Themes: Context and Currents

The Amistad Revolt began on a small schooner, among a small and isolated group of people. But, beneath the immediate events of this episode run many themes, issues, and implications with enduring ramifications. A selection of writings on the many issues surrounding the Amistad incident includes:

"Representing Cinque: Man and Image," Fred Dalzell

"American Politics and Political Culture c. 1840," Fred Dalzell

"The Amistad Incident: The Source of Herman Melville’s Benito Cereno or Not?", Mary K. Bercaw Edwards

"Some Precursors of the Amistad Revolt," John W. Blassingame

"The Amistad Africans and America: A Study in Response," Peter J. Iverson

"Mutiny on the Amistad: 'All We Want is Make Us Free," Howard Jones

"Religious Abolitionists in the Amistad Era: Diversity in Moral Discourse," Frank G. Kirkpatrick

"The U.S. Navy and the Slave Trade," Calvin Lane

"The Amistad in a Global Maritime Context," Gaddis Smith

"Searching for the Historic Amistad," Quentin Snediker

"The Amistad Judge: The Life and Trials of Andrew T. Judson, 1784-1853," Douglas L. Stein