Another advantage of New London is that it is only about 20 minutes away from Mystic, CT. Mystic is the home of Mystic Seaport, the Museum of America and the Sea. Mystic Seaport is a wonderful place overflowing with traditional boats and sailing lore. It's kind of like Williamsburg, VA. Williamsburg is a re-creation of a colonial town around 1776 (the time of the Revolutionary War).

Mystic Seaport is the re-creation of a whaling village in the 1840s. It has more traditional sailing vessels than any other place in America. The crew of Pride II was very interested in visiting Mystic Seaport to see the many great ships on display there. And they weren't disappointed.

There is something especially exciting going on at Mystic Seaport these days. The ship builders there (called shipwrights) are making a replica of a very historic ship in their boatyard. The ship they are building will be a replica of La Amistad. The original Amistad was a Cuban ship. It was the scene of the only uprising of kidnapped Africans aboard a ship during the time of the slave trade. The event occurred in 1839.

Some blacks, who had been kidnapped in Africa, were being transported from one end of the island of Cuba to the other end aboard Amistad. Amistad was not a "slave ship" (the kind of ship that brought blacks across the ocean in terrible conditions). Rather she was a cargo ship that took supplies around Cuba. She was a topsail schooner pretty much like Pride of Baltimore II. On this fateful trip, her "cargo" was 53 Africans who had been bought in Havana and were being transported to the new owner's plantation in another part of Cuba.

A very charismatic (powerful and attractive) leader, named Sengbe Pieh, was aboard Amistad on this voyage. The Spaniards called him Cinque. Cinque had resisted being kidnapped throughout his ordeal starting back in Africa. He saw his chance aboard Amistad because security was looser on this ship. One night, he and his fellow Africans revolted and took over the ship. They killed the captain and several members of the crew who fought them with knives and guns. The Africans did not know how to navigate a ship like Amistad. They made one of their former captors steer "toward the sun" (east) during the day. They knew that was where they had come from. They wanted to go back to Africa. But at night, the navigator turned north up the coast of America.

After 63 days, Amistad was taken into custody by a US revenue cutter off Long Island. The ship was towed to New London, CT. The Africans were put in jail there and charged with murdering the captain and crew of Amistad.

After two years, a very famous court case was argued in front of the US Supreme Court. A former president of the United States, John Quincy Adams, came out of retirement to argue the case on behalf of the Africans because he believed in their cause. The Spanish said the Africans were the property of the man who had bought them in Cuba and should be returned to Cuba. John Quincy Adams, arguing on behalf of Cinque and the other Africans, said that they had been illegally kidnapped and should be returned to Africa. He also said they had a right to resist their illegal captivity, even if it meant killing the captain and crew of the ship who were holding them. The Supreme Court ruled that Cinque and his fellow Africans were people, not "cargo." The court said that they had been illegally arrested and should be returned to Africa. So they were set free. In 1841, 35 returned to their homes in Africa. One of the results of this important case was that the movement to abolish slavery throughout the United States gained many supporters.

In 1997, Steven Spielberg made this story into a movie called Amistad. Pride of Baltimore II played the role of the ship Amistad in the movie. The scenes she appeared in were filmed at Mystic Seaport. So you can see that it was like "homecoming" for the captain and crew of Pride II to visit these shipwrights building a replica of Amistad.

When the ship is finished, an organization called Amistad America will sail her all around the US telling the story of the historic uprising about the vessel. Her mission will be to represent the spirit of resistance of Africans to the great injustice of slavery and their illegal kidnapping. The new Amistad will call on Chesapeake Bay in a year or two. Maybe you can go aboard.

Just before we left New London, Captain Miles invited all the shipwrights working on Amistad to come visit Pride II. Although they are working hard on their own replica, they were very interested to see how a similar ship looked when it was finished. It was like a whole load of mechanics coming to visit your house. They were mostly interested in looking under the hood of your car!

So that's what we've been up to since my last log. Pride II will be home soon. Look for a log from your first Blue Ribbon Teacher, Sandy Barrows, next week. She'll tell you all about Philadelphia and the trip down to Annapolis.

Till then, eat your fruitloops and keep your hatches battened down,

Your Teacher Aboard,
Jerome Bird
Pride of Baltimore Inc.

YOUR THOUGHTS

1. Eugene O'Neil wrote in a journal as a boy. It was a clue as to what he would do when he grew up. What are some other clues that might give you a sign of a person's future profession?
2. What other places have, or are building, replica ships?
3. Help John Quincy Adams out. Write out four "talking points" that he can use to convince the US Supreme Court to let the Amistad Africans go free. Your talking points should be a list of bullets summarizing the main arguments for your point of view.
4. Using a map of the US, plan an itinerary (list of places to visit) of 10 ports of call that Amistad could visit to tell the story of Cinque and his fellow resisters. Start and end your itinerary at New London, CT.
5. Next time your folks ask what movie you would like them to rent, ask for Amistad.

Return to Part 1 of the Sept. 17, 1999 Log