Black Mutiny: The Revolt on the Schooner Amistad

Front Cover
Black Classic Press, 1997 - 322 pages
Originally published in 1953, Black Mutiny remains one of the most detailed accounts of the Amistad revolt. In 1839, under the leadership of Cinque, the enslaved Mendi aboard the schooner Amistad killed the ship's captain and took control of the vessel in a valiant attempt to regain their freedom. Cinque's attempts to guide the ship back to Africa were thwarted by surviving members of the Amistad's crew. The schooner was seized off the coast of New York by the U.S. Navy, and Cinque and his comrades quickly became the source of a national debate over slavery and its abolition. For two years, the debate raged in local courts, eventually moving to the Supreme Court, where President Van Buren and former President John Quincy Adams found themselves on opposites sides of the controversy. As the arguments were heard, the country watched and waited to see what the Africans' fate would be. Essentially, both Bell and Dyson observe that the difficult questions raised by the Amistad story are far from being resolved as the nation continues its struggle to truly become a land with justice and liberty for all. The republication of this important work provides a wonderful opportunity for dialogue in communities around the world where the spirit of Cinque lives on in men and women actively pursuing liberation.

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Contents

The Mysterious Schooner
3
African Slave Factory
5
The Middle Passage
23
Cuban Slave Mart
38
Kill the White Men
53
East by Day
71
The Sun Against Us
91
Land of the Free
106
The Village Green
137
Friends Storm Sent
147
Men or Property
159
Palaver at Hartford
169
New England Duress
189
Voice of the Tombs
203
Don Escrúpulo
214
Give Us Free
226

Trial by Error
125

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