Some of you might have heard of what I am going to talk to you about. La Amistad was originally named Friendship in Spanish, but then was renamed when it was bought by Spain. La Amistad helped the abolishment of slavery in 1839. La Amistad was used as a slave ship to transport Africans from Africa.
The story commences with the kidnapping of 53 people from Africa. They were sold in the transatlantic slave trade and transported to Havana, Cuba by the slave vessel Tecora. In Cuba they were falsely classified as Cuban born slaves.
The now called slaves, were illegally bought by Spaniards, they were now transported in La Amistad. The journey was awful, the captives were treated horribly, they were all handcuff in the basement, they were not able to go to the bathroom, everyday some one would come down and poor food in open hands, if your hands were not there you did not get anything to eat. They had to sleep on wood, if someone died beside you in the bed, they were not disposed of, and you had to sleep with the dead body. The women were thrown over board, all handcuffed together with a bag of bricks on the other end. The men that were old and weak would be thrown over also, most of which could not swim.
About 3 days after they left Cuba, the Africans took over the ship, killing everyone else on the ship. After 63 days, La Amistad was taken by the United States Naval Cutter USS Washington near New York. The ship was then towed to Connecticut harbor.
The Africans were help in jail in New Haven with charges of insubordination and murder. The case acquired a high profile when the President, John Quincy Adams argued in front of the United States Court on behalf of the Africans. After the hearing, it because a historical U.S Supreme Court ruling, which the captives won their freedom. In 1841 the 35 surviving Africans returned back to their homes in Africa.
La Amistad was one of the most important stories in black history. In the summer of 2006, they had a model ship of La Amistad at the Halifax harbor. You were able to walk on the ship to see how small it was underneath. It was very interesting; I was able to go underneath in the slave hold to see how you could not even stand up straight because the roof was so low. There is also a movie based on the story, the movie is very disturbing to watch, it is very sad and it makes you think about how we were treated back in the day. It was a horrible event and I am thankful that they were sent back to their homes. I have some ancestors who were brought over by ships also, it is not a great experience for them, but I guess if it was not for them being brought to Canada, I would not be alive today.
3 comments:
Wow, It's awful to think people could treat others so horribly. Your blog is so informative. I am learning so many things i never knew before.
That is so sad that people could treat others in such a manner. The traveling conditions the slaves had to endure were so horrible. Reading this gives me a little sense of empathy, considering how I travel.
Please contact me if you are still blogging on the plight of black Americans.Your blog is excellent. I am a close friend of Malcolm's daughter Ilyasah (third daughter). I'm building a website for kids on Malcolm so they get the real truth and not the history handed to them in text books that paint Malcolm simply as a troublemaker who advocated violence, which we both know is untrue. My email is John.Fixmer@google.com
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