Amistad Slave Revolt and American Abolition

In 1839, fifty-three West Africans brought to Cuba and sold as slaves, seized the ship La Amistad; killed two men; and sailed toward the rising sun. This way, their leader Cinque reasoned, they would reach home. But at night their Spanish captives steered west, and so the Amistad zig-zagged north to Long Island, New York. Here it was captured by the US Navy and towed to New Haven in the slave state of Connecticut. Over the next two years, the Amistad incident was to write a new chapter in the history of American abolition. In this carefully researched and gripping story, Karen Zeinert clarifies the complexities of the Amistad incident: international relations; economic realities; political and legal maneuverings; and, of course, human rights. A former history teacher, Zeinert is the author of several books for young adults.