Hollywood is certainly known for many of its historical movies about slavery. Amistad, one of tens of movies, documentaries, and miniseries based on slavery, gives us a partially historically accurate insight of the abolitionists and slave experience at the time, making it a somewhat worthy historical secondary source. Director Steven Spielberg utilizes the movies semi-high budget as an attempt to portray both the periods and events. He does this by using reputable actors such as Morgan Freeman and Matthew Mcconaughey to represent the characters of Theodore Joadson and Roger Sherman Baldwin, respectively. Spielberg portrays the events by using a courtroom, a ship (one that is made to look like the Amistad), and a place to contain the slaves …show more content…
The early 1800’s is usually described as a black and white society that has a mixture of both slaves and abolitionists. Director Spielberg portrays slavery and the slave trade in a very accurate and vivid manner throughout the experiences of Cinque, the leader of the Africans that were captured, on the Amistad and in the United States. In the actual slave trade, slaves were underfed and illnesses were not properly treated, resulting in a high death rate on the ship (http://www.whitneyplantation.com/the-atlantic-slave-trade.html). Similarly, in Amistad, the slaves on the ship were underfed, and many died as a result of disease. On the contrary, the film did have quite a few historical inaccuracies. Since the slaves were set free, they were technically always free citizens in the United States. Therefore, the United States couldn’t send them back to Africa; which was the opposite in Amistad. In Amistad, the Africans were freed and sent back to Africa; in the actual events, fundraisers were brought up in order to raise money for the ship and amenities for the trip to Africa (http://www.hartford-hwp.com/archives/45a/326.html). Another historical inaccuracy was the talk of the Civil War, which was more than 25 years from the court case (Eric Foner). If these historical inaccuracies didn’t find their way into the film, the result of the court case in the film would have definitely been
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
Both, “The Interesting Narrative Life of Olaudah Equiano” and “Amistad” are important stories about slavery in pre-civil war america because they both address the issues of slavery. These gentlemen in the story made a difference in the slave trade. In “The life of Olaudah Equiano”, Olaudah was sold on a slave ship that came to the Barbados. Olaudah worked for his freedom, and in the end became efficient in American language. He worked his way to the free life and in the end it worked out for him, although it leaves scars on his soul. In “Amistad”, Cinque is a slave that leads a revolt on a slave ship after escaping. When they get to america, Baldwin, a
Slavery in the United States was a part of a long established system of labor and exploitation. These treatments of slaves lead to revolts and slaves escaping to the north for freedom. In the movie Amistad, the inhumane treatment of slaves was manifested. The movie Amistad depicted the enduring symbol of unity and the human
This film was based on the time period, as Calvert describes it in The Myth Of The Old South, downloaded May 8, of the Antebellum South, filled with large, prosperous plantations and big white, columned houses. In the Old South, before any equal protection laws were ratified, slavery was a central and important part of
The connection to real world events regarding slavery is necessary for effective to craft an
Ophelia Settle Egypt, informally known as Ophie, was an African American woman ahead of her time. She attained the educational status of less than one percent of the American population, was liberal and accepting of others despite the criticism around her, fought to end racism, worked independently of her husband, and believed in limiting family growth. All of Egypt’s beliefs and lifetime achievements represent a new type of woman: a woman who refuses to assimilate to her gender stereotype of weak, inferior, and domestic. Egypt dedicated her life to social work through various activities. She worked as a sociologist, researcher, teacher, director of organizations, and social worker at different times in her life. Egypt’s book, The Unwritten History of Slavery (1968), and the Planned Parenthood Clinic in Southeast Washington D.C. named after her represent Egypt’s legacy and how one person is capable of social change.
What is slavery? Slavery is forced labor and this forced labor is what built America and made them become more developed. “Africans peoples were captured and transported to the Americas to work. Most European colonial economies in the Americas from the 16th century through the 19th were dependant on enslaved African labor for their survival.” Many claim that enslavement was very necessary in order for America to thrive and not die off for it is now one of the best countries in the world. However, slavery was not necessary in the Americas it was just a mechanism that just stripped Africans of their human rights, giving the slave masters the “right” to abuse them. Slavery was not necessary in the Americas because without slavery America would
The critic reviews were mainly negative some critics said “The filmmakers trot out slavery as a general sins-of-the-past signifier and then have no idea what to really do with such a painful real-world
Slavery was one of the darkest periods in African American history. Africans were taken from their homes in West Africa and brought to America to work on plantations. However, slavery was not something new, as it existed in Africa before Europeans partook in it, but slavery in Africa was very different from slavery in America. During their voyage through the Middle Passage many slaves perished. Those who survived were sold and subjected to the harsh life on the plantations. When this happened, their authentic cultures were drastically changed from the way of life in their native homelands in Africa to life in the plantation society of the American colonies.
In this movie the African Americans were treated nicely but in reality they did not feel this way. The masters mistreated their slaves but in the movie they were actually having conversations. There is a scene in the movie where a group of African Americans were shaking hands with the white Americans. The producer of the movie wanted to inform others that the “birth” of America was founded on the basis of equality rather than discrimination. If the producer of the movie did not show how the slaves were mistreated, the people will just see the world in only that point of view; the slaves’ point of view does not exist. Ruling countries oppressed both the undeveloped, barren places and the African Americans. The Birth of the Nation is a perfect example of a form of travel writing; the Americans wanted to inform others about America but this movie was only produced in their perspective. Rather than recording the reality, the produces or writers record history with the input of their own influences.
Chapter 3 was talking about black people in the colonial North Americas. This chapter was very interesting but there were three main parts in the chapter that really caught my attention and that was the slave life in early America, the Origins of African American culture, and black women in colonial America. Each part that I’m about to break down sheds light on what happened during that time.
How did American slavery compare and contrast with slavery in Latin America? Was slavery in these two places mainly similar? Were there differences worth noting? Were demographics a large part of the differences? Which place was the most oppressive? Which was more benign in slave conditions? Although, I feel slavery, in any form, is reprehensible, I would like to discuss major differences between these two places pertaining to the work performed, the treatment of slaves, and the rights afforded to each.
The film “Slavery and The Making Of America” covered the beginning of American slavery in the British colonies until the end of slavery in the southern states and post-civil war reconstruction. This film shows viewers remarkable stories of individual slaves, providing new perspectives on how unjust the slaves experiences were, and besides all the trouble they were facing still having to survive and shape their own lives. The British colonies in North America had an abundance of land and a scarcity of labor ended up producing money crops with the forced labor of African slaves, literally being treated as if they were machines for production.
My choice of the movie 12 Years a Slave is an outstanding depiction of the lives of slaves in the 1840’s. This film follows the gruesome life of Solomon Northup. A black man born free in Saratoga, New York. Who was fooled, poisoned, and abducted by men who sold him into slavery. The movie is based on the book called “Twelve Years a Slave: Narrative of Solomon Northup, a Citizen of New-York, Kidnapped in Washington City in 1841, and Rescued in 1853, From a Cotton Plantation Near the Red River, in Louisiana.”
What an eye-opening film by Steven Spielberg! The movie, La Amistad, was based on historical events. Blacks from West Africa were captured and sold into slavery. They were put on a boat called the Tecora and later transferred to the clipper called La Amistad. Spielberg did a beautiful job in accurately recreating the events that lead to the historical court hearings of the imprisoned blacks. The hearings began at the state level. Then it was taken to the Supreme Court. Questions about slavery, equality, and freedom, sprung forth during the Amistad case. Not only was this case a milestone for the abolitionist movement, it also questioned the writings of the Declaration of Independence. Where all men created equal, like the constitution