Amistad is a 1997 American historical drama film directed by the world-renowned, Mr. Steven Spielberg. The film was based on the true story of America’s slave trade in 1839 which shows the saga a mutiny aboard the slave ship La Amistad, during which Mende tribesmen abducted for the slave trade managed to gain control of their captors’ ship off the coast of Cuba, and the international legal battle that followed their capture by a U.S revenue cutter. Much of the story revolves a courtroom drama as lawyers for the slaves seek their freedom and return home. The case is a watershed moment for America- Spain relations, and reveals the political machinations as it holds repercussions on the North- South conflict eventually leading to America’s Civil War.
Amistad is the name of a slave ship traveling from Cuba to the U.S. in 1839. It is carrying a cargo of 53 Africans who have been sold into slavery in Cuba, taken on board, and chained in the cargo hold of the ship as runaway slaves. As the ship is crossing from Cuba to the U.S., Cinque, who was a tribal leader in Africa, leads a mutiny and takes over the ship. They continue to sail, hoping to find help when they land. Instead, when they reach the United States, they are imprisoned as runaway slaves. They don 't speak a word of English, and it seems like they are doomed to die for killing their captors
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It showed us the state of slavery in the past. Slaves were dehumanized for they were deprived of their own lives. They work not for themselves but for other people who did not really care about them. At present, although the word “slaves” is not anymore used to name people who are serving another, the treatment, for some is still the same. There is also injustice in terms of the benefits these so called “slaves” receive. They work hard to gain not only money for themselves but also to serve their employers but sometimes are not given the return for their hard