Analysis Of Amistad's Orphans: An Atlantic Story Of Slavery

In the 19th century the prevalence of slavery had a major impact on the lives of many. The violence, torture, and the overall unhuman lifestyles each African American had to endure is unimaginable when looking at society today in the 21st century. Still, even though it is difficult to fully understand what each and every slave had to go through during the time of white supremacy, there are many novels that help us better understand and sympathize with the African American community. Many books, movies, and stories depict the lives of slaves and the various hardships faced during the gruesome period, however, these stories are often shaped around the hardships of African American adults. Amistad’s Orphans: An Atlantic Story of Children, Slavery,

Antonio who was technically part of the crew, feared for his life during the revolt. Antonio watched as the other crew members were killed and believed that he was going to be next. Fortunately for him, he was only tied up on the deck and survived the rebellion as the ship entered U.S. water. This rebellion is the reason why the stories of the six children are able to be told. The rebellion lead all of the African Americans aboard the seized Amistad to court, including the five children who were later united with Covey. Covey was not on the Amistad, instead he was brought to court to be an interpreter for the African Americans who were on the ship. Covey played a huge part in the liberation of all the slaves due to his ability to translate for the slaves who were then able to have a voice during the trials. Mar’gur, Te’me, Kag’ne, and Antonio were considered witnesses to the event and were in court to testify about the murders. Since the African Americans were obtained illegally, they were not convicted on murder on behalf of the crew members on La Amistad. After much debate, the African American adults were also declared free. However, this status did not pertain to the Amistad Orphan’s exactly. Since they were children, they could not necessarily be free. Instead they were granted guardianship

When slavery is the topic of discussion, there are many stories, facts, and emphasis put on the adult slave and their hardships throughout the 19th century. Benjamin Lawrance does a great job of shifting the attention from the adults, onto the children who are often forgotten. Adult Amistad Africans are featured in the book, however, the events prior, during, and after the La Amistad trail are depicted around the experiences of six children. The book itself offers great detail through the use of research mainly from the trail of Amistad. I would only recommend this book to others if they were interested in learning about a very specific occurrence during the time of slavery. In my opinion, the book is written as more of a textbook that supplies the reader with a lot of factual based information instead of an actual story. Of course, through the use of facts and research, the journey of the six Amistad Orphans is told, however, this book is comprised of much more. I personally thought that the entire novel was going to focus primarily on the children, but it often steers away from the