Compare And Contrast The Historical And Historical Accuracy Of The Amistad
The Amistad The Amistad is a film released in 1997 directed by Steven Spielberg. Spielberg’s career as a producer, director and writer has made him known as one of Hollywood’s best film directors. The Wagon Train in 1957 was the first film that Steven Spielberg assisted in producing. Some of the first works of Spielberg are shown in the short films the Battle Squad and Escape to Nowhere. The first movie that Spielberg directed that put him on route to being one of the most well known and wealthiest movie directors of all time was the film Jaws in 1975. The Amistad is based on the true story of a slave ship named the Amistad that is transporting slaves from Cuba to the United States in 1839. The cargo of the ship is comprised of Africans,
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who have been sold as slaves and taken aboard to be restrained in the cargo hold of the ship by chains. While the ship is on route to the United States, a tribal leader named Cinque leads a take over of the ship which is successful. The slaves continue to sail through the Middle Passage in search of land. They ended up sailing to the United States where they were imprisoned as runaway slaves. The slaves don’t speak English and it begins to seem that their only fate is death. They are going to be charged with murder for killing their captors when a abolitionist lawyer takes their case. As the case progressed, it finally made it to the Supreme Court where John Quincy Adams takes a stand and says that they are citizens from another country and not slaves. Adams makes a plea for the release of all the slaves. The film, The Amistad, portrays some accuracy towards the Amistad in 1839 but is very misleading when it comes to the court case’s historical accuracy.
First off, the film does not show the correct number of court cases that were held. The court cases in the film are so distorted that it does not depict the historical significance of how the cases were handled. In the film, the court makes it seem as if the judges and their views of slavery are all on the same page. It depicts the idea that the Supreme Court was convinced by John Adams plea to prove that slavery was against the natural rights of any man and that it was a major step in the abolition of slavery. The film proclaims the idea that this court case is a turning point in the struggle to end slavery in the United States. The court cases in the film were revolved around the idea of slavery as a domestic institution rather than the Atlantic Slave Trade as the real Amistad court cases were. The court cases helped outlaw the slave trade in the Atlantic in the international treaty in 1840 which none of that is shown in the film. If the court cases were shown correctly in the film then it could have been significantly more historically accurate. Throughout the film there are always people talking about a civil war that is coming in the near future. This bothers me because of the fact that the civil war is still over twenty years in the future. Slavery was a main cause of the civil war but it does not need to be
brought up in the film as if the war is about to happen. In my opinion they could have left out the parts that talked about the civil war to keep the main focus of the film on the court cases of the Amistad.
Although the film did not show the court cases accurately it did do a great job of showing the horrors of the Middle Passage. The conditions that the slaves were transported in were horrific. The slaves were loosely packed into the cargo area of the ship and were then chained down by there wrists and ankles. Nothing about the way the slaves were transported was sanitary. There was never enough food or water for the slaves. The scene on the slave ship accurately illustrates the conditions the slaves had to endure during the Middle Passage. From the beginning to the end of the film The Amistad, it is very clear that Spielberg’s purpose was to describe and depict the horrific conditions and the cruelty that slaves traveling the Middle Passage experienced. In the film, the atrocities that slaves went through while aboard the ships were shown very well. For example, the horrific conditions the slaves had to live through are shown by the living conditions in the cargo area of the ship. The slaves are forced to be extremely close to one another for long periods of time. This can also be viewed as a form of torture. The food and water aboard the ship played a large role in the cruelty the slaves had to endure. If the crew felt that there was not enough supplies for all the slaves then they would throw slaves over board as seen in one of the scenes while they are aboard the ship. The film shows one of the worst crimes in my opinion which is how the crew frequently raped the slaves. Overall, The Amistad is beneficial to its viewers although it is incorrect in the sense of the history of the case. The film helps to show how unpleasant slavery was in the 1800s. It helps people realize how the slave trade was viewed in the United States and exactly how horrific the Middle Passage was. The Amistad gives a good overview of the time period that the Amistad happened in and how it was dealt with.
who have been sold as slaves and taken aboard to be restrained in the cargo hold of the ship by chains. While the ship is on route to the United States, a tribal leader named Cinque leads a take over of the ship which is successful. The slaves continue to sail through the Middle Passage in search of land. They ended up sailing to the United States where they were imprisoned as runaway slaves. The slaves don’t speak English and it begins to seem that their only fate is death. They are going to be charged with murder for killing their captors when a abolitionist lawyer takes their case. As the case progressed, it finally made it to the Supreme Court where John Quincy Adams takes a stand and says that they are citizens from another country and not slaves. Adams makes a plea for the release of all the slaves. The film, The Amistad, portrays some accuracy towards the Amistad in 1839 but is very misleading when it comes to the court case’s historical accuracy.
First off, the film does not show the correct number of court cases that were held. The court cases in the film are so distorted that it does not depict the historical significance of how the cases were handled. In the film, the court makes it seem as if the judges and their views of slavery are all on the same page. It depicts the idea that the Supreme Court was convinced by John Adams plea to prove that slavery was against the natural rights of any man and that it was a major step in the abolition of slavery. The film proclaims the idea that this court case is a turning point in the struggle to end slavery in the United States. The court cases in the film were revolved around the idea of slavery as a domestic institution rather than the Atlantic Slave Trade as the real Amistad court cases were. The court cases helped outlaw the slave trade in the Atlantic in the international treaty in 1840 which none of that is shown in the film. If the court cases were shown correctly in the film then it could have been significantly more historically accurate. Throughout the film there are always people talking about a civil war that is coming in the near future. This bothers me because of the fact that the civil war is still over twenty years in the future. Slavery was a main cause of the civil war but it does not need to be
brought up in the film as if the war is about to happen. In my opinion they could have left out the parts that talked about the civil war to keep the main focus of the film on the court cases of the Amistad.
Although the film did not show the court cases accurately it did do a great job of showing the horrors of the Middle Passage. The conditions that the slaves were transported in were horrific. The slaves were loosely packed into the cargo area of the ship and were then chained down by there wrists and ankles. Nothing about the way the slaves were transported was sanitary. There was never enough food or water for the slaves. The scene on the slave ship accurately illustrates the conditions the slaves had to endure during the Middle Passage. From the beginning to the end of the film The Amistad, it is very clear that Spielberg’s purpose was to describe and depict the horrific conditions and the cruelty that slaves traveling the Middle Passage experienced. In the film, the atrocities that slaves went through while aboard the ships were shown very well. For example, the horrific conditions the slaves had to live through are shown by the living conditions in the cargo area of the ship. The slaves are forced to be extremely close to one another for long periods of time. This can also be viewed as a form of torture. The food and water aboard the ship played a large role in the cruelty the slaves had to endure. If the crew felt that there was not enough supplies for all the slaves then they would throw slaves over board as seen in one of the scenes while they are aboard the ship. The film shows one of the worst crimes in my opinion which is how the crew frequently raped the slaves. Overall, The Amistad is beneficial to its viewers although it is incorrect in the sense of the history of the case. The film helps to show how unpleasant slavery was in the 1800s. It helps people realize how the slave trade was viewed in the United States and exactly how horrific the Middle Passage was. The Amistad gives a good overview of the time period that the Amistad happened in and how it was dealt with.