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Slavery and African Americans – Amistad

A Lesson Plan for Secondary Educators

Created by Casey Doyle, SED 741 2003-2004

Topic: Slavery and African Americans

Theme: Freedom is never achieved without a struggle

Standards: 7.4.5, 8.2.2, 8.4.2, 8.6.4, 8.7.2, 8.9.1, 8.9.2

Timeline: One to two days.

Interdisciplinary Component: Film, History and Geography.

Prior Knowledge and Skills: Students should have prior knowledge of the fact that Africans came over here on ships and were sold into slavery.

Introductory Hook: Students will watch a 5-minute clip of the movie Amistad (a movie directed by Steven Spielburg). This scene is in the middle of the movie. “Cinque” the leader of the group of Africans from the boat Amistad are on trial. He tells the court (with the help of an interpreter) the way he arrived in America. The movie goes on to reenact this event. It starts with his wife giving him a special tooth, and then shows his capture, and a short, graphic scene on the boat. Introductory comments include telling the students that this is a graphic movie (I will end the scene before any nudity occurs) about the horrific journey of a group of Mende Africans to the Americas. They were captured from Africa and survived the middle passage. Ask students what the middle passage was. Explain to students that these Africans were brought to the US illegally. This is because it was no longer legal to steal slaves from Africa and bring them to the US. However it was legal to transport slaves from Cuba to the US. The slave transporters (in the movie) are trying to convince the judge that they were brought from Cuba, not Africa. A group of men that believed in the Abolitionist movement fought for their freedom in court. Ask students what the abolitionists stood for, write definition on board. They eventually won their fight and were returned to Africa. Tell students that this was not a normal occurrence and most slaves that were sold into slavery lived as slaves until they could buy their own freedom or escaped their masters. Most slaves were not free until after the Civil War. This story was an expectation because these slaves were sent from Cuba to the North where slavery was not legal any more (except in Connecticut where the were sent to). Ask if they have any questions and clarify anything that seemed complicated.

Lesson Content

Content Introduction: Explain to students that this is a true story but parts of it have been made-up to make it more marketable. I will ask students why they think Hollywood does this to films. It is significant in the fact that a series of trials took place in the pursuit of freeing African slaves. This resulted in the slaves being freed and allowed to return to their homeland. More important though, historically, is the role the story of the Amistad played in building the movement against slavery in the United States.

Day One- After showing the students a clip of the movie Amistad, ask them if they have ever seen this movie. If so, wait for comments and expand on these comments or answer questions. Together as a class we will read a story about the journey of the Amistad. Each student will be assigned to read one paragraph. I will have a map on the overhead of the journey of the Amistad from Africa, to Cuba to Connecticut. Map is located at http://www.educationworld.com/a_images/amistad_map.gif They will be able to refer to this during the reading.

The story of the Amistad begins in 1839. The slave trade is illegal in many parts of the world -- but some slave traders pay no attention to the laws. In western Africa, Africans often kidnap their own to sell as slaves in other parts of the world…

So it was, early in 1839 -- in a place called Mendeland (in the area that is known today as Sierra Leone) Show this on an overhead or pull down map-- that a group of Mende Africans were kidnapped and transported to the African slave port of Lomboko. There a Portuguese slave trader purchased about 500 of the Africans and illegally transported them on the slave ship Tecora to Havana, Cuba. Nearly a third of the slaves died during the long trip -- some from malnutrition, others from beatings.

Upon arrival in Cuba in late June the slaves were separated and sold. Two plantation owners, Spaniards named Jose Ruiz and Pedro Montes, bought 53 of the slaves -- 49 men, one boy, and three girls. Ruiz and Montes packed their cargo and their slaves on board the schooner Amistad and set sail for their plantation at Port Principe, Cuba.

Just a few days out to sea -- on July 2 -- one of the Africans used sign language to ask the Spanish cook what lay in store for the captured slaves on board. The cook jokingly replied in sign language that the Africans would be killed and eaten!

That night -- frightened by the tale of the ship's cook -- one of the slaves, whom the Spaniards called Cinque, used a nail he found to pick the padlocks that kept him chained to another at the legs and wrists. Then he worked to unchain the others. Soon the Africans found on board some sugar cane knives with two-foot-long blades -- the perfect tools for their takeover of the Amistad. Two Africans and two Spaniards were killed in the ensuing struggle.

The African slaves, now in control of the boat, demanded that Ruiz and Montes sail east, toward the rising sun -- back to their African homeland.

But Ruiz and Montes hoped to be rescued from their captors. The crafty Spaniards tried to trick the Africans by heading east into the sun all day. But then, at night, the sailors slowly turned the boat back toward the Americas. The next morning they sailed east. And at night they turned back again. This went on for nearly two months as the Amistad made a zig-zag trip up the Atlantic, off the coast of the United States. During the long trip from Cuba, ten of the Africans died.

Then, on August 26, the Africans beached at Long Island, New York. There they hoped to trade for badly needed supplies. Instead, sailors on the U.S. Navy brig Washington spotted the Amistad. The Navy sailors, after hearing the Spaniards' version of the story, took captive the boat, its cargo, and the Africans. The sailors thought they might receive a reward for capturing the Amistad. If not, they might be able to make money by selling some of the slaves.

The Washington towed the Amistad to New London, Connecticut. The sailors could have towed the Spanish ship to a nearby port in New York, but slavery was illegal in New York. There the sailors wouldn't have any chance of selling the slaves. In Connecticut, slavery was still legal (though, by most accounts, only about 20 slaves lived in the entire state at that time).

On August 29 in New London, based on the hair-raising tale told by Ruiz and Montes, the Africans were ordered to stand trial for mutiny and murder. They were transported to a jail in New Haven, Connecticut, to await trail.

But, so far, the Africans had been unable to tell their side of the story. They couldn't tell their story because they didn't speak English or Spanish. No one understood the language that the Mende Africans spoke. Soon the first of the trials would begin…

The fight for the Africans' freedom was played out in a series of trials that resulted in the slaves being freed and returned to their Mende homeland. More important though, the Amistad played a large role in building the movement against slavery in the United States.

Conclusion: Ask students if this relates to our class theme “Freedom is never achieved without a struggle.” I will ask students to brainstorm ideas and tell me how it relates. We will go over the highlights of the Amistad journey and answer any questions that they might have.

Evaluation: Ask students out loud a series of questions about the story that was just read. These questions include: (These questions will be a review of the story. Tell them that they are going to be asked to write a poem so they should listen to the questions carefully because it will help them.)

1.) Why do you think the journey of the Amistad was important for African Americans at that time?

2.) What do you think it was like for the Africans during the middle passage?

3.) What do you think it was like for the Africans to be taken from their homeland and shipped to America?

4.) If you were in that situation, do you think you would have tried to take over the boat and sail it home?

5.) Was it right for the Africans to be on trial for mutiny and murder?

6.) Did the trial of the Africans and the Amistad play a role in the abolitionist movement in the US? How (give examples)?

Students will be asked to write a poem on the journey of the Amistad using the information that they just heard from reading the story and reviewing questions. The poem must follow this format of the Cinquain or Tanka styles.

Cinquain:

Line 1: the name of your subject.

Line 2: 2 adjectives.

Line 3: 3 nouns.

Line 4: 2 verbs

Line 5: synonym for your subject.

Cinquain Example:

First Visit to the Ocean

She's lost
inside her laugh
before the rising tide
that reaches out to tickle her
bare toes.

Tanka:

Line 1: 5 syllables

Line 2: 7 syllables

Line3: 5 syllables

Line 4: 7 syllables

Line 5: 7 syllables

Tanka Example:

Snow can be awful.
Hail can break your car windows.
Tornados are big!
Tornados are winds that move.
Tornados can blow down trees.

Have students turn in poems and this will conclude the lesson.

Resources:

Amistad by Steven Spielburg

http://www.educationworld.com/

http://www.educationworld.com/a_images/amistad_map.gif