Amistad: The Slave Uprising Aboard the Spanish Schooner

by Helen Kromer

Almost 160 years ago, a group of kidnapped Africans aboard the Spanish slave ship La Amistad revolted and attempted to set sail for home. Instead, after being misguided by the captive crew to the coast of New England, they found themselves embroiled in a tempest of controversy.
An international debate would rage for two years regarding whether the Africans were indeed property or whether they were to be considered free. Led by the charismatic Cinque, the proud sojourners had not only endured the hellish Middle Passage and survived the harrowing revolt, but they would confront a hostile foreign culture - and the prospect of being deported to a changed Africa.
A gripping account of a noble and bittersweet struggle, "Amistad" is a story never to be forgotten. Echoing a cry for freedom that can still be heard around the world today, Helen Kromer's work preserves the dignity and agony of the lonely, frightened handful of slaves who overthrew their captors and embarked on a long trip toward liberty in a world that aimed to deny them justice.

Genres: History, Nonfiction

98 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 1997

Reviews

[Ray · Rating 4 out of 5]

[ paperback ]

A quick snippet of a book.

I actually hadn’t read about Amistad, nor have I seen the movie. It’s a depressing, yet slightly hopeful story.

I’m not entirely on board with this retelling as there were some odd phrasing that seemed a bit too white-centric, as I assume the author is/was. Mind you, these phrases weren’t out and out racist just a bit telling of the engrained biases we can easily possess.

After the entire horrific ordeal these victims endured, the damn abolitionists still wanted to keep the victims and make them damn christians… only to change their minds after one committed suicide… to which the abolitionists STILL set up a stupid missionary in Africa. Ugh. Ugh. Ugh.

*Also, it didn’t seem that the author saw anything wrong with this missionary business, but maybe I am reading into it too much as the author’s opinions were never discussed… but the way the book talks about how most of the captured Africans returned back to their own communities and left the mission had a weird feel to it.

** I guess that was technically a spoiler but I’m not tagging this as a spoiler unless people complain.

*** This book includes an excerpt of a letter Singbe wrote to J Q Adams that had me in tears. The words transcended history for me. Chilling.

**** Originally published under a slightly different name in 1973.

[MindfulMuslimReader · Rating 4 out of 5]

We rate children's books for virtue, language, story, and beauty and flag content advisories when needed.

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“Books Worth Reading”

[Elisabeth Ensor · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a read aloud for our Western Expansion American history! It was pretty advanced reading level for my younger son, I liked it overall.

[Laura Ocasio · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was interesting. It was shorter than I thought it would be. Is not a first hand account but more of a retelling about people who watched it and were involved with the trail.

[Nisha · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is about black people on a slave ship. They mutiny and kill the white slave traders on board. Then they have to fight for their freedom in court.

I liked this book a lot. It wasn't all boring facts and flat, uninteresting narrative.

[Jerry Landry · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very quick read with some general information about the Amistad case. It whetted my interest to learn more about the case.

[Edward ott · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent quick overview of the Amistad incident