rightful central and active role in their rebellion and efforts to regain their freedom and homeland.

[Katie Bee · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful book. I really appreciated how Rediker centered his approach on the experiences, thoughts, and arguments of the Amistad rebels. While the abolitionists also appeared (and Rediker expertly illuminates the tension between the abolitionists' goals and the Africans' goals, which were not always exactly in alignment), the central focus of Rediker's book is always the rebels. That is refreshing and the only way this story could be properly told. I'm very glad (and a little surprised!) that enough primary sources survived to make that possible. I'm also very glad I read a later edition that had an added epilogue, in which Rediker goes to Africa and consults local elders for their oral histories. I wish we knew much more about the rebels' lives after their return to Africa.

I will definitely be keeping an eye out for Rediker's other books.

[James Carroll · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm only half-way through reading this book, but I already feel like I can review it. I'm impressed that the first 100 pages only get the reader through Africa, the Middle Passage, Cuba, and the rebellion - that says something about Rediker's level of respect for the experience of the Amistad Africans. The main thing I hated about Spielberg's movie about the Amistad rebellion was that it turned the narrative into one of a white man saving a bunch of poor Africans rather than a story about a group of Africans who saved themselves. Rediker's book, so far, is a remedy for that Hollywood-white-man-hero, turning the Amistad Africans into full-blown characters in their own story.

I'll be interested to see how the rest of the book unfolds.

[Patti · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book peaked my interest in that I had never heard of this rebellion and the legal fallout as well as its reverberations in the abolitionist movement. I have been to Sierra Leone for missionary trips so the subject holds a special place in my heart. The author was detailed in his narrative of the story which had me eagerly turning pages to see what unfolded next. He shines a light on a slave ship rebellion that went all the way to SCOTUS setting a precedent for legal cases bright by the abolitionist movement. This is history that should be taught in our schools and every child should learn about this incident. My only dislike with the book was some repetitiveness from the author in the details from chapter to chapter. Definitely recommend this book.

[John Richens · Rating 5 out of 5]

An enthralling read, expertly laid out. It is extraordinary how the rebels managed to get the Amistad to a distant place of relative safety, despite having no knowledge of navigation and no common language with the only person who had navigational experience. The way in which ordinary Americans were captivated by the heroic story was heart-warming, especially at a time when the treatment of African Americans both free and enslaved was so abhorrent. The seizure of the ship and the Supreme Court dramas were equally gripping while the African re-unification scene was intensely emotional. A terrific read.

[D.W. Plato · Rating 4 out of 5]

While researching a book I'm writing, I stumbled across this historical book and wondered how I'd never heard this story. (oh yea, the white-washing of American history...) I'm going to seek out the Spielberg movie and see how it was created into film, in the meantime, this is a story that needs to be heard.

[Michael Craft · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rediker does what few enough do when telling the story of the Amistad Rebellion: he highlights the role of the slaves themselves, rather than the system which granted them their freedom after-the-fact. It is a gripping, harrowing tale, and Rediker's narrative style lends itself well to this dramatic history.

[Valeria]

I read this for school, but I did enjoy the story. It was an eye-opening story about slavery. The injustices of slavery are seen from first-hand accounts. The book shows how the slaves were able to work with abolitionists to convince people of the horrors of slavery and worked towards their freedom. I recommend this book to anyone who wants evidence of successful freedom stories.

[Kasey Ketterling · Rating 4 out of 5]

Like a lot of people I learned about this story from the Spielberg released in 1997. This was a worthwhile book proving more insight into the Africans and the efforts of the abolitionists to free them. Perhaps one of the most interesting points was that they earned much of the return passage to Africa by performing for people that wanted to get a look.

[CN · Rating 3 out of 5]

8/47–Martin Van Buren

Not sure that this is truly an adequate Van Buren book, but his participation in the events (minimal but enraging) is certainly revealing of the state of his presidency.

Style and my own expectations were the enemy here; the content is impeccable and the research is excellent, but it felt like a textbook when I was anticipating an adventure story.

[Loudon McAndrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

I took a while to read this book, mainly because of the savage conditions in which the slaves were kept on board depressed me no end and I could only read a few pages at a time. Although it added to my knowledge I felt that there was too much repetition of events and too many names to keep proper track of the narrative.

[Dionne · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Amistad movie only tells a small portion of the true story of the men and women aboard the Amistad. I enjoyed learning a lot more in this book about their lives and the impact the Amistad case had on the issue of slavery in the United States.

[Laura]

Excellent! I enjoyed it from beginning to end. The author has a real talent in bringing to life events on the dreadful middle passage. I especially like how he humanized and centered the Africans who staged the rebellion.

[Candace Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

"This movement would help to establish the right of unfree people to seize freedom through armed self-defense and to claim their place as equals in society."
I read this book for Professor Ron Gordon's Antebellum American class in the fall of 2015. It's an amazing read!

[Selena]

Sime history I knew almost nothing about. but like the last book I read on Chinese Transcontinental RR that kept calling them "the railroad Chinese," hearing the phrase "the Amistad Africans" repeatedly was grating.

[Calvin · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF

[Pat Carson · Rating 4 out of 5]

You have seen the movie...now read the details from the African perspective. Super footnotes.