The Amistad as Maritime History
Goals of this exercise:
Students will place the Amistad in perspective of maritime commerce in the early 19th century. Although the incident was remarkable, the elements of the story were a common part of the maritime world. Students may assess the features of the Amistad and its cargo, features of the Tecora, sea lanes, and ports (Lomboko, Havana, New London, New Haven, Sierra Leone) by utilizing primary documents.
Documents for students to utilize include manifests, logbooks, commercial documents, customs records, and passports.
Questions to consider:
How did the above mentioned elements of American maritime commerce affect the lives of Americans in the early 19th century?
How did the Amistad change our perspective on maritime commerce, commodities and international trade?
Exploring Amistad Resources
Primary Documents
1807 U.S. Law on the Slave Trade, U.S. Government, 2 March 1807. The complete language of the 1807 congressional act banning the importation of slaves into the U.S., and to restrict the movements of vessels carrying slaves within the U.S.
A Slaver's Log Book (excerpt), Captain Canna, 1836-1837. Canna describes prelude to becoming one of Pedro Blanco's principals in the African slave trade, the River Gallinas with its environment and natives, and the establishment of his slave factory and authority in New Sester.
A Suspicious Sail--A Pirate, New York Morning Herald, 24 Aug. 1839. This article plays up to the American public fear of slave insurrections with its description of the meandering Amistad as a mysterious and piratical ship.Travels in the West. Cuba; with Notices of Porto Rico, and the Slave Trade, Longman, Orne, Brown, Green, and Longman, 1 Jan 1840. Description of the practice and conditions of slave trade and slavery in Cuba with reference to Puerto Rico and the U. S.
Slave Barracoons, Illustrated London News, 14 April 1849. After being kidnapped or sold into slavery, the Amistad captives were held in barracoons like this one at Logbook on the Gallinas River.
Section of Embarkation Canoe, Illustrated London News, 14 April 1849. Africans were transported from barracoons to vessels like the Tacoma, which carried the Amistad Africans to Cuba. The embarkation canoe pictured here represents the type of vessel used at Logbook on the Gallinas River.
Abolition of the Slave Trade of Gallinas, American Colonization Society, 1 Jan. 1850. An article describing in detail the slave trade as it was practiced at Gallinas, and its end.
Interior of a Slave Ship, Wadsworth Athenaeum, 1 Jan. 1856. Engraving depicting below decks on a slave ship, typical of those used in the transatlantic trade.
Dr. Hall's Report as a Trustee of the Ship: An Examination of Gallinas, James Hall, M.D. 4 Dec. 1856. (African Repository and Colonial Journal, 1 Nov. 1857). A description of slaving as it was practiced at Gallinas.
Inventory and Appraisal of the Schooner Amistad, Spanish Government (National Archives). Pages 28 and 29 of the inventory and appraisal of the Schooner Amistad. (for further pages of the inventory and appraisal, see government papers/customs)
Secondary Material
The Amistad in a Global Maritime Contest, The Connecticut Scholar: Occasional Papers of the Connecticut Humanities Council, 1992. Gaddis Smith investigates the Amistad in the context of international, nineteenth century maritime life. The essay shows how the complexities of trade and law interpretation encompasses the Africans ambiguous relationship with the sea (a symbol of possible freedom, but extreme danger).
Some Precursors of the Amistad Revolt, The Connecticut Scholar: Occasional Papers of the Connecticut Humanities Council, 1992. Blassingame examines the Amistad incident as a challenge to the strength of international law, during a time when the morality and also importance of the slave trade for economic prosperity was being hotly debated.
Searching for the Historic Amistad, Quentin Snediker, The Log of Mystic Seaport, Spring, 1998. This essay outlines the project based at Mystic Seaport that will reconstruct the schooner Amistad. It also explores the original ship's appearance, layout, and its extensive historical background.
Voyage to Freedom, An Exhibit at Mystic Seaport. An explanation of the Mallory building's exhibit--"Voyage to Freedom"--as well as Andy German's essay describing the essential link between the Amistad incident and American maritime history.
Exploring the Amistad Library: Maps . The entire collection of maps and nautical charts.
Africa: Gallinas, in Discovery Section/Places. Gallinas and the Gallinas River developed into a center for the lucrative slave trade business that the British patrolling vessels could not successfully control.
Cuba, in Discovery Section/Places. "Havana, Cuba was the busiest African slave market in the Americas in 1839, north of Brazil...."
King Siaka: Coastal African Ruler, in Discovery Section/People. "Sometime in the late-1810s, as the volume of slave trading on the Gallinas River began to grow, a Vai chief named Siaka emerged as a dominant power in the region...."
Pedro Blanco: Slave Trader, in Discovery Section/People. "Several dozen white slavers established themselves in Gallinas in the early 1800s, building slave "factories" along the banks of the Kerefe, or on islands in the lagoon, to feed Cuba's voracious appetite for slaves. The most notorious was Pedro Blanco..."The Baracoons of Gallinas, in Discovery Section/Story. "From the
interior, the Africans were marched to the delta at the mouth of the Gallinas River...."The Middle Passage, in Discovery Section/Story. A description of the middle passage, the section of the slave ship's journey that was extremely long, harsh, and difficult.
The Cuban Slave Market, in Discovery Section/Story. After the middle passage, the Tacoma prisoners were transported to the Havana seaport, the center of Cuba's slave trading market.
