Amistad is a 1997 drama film starring Morgan Freeman, Anthony Hopkins, Djimon Hounsou, and Matthew McConaughey. Directed by Steven Spielberg, Amistad tells the true story of African slaves who were imprisoned in America after trying to sail back to Africa on a ship called La Amistad. With the help of Theodore Joadson, Lewis Trappan, and Roger Baldwin, the African slaves fight for their own true right, which is freedom. Because Amistad is a movie, it has some accurate, historical information, and some inaccurate, historical information. As far as accuracy goes, Amistad gives a good representation on how slaves were treated while they were on La Amistad. There is a scene in Amistad where Cinque tells Baldwin and the others, with James Covey as a translator, about his experience being a slave. Africans were shown being captured, abused, and even thrown off of La Amistad. Some slaves were not even fed due to the low supply of food, or other reasons like being sick, and by the decision of the La Amistad crew. However, this is pretty much the only thing Amistad gets accurately right. …show more content…
In the film, Martin Van Buren wanted a re-election. In 1840, the year this film took place, the current president could not have a re-election. Another historic error Amistad makes happens at the end of the film, when the slave depot in Lomboko gets destroyed after the trial. In reality, the slave depot was destroyed long before the trial. Another error, specifically a huge error, that Amistad makes happens when Cinque is present at the oral argument. Cinque, in real life, never made an appearance at the oral argument; he was actually locked up in America, and was only shown at the U.S. Supreme Court