Several dozen young men are kidnapped or sold by relatives to settle debts, then transported in chains across an ocean, and sold into slavery. But shortly after they board a schooner to be transported a few hundred miles to a Cuban plantation, they mutiny. There follows a harrowing two-month journey, zigzagging up the coast of the United States aboard a vessel equipped only for a few days’ voyage. When they finally set foot on solid ground, they are promptly tossed into jail.
Most of the young men do not even know each other. They speak different languages. They are farmers and craftsmen, criminals and gentlemen’s sons. But they stick together, and they get a good lawyer — the aged former president, John Quincy Adams.
The outcome of this remarkable tale is known to anyone who has seen the movie Amistad. But even kids too young to understand the movie will appreciate the living history lesson they will get aboard the Freedom Schooner Amistad, which will come to Cleveland this month for two weeks of public tours.
The schooner is a wooden replica of the famous vessel that transported the captives in 1839. It arrives on Saturday, June 14, and departs on Sunday, June 29. While in port, visitors are welcome from 2-6 pm. Tickets: $5 adults, $3 children.
For background before you go, read:
Amistad Rising: A Story of Freedom, by Veronica Chambers. A read-aloud accessible to young kids. The language is a little on the florid side, but this partly-fictionalized account competently conveys the basic outline of the story and introduces the main characters.
Amistad: A Long Road to Freedom, by Walter Dean Myers. For middle readers, it admirably distills some of the complex legal issues involved in the Amistad captives’ saga.
Freedom’s Sons: The True Story of the Amistad Mutiny, by Suzanne Jurmain. For the kid who can’t get enough details, or wants to write a report.