Historical Accuracy Of La Amistad

According to the American Historical Association, “When asked about their intense reaction to the film, some described feeling as though they had just experienced slavery. The movie felt believable, they reported, due not only to the caption indicating its basis in fact, but because the setting and characters looked authentic” (Toplin, 1). That just goes to show how historically accurate the makers of the film were going for to show just how bad slavery really was, even if it repulses people. There are historians out there who on the record confirmed the historical accuracy of 12 Years a Slave. “At least two historians, Sue Eakin, and Joseph Logsdon, have confirmed that Northup presented a remarkably accurate picture of antebellum slavery and plantation society near the Red River in Louisiana” (Toplin, 1). For historians to say that the film is “remarkably accurate” shows the seriousness those involved went to, to ensure the historical accuracy

I do not think the movie depicted America in the 1800’s well. I have seen an abundance of movies and pictures where the 1800’s looked more realistic than in Amistad. There were special settings that captured my attention. When Cinque was telling the translator about how he was captured, the setting in Africa was unanticipated. I was looking forward to the scene being more along the lines of jungles and wild animals, but instead it looked like a scene from Jamaica. Another scene that caught my attention were the courtroom settings. Having knowledge about the size of older buildings and rooms within those buildings, I knew things were not as spacious as they are now. The movie did a fabulous job of showing that. In the movie, everyone looked compacted into one space and it looked over capacitated. The judge’s stand did not look so superior like it does now. The plaintiff and defendant stands looked like regular tables and desks. The movie did a great job replicating a slave ship. When the slaves were on the ship, their clothing, hair, and props like shackles, weapons, and chains looked realistic. It had an excellent impact to the storyline of the slaves. The clothing worn by the English men, soldiers, and Queen Isabella, were accurate regarding how they dressed in the 1800’s. The way they spoke also gave it a more realistic feel. Having English, Mende, and Spanish spoken throughout the movie made it have a special

Cinque also learned only a few words, as opposed to the whole american language, which Olaudah did. “The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano” focuses more on the harsh conditions on the slave ships while the “Amistad” story spends more time on the trial that set the slave free. Olaudah Equiano fought against slavery in England while Cinque and the Africans of the Amistad became a symbol of freedom for the abolitionist movement in Pre-Civil War America.

La Amistad movie is a movie from the year 1997 and it is directed by the famous director, “Steven Spielberg”. This famous director has made a lot famous movies like for example the famous movie of “Jurassic Park” or “E.T”. Amistad is the word for “friendship” in Spanish. In this movie four different languages are spoken. English, Spanish, Portuguese and Mende. Mende is the language that the African slaves speak in. This movie is a little recreation of a true story about slave revolt on a small Spanish schooner in 1839. This revolt caused a series of trials beginning in the lower parts of Connecticut. This case not only marks a milestone for Abolitionists in their fight against slavery but it also questioned the natural laws of our Constitution.

In the 19th century there a two floored schooner named La Amistad, which is Spanish for “Friendship”. This schooner was built in the United States of American and was used by Cuba. In July 1839 there was a slave revolt led by captives from Sierra Leone. La Amistad was transporting these people to use as slave labor in Cuba. A man by the name of Cinque creatively used a nail to unlock his chains, and then his fellow captives. They were able to take control of the ship after having to kill the captain and other crew members that wouldn’t submit to their rule. They forcibly ordered the remaining crew to sail them back to Africa. The captives were outsmarted by the captives whom had control over the schooner’s directions. The remaining Spanish crew stir the ship to the coast of Long Island. The Mende people were arrested and imprisoned in Connecticut, were they waited during the court proceedings. Now is when the controversy began. The Spanish and there government ordered the U.S to return the slaves and there schooner as property. At the time in the U.S. slave trade was illegal so the U.S. governemnt refused to send back the Africans because technically there were free and not property. The court case United States v. Amistad in 1941 gained much popularity due to the subject matter of ownership and jurisdiction.

In class we discussed that Falcon treated everyone horrible, and the slaves in the ship took every breath almost as it would be their last breath.

The film begins in the depths of the schooner La Amistad, a slave-ship carrying captured West Africans into slavery. The film's protagonist, Sengbe Pieh, most known by his Spanish name, "Cinqué," painstakingly picks a nail out of the ship's structure and uses it to pick the lock on his shackles. Freeing a number of his companions, Cinqué initiates a rebellion on board the storm-tossed vessel. In the ensuing fighting, several Africans and most of the ship's Spanish crew are killed, but Cinqué saves two of the ship's officers, Ruiz and Montez, whom he believes can sail them back to Africa.

This Revolt brought attention to the issue of slavery. From the sixteenth to the nineteenth centuries, approximatelyn expected 12 million Africans were persuasively dispatched over the Atlantic Sea to the New World. Of those, no less than 1.5 million are said to have died before reaching shore. Many states had made the importation of slaves illegal. However, since bondage itself stayed lawful in the greater part of those spots, unlawful exercises flourished. Along the shore of present-day Sierra Leone, for instance, Spanish slave merchant Pedro Blanco kept his business thriving with the assistance of a capable nearby pioneer who gathered together his human freight. This was a legal, and lucrative

I do believe the film was accurate in the slang terms and racist comments that it used. I believe although the movie leaned towards being over dramatic that it was really well portrayed with the scenarios that it used throughout the movie and how it all ties back together. I think it led very well to the overall big picture that they were trying to convey to the audience.

The Africans on the Trans-Atlantic slave trade had faced a myriad of threats and problems to their life on the voyage. One African who goes by the name of Olaudah Equiano was one of the people that were dragged into slavery and the slave trade, but Equiano would find a way to escape his captors and account his journey of what it was like to be held captive. Equiano would narrate his astonishment on seeing the slave ship for the first time and how it would soon become terror as he realized that he would spend the next few months of his life on the ship. At the same time Equiano was filled with astonishment to figure out how had the white man created a boat so big and

The accuracy of the film was spot on. It depicted all the horrors and history of slavery very well. In fact “Dr. Emily West, an associate professor of history at the University of Reading” supports my statement when she states “I have never seen a film represent slavery so accurately.” It portrayed the difference of the masters by showing how one was kind to Northup and how the other was a “Nigger Breaker.” Also just as History says, slave owners justified their actions with the bible, and their “Christian Duties.” However, it did over emphasize Northup’s social

Selma is based on a true story that happened in 1965 in Selma, Alabama. Selma was the city that ended suffrage for African Americans because of Rev Martin Luther king and the help from his Christian family. The movie has some intense violence and a lot of foul language, but overall is mainly about Christian and moral content. Even though the Civil Rights Act of 1964 desegregated in certain areas. It made it more difficult for black to register to vote. In 1964 Rev Martin Luther king receives a Noble Pace Prize. The Civil Rights Act was outlaw segregation in all 50 states, but African Americans where still having trouble at that time. Martin decides voting should be there next fight. So, they march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama.

This film is a depiction of the cruelty of American slavery in the 1800s. Made by the British director, Steve McQueen, is enough to show the Americans reticence on the subject. Slavery may have stopped many years ago, however, it still plays a significant role in people’s attitudes today.

The movie «12 Years a slave» is based on the book «12 Years a Slave» by Soloman Northup. It's his life story of how he got lured in a trap and kidnapped in 1841. It's about how he was sold into slavery in the south, and what happened during those 12 years a slave .

“Amistad” was released in 1997 on the territory of the United States of America.The historical period, portrayed in the film, is the year of 1839. It was the year when a terrible rebellion took place on board the Spanish ship La Amistad, which transported slaves. It was the time when the slavery was abolished in the North and the South of the United States of America was discontented for they severely needed slaves to work for them. American courts still decide whether the black person is free according to the place he comes from. The trial over the rebels from La Amistad asks the main question: ”Are these rebels slaves or free people?”. The “free giving” North and the “enslaving” South were already opposing each other and their relations were rather problematic. The incident became a scandal as it truly reflected the conflict of that time. According to the American laws back then only Africans could be considered free people. The story takes place in the time-gap before the Civil War, which lasted from 1861 till 1865. “Amistad” is a true story about the slaves that try to go back to their motherland – Sierra Leone. ”La Amistad” is the name of a Spanish vessel with 53 African slaves on board the ship.