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Key Themes Of Amistad

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The African slave trade was a de-humanizing, horrific practice that continues to haunt us to this day. Over a period of several hundred years, more than 12 million Africans were kidnapped, sold into slavery, and traveled the Middle Passage to the Americas. The movie, Amistad, which is based upon a true story, takes a close look at the practice of slavery and the moral questions surrounding it. From the opening scene of the slave ship insurrection to the Mende’s journey home, three themes emerge: faith, family, and freedom. These three themes play an important role in the lives of Cinque and his people. Faith, family, and the desire for freedom ultimately give Cinque and his people the strength to survive this horrific ordeal and return to their homeland.
Faith is portrayed during the scene of the Bible reading. One of the Africans tells Cinque the story of Jesus by using the illustrations within the Bible, which had been given to him by an abolitionist. However, the African could not read the English words, but he is able to decipher the meaning of the story by the illustrations and it gives the men hope. The African man reads the stories about the slaves in Egypt asking God to help free …show more content…

John Quincy Adams talks about the natural state of man is to be free. When Adams addresses this fact he is able to convince the judge that the African deserve to be free and results in winning the case. Another scene is the one where Baldwin realizes that the African’s are more than a property case and that he needs the assistance of the ex president, John Quincy Adams, to help prove that they were born free. When they searched for evidence to prove their freedom, Baldwin found papers that confirmed they were indeed free and were transported on a Portuguese vessel, the Tecora, which was engaged in illegal slave

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