Amistad
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Steven Spielberg
Produced by	Debbie Allen Steven Spielberg Colin Wilson
Written by	David Franzoni
Starring	Matthew McConaughey Morgan Freeman Anthony Hopkins Stellan Skarsgård Djimon Hounsou Justice Harry Blackmun
Music by	John Williams
Cinematography	Janusz Kaminski
Editing by	Michael Kahn
Distributed by	DreamWorks Distribution
Release date(s)	December 10, 1997
Running time	152 minutes
Language	English Mende Spanish
Budget	$40 million USD
All Movie Guide profile
IMDb profile

This article is about the film dramatization. For other meanings see Amistad.

Amistad is a 1997 Steven Spielberg film based on a slave mutiny that took place aboard a ship of the same name in 1839, and the legal battle that followed. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Steven Allan Spielberg (born December 18, 1946)[1] is an American film director and producer. ... Debbie Allen (born Deborrah Kaye Allen on January 16, 1950 in Houston, Texas) is an American actor, choreographer, film director, television producer and a member of the Presidents Committee on the Arts and Humanities. ... Steven Allan Spielberg (born December 18, 1946)[1] is an American film director and producer. ... For other uses, see Colin Wilson (disambiguation). ... David Franzoni is a screenwriter. ... Matthew David McConaughey (born November 4, 1969) is an American actor. ... Dawsons Creek director, see Morgan J. Freeman. ... For the composer, see Antony Hopkins. ... Stellan SkarsgÃ¥rd (help· info) (born June 13, 1951, Gothenburg, Sweden) is a Swedish actor. ... Djimon Gaston Hounsou (born April 24, 1964) is an Academy Award-nominated Beninoise actor, dancer and fashion model. ... Justice Harry Blackmun Harry Andrew Blackmun (November 12, 1908 – March 4, 1999) was an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1970 to 1994. ... For other persons named John Williams, see John Williams (disambiguation). ... Janusz Zygmunt Kamiński (born June 27, 1959) is an Oscar winning cinematographer and film director who has photographed all of Steven Spielbergs movies since 1993s Schindlers List. ... This article is about Michael Kahn the film editor. ... This article is about the film studio. ... is the 344th day of the year (345th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... For the band, see 1997 (band). ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... The Mende language () is a major language of Sierra Leone, with some speakers in neighboring Liberia. ... “USD” redirects here. ... La Amistad, a 19th century Spanish schooner The Amistad, a 1841 United States court case concerning a slave rebellion on that ship. ... The year 1997 in film involved some significant events. ... Steven Allan Spielberg (born December 18, 1946)[1] is an American film director and producer. ... This article is about motion pictures. ... This article is about the ship. ... 1839 (MDCCCXXXIX) was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... (Spanish: friendship) was a Spanish merchant ship on which a rebellion by the African slaves it was carrying broke out in 1839 when the schooner was traveling along the coast of Cuba. ...

Plot

The film begins in the depths of the schooner La Amistad (Spanish for "friendship"), a slave-ship carrying captured West Africans into slavery. The film's protagonist, Joseph Cinqué (true name Sengbe Pieh, played by Djimon Hounsou), picks a nail out of the ship's structure and uses it to pick the lock on his shackles. Freeing a number of his companions, Cinqué initiates a rebellion on board the storm-tossed vessel. In the ensuing fighting, several Africans and most of the ship's Spanish crew are killed, but Cinqué saves two of the ship's officers, Luis and Montez, who he believes can sail them back to Africa. Two-masted fishing schooner A schooner (IPA: ) is a type of sailing vessel characterized by the use of fore-and-aft sails on two or more masts. ...  Western Africa (UN subregion)  Maghreb[1] West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of the African continent. ... Joseph Cinqué. Portrait by Nathaniel Jocelyn, 1839 Sengbe Pieh (1815 – ca. ... Djimon Gaston Hounsou (born April 24, 1964) is an Academy Award-nominated Beninoise actor, dancer and fashion model. ... A pile of nails. ...

In the next scene, five weeks have passed. The ship is running out of food and fresh water, and Cinqué is facing threats to his authority from Yamba (Razaaq Adoti) who believes his policy of keeping the Spaniards alive is endangering the ship. During the night, they pass another vessel, carrying a group of wealthy Anglophonic passengers having a dinner party on deck. The next day, they sight land. Unsure of their location, a group of African men take one of the ship's boats to shore to fetch fresh water. While there, La Amistad is found by a military vessel bearing an American flag - the Spaniards have tricked the Africans by sailing directly for the United States. Look up Anglophone in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

Captured by the American Navy, the Amistad Africans (as they come to be known by the Americans) are taken to a municipal jail in New England, where the ship's occupants, and a tearful Cinqué, are thrown into a grim dungeon, awaiting trial. This article is about the region in the United States of America. ...

The film's focus now shifts to Washington D.C., where a session in the House of Representatives introduces John Quincy Adams (Anthony Hopkins), the elderly ex-President and politician. While strolling in the gardens, Adams is introduced to two of the country's leading abolitionists; the elderly ex-slave Theodore Joadsen (Morgan Freeman) and Christian activist Mr Tappan (Stellan Skarsgård), both of whom are leading shipping magnates in New England and co-proprietors of the pro-abolotionist newssheet "The Emancipator". The two have heard of the plight of the Amistad Africans and attempt to enlist Adams to help their cause. Adams, apparently verging on senility, refuses to help, claiming that he neither condemns nor condones slavery. News of the Amistad incident also reaches current President of the United States, Martin Van Buren, who is bombarded with demands for compensation from the teenaged Spanish Head of State, Queen Isabella II of Spain (Anna Paquin). At a preliminary hearing in a district court, the Africans are charged with "insurrection on the high seas", and the case rapidly dissolves into conflicting claims of property ownership from the Kingdom of Spain, the United States, the surviving officers of La Amistad, and the officers of the naval vessel responsible for re-capturing the slave-ship. Aware that they cannot fight the case on moral grounds, the two abolitionists enlist the help of a young attorney specialising in property law; Baldwin (Matthew McConaughey). Aerial photo (looking NW) of the Washington Monument and the White House in Washington, DC. Washington, D.C., officially the District of Columbia (also known as D.C.; Washington; the Nations Capital; the District; and, historically, the Federal City) is the capital city and administrative district of the United... The Politics series Politics Portal This box:      House of Representatives is a name used for legislative bodies in many countries. ... John Quincy Adams (July 11, 1569 – February 23, 1985) was a diplomat, politician, and the sixth President of the United States (March 4, 1825 – March 4, 1829). ... For the composer, see Antony Hopkins. ... Dawsons Creek director, see Morgan J. Freeman. ... Stellan SkarsgÃ¥rd (help· info) (born June 13, 1951, Gothenburg, Sweden) is a Swedish actor. ... Federal courts Supreme Court Circuit Courts of Appeal District Courts Elections Presidential elections Midterm elections Political Parties Democratic Republican Third parties State & Local government Governors Legislatures (List) State Courts Local Government Other countries Atlas  US Government Portal      For other uses, see President of the United States (disambiguation). ... Martin Van Buren (December 5, 1782 – July 24, 1862), nicknamed Old Kinderhook, was the eighth President of the United States from 1837 to 1841. ... Isabella II (October 10, 1830 – April 10, 1904), Isabel II in Spanish, was Queen regnant of Spain (Queen of the Spains officially from August 13, 1836, Isabella II the queen of Castile, Leon, Aragon,...) She was born in Madrid, and was the eldest daughter of Ferdinand VII, king of Spain... Anna Helene Paquin (born July 24, 1982) is an Academy Award-winning and Golden Globe Award-nominated New Zealand actress who was born in Canada. ... Roger Sherman Baldwin (January 4, 1793–February 19, 1863) was an American lawyer involved in the Amistad case, who later became governor of Connecticut. ... Matthew David McConaughey (born November 4, 1969) is an American actor. ...

At the jail, Baldwin and the abolitionists, along with a nervous Professor of Linguistics, attempt to talk to the Amistad Africans, but neither side is able to understand anything the other party says. In the prison, events among the Africans are accelerating. Yamba, Cinqué's apparent rival for authority amongst the Africans, has converted to Christianity and is now resigned to his death, believing that execution will send them to a pleasant afterlife. The death of a young man provokes the Africans into a furious demonstration against the American authorities, screaming and chanting in their native languages as a prison riot threatens. As the hearings drag on, Baldwin and Joadsen regularly walk round the city docks, counting numbers in the Mende language, in an attempt to recruit an interpreter. They eventually happen upon a black sailor in the Royal Navy, James Covey (Chiwetel Ejiofor), a slave rescued by the British and who chose to join the British military rather than go back to Africa. Using Covey's linguistic abilities, Baldwin and his companions are able to talk to Cinqué. In his first speaking role in the courtroom, Cinqué, through a series of flashbacks, tells the haunting story of how he became a slave. Linguistics is the scientific study of language, which can be theoretical or applied. ... The Mende are a large tribe (population approximately 700,000) living primarily in Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Guinea. ... This article is about the navy of the United Kingdom. ... This article needs additional references or sources for verification. ...

Cinqué, a peasant farmer and young husband and father in West Africa, was kidnapped by African slave-hunters and taken to the slave fortress of Lomboko, an illegal facility in the British Protectorate of Sierra Leone. There, he and hundreds of other captured Africans were loaded onto transatlantic slave-ship Tecora. Cinqué tells of the various horrors of the Middle Passage, including frequent rape, horrific torture, and random executions carried out by the crew, including the deaths of fifty people deliberately drowned in order to save food. Upon their arrival in Cuba, Cinqué was sold at a slave market and purchased, along with many other Tecora survivors, by the owners of La Amistad. Once aboard La Amistad, Cinqué was able to free himself of his shackles, and began the slaves' rebellion for freedom.  Western Africa (UN subregion)  Maghreb[1] West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of the African continent. ... This article is about states protected and/or dominated by a foreign power. ... The Middle Passage refers to the forced transportation of African people from Africa to the New World as part of the Atlantic slave trade. ... The Tecora was a Portuguese slave ship of the early 1800s. ... Torture, according to international law, is any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person for such purposes as obtaining from him or a third person information or a confession, punishing him for an act he or a third person has... This article does not cite its references or sources. ...

The courtroom drama continues as District Attorney Holabird (Pete Postlethwaite) and Secretary of State John Forsyth (David Paymer) press their case for property rights and dismiss Cinqué's story as a mere piece of fiction. While exploring the impounded vessel La Amistad for much-needed evidence to support the Africans' claims, Baldwin happens upon a notebook, stuffed into a crevice by the Luis and Montez to conceal the evidence of illegal slave-trading. Using the book as hard evidence of illegal trading, Baldwin calls expert witnesses including Captain Fitzgerald (Peter Firth), a British naval commander assigned to patrol the West Africa coastline to enforce the British Empire's anti-slavery policies. As Fitzgerald is cross-examined by the haughty Holabird, tension in the courtroom rises, utlimately prompting Cinqué to leap from his seat and cry "Give us us free" over and over, a heartfelt plea using the English he has learned. Cinqué's plea touches many, apparently including the judge - in a court ruling, Judge Coglin (Jeremy Northam]]) dismisses all claims of ownership, rules that the Africans were captured illegally and not born on plantations, orders the arrest of the Amistad's remaining crew on charges of slave-trading, and authorises the United States to convey the Amistad Africans back to Africa at the expense of the nation. A district attorney is, in some U.S. jurisdictions, the title of the local public official who represents the government in the prosecution of criminals. ... Peter William Postlethwaite OBE (born February 7, 1945)[1] is an English actor. ... John Forsyth (October 22, 1780 – October 21, 1841) was a 19th century American politician from Georgia. ... David Paymer (born 30 August 1954) is an American character actor, seen in such films as The In-Laws, Crazy People, State and Main, Payback, Get Shorty, Armistad, Carpool, City Hall, and Into the West. ... Peter Firth Peter Firth (born October 27, 1953 in Bradford, Yorkshire, England, UK) is a British actor, well known for a variety of starring roles in film and on television from the 1970s to the 2000s. ... The British Empire in 1897, marked in pink, the traditional colour for Imperial British dominions on maps. ...

While Cinqué, Joadsen, Baldwin, and the jubilant Africans celebrate their victory, a state dinner at the White House threatens to overturn the ruling. While conversing with the Spanish Ambassador to Washington, a Southern senator launches into a damning diatribe aimed at President Van Buren, emphasising the economic importance of slaves in the South, and ends his tirade with a concealed but clear threat that should the government set a precedent for abolition by releasing the Amistad Africans, the South will have little choice but to go to war with the north. With his advisors warning that the Amistad incident could bring the United States one big step closer to civil war, President Van Buren orders that the case be submitted to the Supreme Court, dominated by its Southern slave-owning judges. Furious, Mr Teppan splits with Joadsen and Baldwin, who break the news to an enraged and disgusted Cinqué. In need of an ally with legal background in the intricacies of Supreme Court workings, Baldwin and Joadsen meet again with John Quincy Adams, who has been following the case carefully. Adams, aware that Cinqué is now refusing to talk to Baldwin, invites the African leader to his home. While Adams gives him a rambling tour of his greenhouse, Cinqué's emotional reaction to seeing a West African orchid flower, native to his homeland, convinces Adams to assist the case. For other uses, see White House (disambiguation). ... A civil war is a war in which parties within the same culture, society or nationality fight against each other for the control of political power. ... Federal courts Supreme Court Circuit Courts of Appeal District Courts Elections Presidential elections Midterm elections Political Parties Democratic Republican Third parties State & Local government Governors Legislatures (List) State Courts Local Government Other countries Atlas  US Government Portal      The Supreme Court of the United States (sometimes colloquially referred to by the... The Royal Greenhouses of Laeken. ... Orchid re-directs here; for alternate uses see Orchid (disambiguation) Genera Over 800 See List of Orchidaceae genera. ...

At the Supreme Court, John Quincy Adams gives a long and passionate speech in defence of the Africans. Arguing that if Cinqué was white and had rebelled against the British, the United States would have exalted him as a hero; and that the Africans' rebellion to gain their freedom was no different to the Americans' rebellion against their oppressors some seventy years earlier. Arguing that condemning the Amistad Africans would render the principles and ideals of the Constitution worthless, he exhorts the judges to free the Africans, stating that the looming threat of civil war will simply be the final battle of the American Revolution. His case made, the United States awaits the Supreme Court's ruling. The American Revolutionary War (1775–1783), also known as the American War of Independence, was a war fought primarily between Great Britain and revolutionaries within thirteen of her North American colonies. ... John Trumbulls Declaration of Independence, showing the five-man committee in charge of drafting the Declaration in 1776 as it presents its work to the Second Continental Congress in Philadelphia The American Revolution refers to the period during the last half of the 18th century in which the Thirteen...

On the day of judgement, Chief Justice Joseph Story (Harry Blackmun) announces the Supreme Court's decision on the case. Believing that the Amistad Africans were illegally kidnapped from their homes in Africa, United States laws on slave ownership do not apply. The Supreme Court authorises the release of the Africans and their conveyance back to Africa. Legally freed for the second and final time, Cinqué bids emotional farewells to his companions; shaking Adams' hand, giving Joadsen his most treasured possession, a lion tooth which is his only memento of Africa, and thanking Badlwin in English. As Cinqué is about to leave, Baldwin clasps Cinqué bids a farewell, in the Mende language, to the African leader. American jurist Joseph Story Joseph Story (September 18, 1779 - September 10, 1845), American jurist, was born at Marblehead, Massachusetts. ... Justice Harry Blackmun Harry Andrew Blackmun (November 12, 1908 – March 4, 1999) was an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1970 to 1994. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... The Mende are a large tribe (population approximately 700,000) living primarily in Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Guinea. ...

The end of the film depicts various scenes. British marines assault the Lomboko Slave Fortress, killing the slavers and freeing the kidnapped Africans held within the dungeons. With the fortress evacuated, Captain Fitzgerald, who has finally located the fortress, orders his warship (of the Royal Navy's West Africa Anti-Slavery Squadron) to open fire on the facility, destroying Lomboko. Interspersed with this are scenes of Martin Van Buren losing his election campaign. The final, much more sorrowful scenes, depict Cinqué and the freed Africans returning to Africa, dressed in white (the West African colour of victory) and accompanied by James Covey, who has shed his British uniform in exchange for African attire. Scenes depict Queen Isabella's attempts to gain compensation for La Amistad, and the end of slavery in the United States prompted by the Confederate Army's defeat at Atlanta. In the final, emotional scene, it is revealed that Cinqué returned to his village in Africa to find his people fighting a civil war, his home destroyed and his family sold into slavery. France Marines is the name of a commune in the département of Val dOise, France. ... This article is about the navy of the United Kingdom. ... Motto Deo Vindice (Latin: Under God, Our Vindicator) Anthem (none official) God Save the South (unofficial) The Bonnie Blue Flag (unofficial) Dixie (unofficial) Capital Montgomery, Alabama (until May 29, 1861) Richmond, Virginia (May 29, 1861–April 2, 1865) Danville, Virginia (from April 3, 1865) Language(s) English (de facto) Religion... Combatants United States of America Confederate States of America Commanders William T. Sherman James B. McPherson† John B. Hood Strength Military Division of the Mississippi Army of Tennessee Casualties 3,641 8,499 The Battle of Atlanta was a battle of the Atlanta campaign fought during the American Civil War...

Awards

• Academy of Motion Pictures, AMPAS (1998) Nominations:
  • Best Actor in a Supporting Role, Anthony Hopkins
  • Best Cinematography, Janusz Kaminski
  • Best Costume Design, Ruth Carter
  • Best Music, Original Dramatic Score, John Williams

Academy Award The Academy Awards, popularly known as the Oscars, are the most prominent and most watched film awards ceremony in the world. ...

Cast

• Djimon Hounsou - Joseph Cinqué/Sengbe Pieh
• Matthew McConaughey - Roger S. Baldwin
• Morgan Freeman - Theodore Joadson
• Anthony Hopkins - John Quincy Adams
• Nigel Hawthorne - President Martin Van Buren
• David Paymer - Secretary of State John Forsyth
• Pete Postlethwaite - Mr. Holabird
• Stellan Skarsgård - Lewis Tappan
• Razaaq Adoti - Yamba
• Chiwetel Ejiofor - Ens. James Covey/Kai Nyagua
• Anna Paquin - Queen Isabella II
• Geno Silva - José Ruiz
• John Ortiz - Pedro Montez
• Ralph Brown - Lt. Thomas Gedney
• Darren E. Burrows - Lt. Meade
• Allan Rich - Judge Juttson
• Peter Firth - Capt. Fitzgerald
• Jeremy Northam - Judge Coglin
• Arliss Howard - Senator John C. Calhoun

Djimon Gaston Hounsou (born April 24, 1964) is an Academy Award-nominated Beninoise actor, dancer and fashion model. ... Joseph Cinqué. Portrait by Nathaniel Jocelyn, 1839 Sengbe Pieh (1815 – ca. ... Matthew David McConaughey (born November 4, 1969) is an American actor. ... Roger Sherman Baldwin (January 4, 1793–February 19, 1863) was an American lawyer involved in the Amistad case, who later became governor of Connecticut. ... Dawsons Creek director, see Morgan J. Freeman. ... For the composer, see Antony Hopkins. ... John Quincy Adams (July 11, 1569 – February 23, 1985) was a diplomat, politician, and the sixth President of the United States (March 4, 1825 – March 4, 1829). ... Sir Nigel Hawthorne, CBE (5 April 1929 – 26 December 2001) was a renowned English actor. ... Martin Van Buren (December 5, 1782 – July 24, 1862), nicknamed Old Kinderhook, was the eighth President of the United States from 1837 to 1841. ... David Paymer (born 30 August 1954) is an American character actor, seen in such films as The In-Laws, Crazy People, State and Main, Payback, Get Shorty, Armistad, Carpool, City Hall, and Into the West. ... Portait of U.S. Secretary of State John Forsyth John Forsyth (October 22, 1780 – October 21, 1841) was a 19th century American politician from Georgia. ... Peter William Postlethwaite OBE (born February 7, 1945)[1] is an English actor. ... Stellan SkarsgÃ¥rd (help· info) (born June 13, 1951, Gothenburg, Sweden) is a Swedish actor. ... Lewis Tappan (1788 - 1863) was a New York abolitionist who was most responsible in making sure the Africans of the Amistad had their freedom again. ... This article needs additional references or sources for verification. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Anna Helene Paquin (born July 24, 1982) is an Academy Award-winning and Golden Globe Award-nominated New Zealand actress who was born in Canada. ... Isabella II (October 10, 1830 – 1904), Isabel II in Spanish, was queen of Spain. ... John Ortiz is an American actor whose roles have included Detective Ruben Sommariba in the television series The Job and drug middleman José Yero in the movie Miami Vice. ... Ralph Brown (b. ... Darren E. Burrows is perhaps best known for his inspired and lovable character Ed Chigliak from televisions Northern Exposure. ... Peter Firth Peter Firth (born October 27, 1953 in Bradford, Yorkshire, England, UK) is a British actor, well known for a variety of starring roles in film and on television from the 1970s to the 2000s. ... Jeremy Philip Northam (born December 1, 1961 in Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England) is an English actor. ... Arliss Howard (born Leslie Richard Howard on October 18, 1954 in Independence, Missouri) is an American actor, writer and film director, best known for his roles in Full Metal Jacket and Ruby, and for directing the film Big Bad Love (starring his wife Debra Winger). ... John Caldwell Calhoun (March 18, 1782 – March 31, 1850) was a leading United States Southern politician and political philosopher from South Carolina during the first half of the 19th century, best known as a spokesman for slavery, nullification and the rights of electoral minorities, such as slave-holders. ...

Taglines

• Freedom is not given. It is our right at birth. But there are some moments when it must be taken.

Trivia

Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines. The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones.

• The first fifteen minutes of the film are entirely in the Mende language, with no subtitles.
• The ship La Amistad in the film is not played by the recreated later (2000) Freedom Schooner Amistad from New Haven. The role of La Amistad was played by another Baltimore Clipper - Pride of Baltimore.
• The Slave Fortress destroyed at the end of the movie is actually El Morro, an old colonial fort in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
• Djimon Hounsou learned a certain amount of Mende, one of the languages of Sierra Leone, for his role as Cinque.
• This was the second film for which Anthony Hopkins received an Academy Award nomination for playing a United States President. He was also nominated for playing Richard Nixon in Nixon (1995).
• This is the first film directed by Spielberg that was released by DreamWorks, of which Spielberg was a co-founder.
• The majority of this film was filmed in Newport, Rhode Island. The scenes of the United States Capitol building were that of the Rhode Island state house, and some scenes were filmed at Mystic Seaport in Mystic, Connecticut.
• The film shows Van Buren making a whistlestop campaign for re-election. This is an anachronism; the nation's railway network was not sufficiently advanced in 1840 to allow such a tactic. It was also considered undignified for candidates to actively seek the presidency. Van Buren and his opponent, William Henry Harrison, allowed subordinates to do the work. However, the railway network as currently exists was largely in place between New York and New Haven, and also at various sites along the mid-Atlantic coast, so it was possible.
• The movie is referenced in the first Scary Movie film, with a teaser trailer during the theater scene for "Amistad II"

Image File history File links Broom_icon. ... The Mende are a large tribe (population approximately 700,000) living primarily in Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Guinea. ... This article is about the ship. ... La Amistad (Spanish: friendship) was a Spanish merchant ship on which a rebellion by the slaves it was carrying broke out in 1839 when the schooner was traveling along the coast of Cuba. ... This article is about the ship. ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... Aerial view of El Morro. ... For other uses, see San Juan. ... Djimon Gaston Hounsou (born April 24, 1964) is an Academy Award-nominated Beninoise actor, dancer and fashion model. ... For the composer, see Antony Hopkins. ... Although he never won an Oscar for any of his movie performances, the comedian Bob Hope received two honorary Oscars for his contributions to cinema. ... Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913 – April 22, 1994) was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. ... Nixon is a 1995 film directed by Oliver Stone for Cinergi Pictures that tells the story of the political and personal life of former President Richard Nixon. ... This article is about the film studio. ... Newport is a city in Newport County, Rhode Island, United States, about 30 miles (48 km) south of Providence. ... Mystic Seaport is a maritime museum situated along the banks of the Mystic River in Mystic, Connecticut, USA. It is notable both for its collection of sailing ships and boats, and for the re-creation of an entire 19th century seaport, consisting of over 60 original buildings, most of them... A coffeeshop along Main Street in Mystic Mystic is a census-designated place located in New London County, Connecticut. ... Official language(s) English Capital Hartford Largest city Bridgeport Largest metro area Hartford Area  Ranked 48th  - Total 5,543[2] sq mi (14,356 km²)  - Width 70 miles (113 km)  - Length 110 miles (177 km)  - % water 12. ... President Harry S. Truman at the mic, left Harley O. Staggers & Alben W. Barkley. ... Look up Anachronism in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... 1840 is a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... William Henry Harrison (February 9, 1773 – April 4, 1841) was an American military leader, politician, and the ninth President of the United States. ... This article is about a horror parody movie. ...

Quotes

• Cinqué (through his interpreter): I am resolved it is better to die than be a white man's slave.

• Cinqué (shouting in court): Give us...us free!

• John Quincy Adams: Do you understand what the Supreme Court is?
• Joseph Cinqué (through his interpreter): The place where they finally kill us.

[His advice on trying cases]

• John Quincy Adams: Whoever tells the best story wins.

• John Quincy Adams: He is a black man, you can see that, but if he were white, we wouldn't be here today.

  ---

• Secretary of State Forsyth: The only thing John Quincy Adams will be remembered for is his middle name.

[After the Supreme Court trial]

• Joseph Cinqué (through his interpreter): What words did you say to them?
• John Quincy Adams: Yours.

See also

• Supreme Court of the United States in fiction
• The Amistad, an 1841 United States court case concerning a slave rebellion on that ship.

Like many institutions that draw public interest, the Supreme Court of the United States has frequently been depicted in fiction, frequently in the form of legal drama. ... Holding The “AFRICANS” are free, and are remanded to be released; Lt. ...

References

External links

• Amistad at the Internet Movie Database
• 2 Speeches from the Movie in Text, Audio, Video from AmericanRhetoric.com
• Rogert Ebert Film Review
• Review Sally Haden (Educational POV)

For the "Freedom Schooner Amistad" (a reconstruction educational vessel) see: http://www.amistadamerica.org/ The Internet Movie Database (IMDb) is an online database of information about movies, actors, television shows, production crew personnel, and video games. ...