How were John Quincy Adams and the Amistad slave revolt case related? In addition to letting Dave answer this question in Lecture 17.2 of his American History video curriculum, we’ve assembled a number of primary source documents, images, virtual tours, and documentaries for use in your homeschool.
A story-driven approach to history reveals why it’s so difficult to pair the right word with the right deed at the right time.
Primary Sources: Journals, Maps, and More
The Amistad Case —Read primary source documents from The National Archives
John Quincy Adams’ First Amistad Journal Entry —His diaries are online at the Massachusetts Historical Society
John Quincy Adams’ argues before the Supreme Court — Explore the full text in the case of the U.S. vs. Cinque.
Interactive Media
Walk through John Quincy Adam’s birthplace —Take a Google street tour
See the documents behind the Amistad Case —An interactive slide tour from the National Archives
A timeline of the Amistad case —A detailed compilation by the National Park Service (PDF)
Murals tell the story of La Amistad and the African slave trade —Murals commissioned by Talladega College in 1939 [Use with caution: some videos on the page depict disturbing images of the slave trade]
Movies and Documentaries
Ghosts of Amistad: In the Footsteps of the Rebels —This film chronicles a trip to Sierra Leone to visit the home villages of the people who seized the slave schooner Amistad in 1839, to interview elders about local memory of the case, and to search for the long-lost ruins of Lomboko, the slave trading factory where their cruel transatlantic voyage began.
Amistad – The Federal Courts and the Challenge to Slavery —This documentary on C-SPAN details the complicated legal battle that resulted after an 1839 slave ship mutiny in the Caribbean that landed the ship in Connecticut, and eventually landed the case before the U.S. Supreme Court.
