As a lawyer, his career was most notable for his participation in the 1841 Amistad case. As in Glory, an earlier film about black Civil War soldiers, Amistad's black characters are essentially foils for white self-discovery and moral growth. To just about everyone's surprise, Baldwin successfully manages to shift the basis of the case from murder and mutiny to a matter of ownership and eventually wins the slaves' acquittal. [citation needed]. : (Posted March 1998). Theodore Joadson and his interactions with Cinque struck me on a personal level. For that purpose it should be shown twice. New Jersey was the last of the northern states to abolish slavery in 1804. I thought that was a little over-wrought. Under pressure from Senator John C. Calhoun of South Carolina, who represents the slave-holding interests of the American South, Van Buren appeals the case to the Supreme Court. Several characters are altered or added for the sake of the films dramatic effect. Teaching With Documents: The Amistad Case, http://www.archives.gov/education/lessons/amistad/ (accessed Sept. 15, 2010). Religion played a significant role . He asks Cinque to stand up and explains that if he were not a black man, he would be considered a hero as he fought for his freedom. Tappan [laughs] Over dinner, Baldwin explains the legal background of the case against the Africans. District Attorney William Holabird doubts that Cinques tale is true and claims that it makes no sense. The then former Supreme Court Justice, Harry Blackmun has a brief role portraying Justice Joseph Story, who delivered the opinion in the "Amistad" case. Theodore Joadson . En'Joy" theodore joadson role in amistad Susan Wloszczyna of USA Today summed up the feelings of many reviewers when she wrote, "as Spielberg vehicles go, Amistad part mystery, action thriller, courtroom drama, even culture-clash comedy lands between the disturbing lyricism of Schindler's List and the storybook artificiality of The Color Purple. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 78% based on reviews from 67 critics, with an average score of 6.9/10. I am embarrassed to admit that I was under the misconception that our Executive and Judicial Branches were separate. This second fictional character was unnecessary because the judge who heard the case was initially anti-abolitionist and prejudiced against the Amistad Africans. In the United States, journalists, novel writers and preachers led the way to abolitionismsuch as William Lloyd Garrison (18051879) Harriet Beacher Stowe (18111896), and John Brown (18001859). easy canvas painting with black background. Summarize the standpoints of Joadson and Adams during their conversation. Ruiz and Montez, Cuban sailors. [] Schindler's List works better as narrative because it is about a risky deception, while Amistad is about the search for a truth that, if found, will be small consolation to the millions of existing slaves. Cinque tells Adams of a Mende tradition, which says when a member of the tribe needs help they appeal to their ancestors. The movie gives little time to the bloody slave mutiny led by Sengbe Pieh (called Joseph Cinque in the United States). They are then held prisoner in Connecticut, and their release becomes the subject of heated debate. The Washington Post, Rita Kempley, December 12, 1997. The Meeting between John Quincy Adams and Cinqu 3. : Short scenes depict what happens to the different characters and subtitles provide the historical background: the liberation and destruction of the slave fortress by the British; Van Buren, who has been defeated by Harrison, playing the harp; the Africans returning home to Sierra Leone; Queen Isabella and a scene from the Civil War. Two navigators, Pedro Montez and Jose Ruiz, are spared on condition they help sail the ship to Africa. Try to explain why the writer of the screenplay and the director decided to make these changes. "Amistad" (1997) is a Steven Spielberg film about the slave uprising led by Joseph Cinque in 1839 on a Spanish ship named Friendship - La Amistad. And that task, Sir, as you well know, is crushing slavery. He explains in metaphorical language why this case is so exceptional. This speech is very impressive. Burial Rites 7. . About forty of them, including four or five children. John Quincy Adams Referring to Adams being a former president, Cinque says, A chief cannot become anything less than a chief, not even in death. Discuss this statement, also referring to great statesmen. Over a three-day period, more than 3,000 whites paid 12 cents apiece to gawk at the Africans. I'm sorry, I don't understand. _____ PART B (DURING VIEWING) /60 points Task One /5 points What are a few outstanding elements of character, tone, and gesture which the actor Morgan Freeman brings into the role of Theodore Joadson? While it's in progress, it envelops us; paradoxically, when it's finished, it seems to stand free, like a . If you wish to inspire such hatred in a man, Mr. Joadson, speak to him in that fashion and it may come true. Held under lock and key once more, the Africans, charged with murder and piracy, become the objects in a heated property trial, and the film settles . : Theodore Judson (born December 19, 1951) is an American science fiction writer and high school teacher. Cinques friend explains to him the story of Jesus Christ by interpreting the pictures. The District Court ruled that the Africans be turned over to the President for return to Africa. Theodore Joadson: I am embarrassed to admit that I was under the misconception that our Executive and Judicial Branches were separate. Theodore Joadson Tappan Sir? They were conveyed to New Haven - under what authority, I don't know - and given over to the local constabulary. What was the "Underground Railroad" and what was its role in the anti-slavery movement? The movie also omitted any reference to the extent to which the New England white missionaries worked zealously to rid the Africans of their names, language, customs and religious beliefs. Your record confirms you're an abolitionist, sir. the behest of abolitionist Theodore Joadson (Morgan Freeman), property attorney Roger Baldwin (Matthew McConaughey) agrees to represent the Africans. [holding up a nursery plant with tender branches] It's doubtful that a major motion picture will ever be made about the Creole. Give a short account of how the translator is found and compare it with the approaches you had thought of. [exhales and looks confused]. Rather than being receptive to abolitionist sentiment, the courts were among the main defenders of slavery. Incongruous as it may seem, it was perfectly possible in the nineteenth century to condemn the importation of slaves from Africa while simultaneously defending slavery and the flourishing slave trade within the United States. [11] Prior to release, a legal battle ensued between Spielberg's DreamWorks Pictures and novelist Barbara Chase-Riboud, the latter who claimed that specific details from her 1989 novel Echo of Lions were lifted for the screenplay. Maybe, in this era of budget cuts, some of that $75 million could have more profitably been spent on our public libraries. : In the meantime, Baldwin has found a translator. Abraham Lincolns Attitudes on Slavery and Race, Evangelical Religion and Evangelical Democracy: Lincolns Legacy, Lincolns Image in the American Schoolbook, Fiction as Reconstruction of History: Narratives of the Civil War in American Literature, The Social and Cultural Construction of Abraham Lincoln in U.S. Movies and on U.S. TV, Adapting History and Literature into Movies, Appendix: The Mechanics of Books versus the Mechanics of Movies, Teaching American History and the Movie Amistad, Lincoln Pathfinder: Internet Resources on Studying and Teaching Abraham Lincoln, Contact, ImprintPrivacy Policy / Datenschutz, http://www.h-net.org/reviews/showpdf.php?id=14856, http://www.archives.gov/education/lessons/amistad/, Screen Indians in the EFL-Classroom: Transnational Perspectives, From Sheikh to Terrorist? The judge states that the treaty with Spain is inapplicable as the Africans cannot be considered merchandise and thus the blacks are not slaves but free individuals. Joadson visits Adams again, this time in his greenhouse, and asks him what he would do. Propose ways that could solve their language problem. By 1804, the anti-slavery movement, which was started by the Quakers in 1775, had succeeded in the North. Traditional Dancing and Singing. During the long trip, Cinque leads the slaves in an unprecedented uprising. There they will discover several shelves of books on slavery and slave resistance, from academic tomes to works for children. The 1997 film Amistad, directed by Steven Spielberg, and the novel Mutiny on the Amistad, written by Howard Jones, both retell the 1839 mutiny carried out by fifty-three Africans, resulting in a pivotal trial concerning civil rights. One of the astonishing facts revealed in Steven Spielberg's "Amistad" is that seven of the nine U.S. Supreme Court justices in 1839 were slave-owning Southerners. He was living in New York when he was contacted by a . In "Amistad," Freeman plays an abolitionist who helps recruit the two principal attorneys for Joseph Cinque and the other 52 Africans accused of mutiny on a slave ship. In the end, most of the Mende dialogue ended up on the cutting- room floor. Van Buren is discredited by his failure to prevent the release of the Africans, and loses the 1840 election to William Henry Harrison. The question was whether the Africans were born on Cuban plantations (and thus were slaves under Spanish law) or had been captured in Africa, which meant that they had been unlawfully acquired. Film crews spent four days there and employed around 300 extras[11] Numerous scenes were filmed in Newport, Rhode Island. Hopkins reportedly wept once the scene was completed. Though based on the true story of fifty-four Africans who were captured in Africa and brought to Cuba aboard the ship La Amistad, the movie contains some inaccurate or misleading information. As history, this account of a Cuban slave ship seized in 1839 by its African captives, and their legal travail that ended in the U. S. Supreme Court, also leaves much to be desired. Instead, they are taken to Connecticut, where they are brought to trial for murder. The Africans Encounter the White People's Religion 6. Amistad is a 1997 American historical drama film directed by Steven Spielberg, based on the events in 1839 aboard the Spanish 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 the Washington, a U.S. revenue cutter. Reviews of Amistad. A courageous decision by Hollywood standards, this device backfired along the way when someone realized that Americans do not like subtitled movies, as foreign filmmakers have known for decades. Theodore Joadson, played by Morgan Freeman, has never been mentioned in historical accounts of the Amistad mutiny though he plays an important role in the movie. It would have been far better to have the Africans speak English (the film, after all, is historical fiction), rather than rendering them virtually mute. There remains one task undone. Explain their effect. They approach the brilliant lawyer, former US president and serving U.S. representative John Quincy Adams, but he is reluctant to get involved. Theodore Joadson The Africans have been given clothes. Filming & Production A captive, Cinqu, leads an uprising against the crew, most of whom are killed. Baldwin argues that the Africans had been captured in Africa to be sold in the Americas illegally. As it is crucial for the case, Baldwin wants to find out where the Africans come from. : Amistad is a 1997 American historical drama film directed by Steven Spielberg, based on the events in 1839 aboard the Spanish 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 the Washington, a U.S. revenue cutter. All American history textbooks today contain extensive treatments of slavery, almost always emphasizing the systems brutality and the heroism of those who survived the very things Amistad's promoters claim have been suppressed. Moved by Cinqu's emotion, Judge Coglin rules that the Africans are to be released, and that Montez & Ruiz are to be arrested and charged with illegal slave-trading. Despite open auditions being held in London, Paris and Sierra Leone, the role remained unfilled with just nine weeks before filming was due to start. Blackmun was honored to appear in the movie, acknowledging it was a "significant film about our nation's struggle with slavery". The scene culminates in Cinque calling Give us free! After the different parties have been heard, the judge retreats. The latter is available on the NAXOS audio book Great Speeches in History, 1996 (ISBN 9626340835); Lincolns Emancipation Proclamation is online at http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/22082 and the Gettysburg Address is available at http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/4. The Africans are treated cruelly on board the Tecora. This problem is compounded by having the Africans speak Mende, a West African language, with English subtitles. History 3001 - History at the Movies Professor: Dr. David Dean Essay One Critical Analysis of "Amistad" May 30, 2012 Student: Allison Smith 100 182 570 f Steven Spielbergs film, Amistad is about the 1839 African slave mutiny aboard the Spanish ship, La Amistad. The fictional Joadson has to be paired with . (This task could be done in groups. Most black people in America had already been declared to be the legal property and merchandise of white men. [2], Morgan Freeman was cast on a first-hired basis as Theodore Joadson, one of the film's few fictional characters. Theodore Joadson Cinque's attorney, wants to prove they weren't born slaves, so could not legally ever become slaves. I had a moment of err, during the killings. (Vocabulary: to rid oneself of evidence, inventory, provisions required for a journey, ghastly arithmetic, poundage, to have no merit, thorough reflection, utmost faith, to misrepresent sth., on the charge of), Analyze the different camera angles and movements throughout the court room scene and comment on their effect. Adams gives his speech in front of the Supreme Court stating that this is the most important case ever brought before the court as it concerns the very nature of man. Directed by Steven Spielberg. . They are then held prisoner in Connecticut, and their release becomes the subject of heated debate. Add information about the following parties and explain their roles. they are unbothered by the movie's invention of the black abolitionist Theodore Joadson because, as they see it, he is just a stand-in for the real-life black abolitionist J.W . They have these - scars. To preclude this possibility, Van Buren replaces the judge with a younger man, Coglin, whom he believes will be easier to manipulate. If so, why? Tappan They're Africans. Despite being of African descent, Theodore was just as bemused by the people of Mende as his white colleagues. . It's too small to be a trans-Atlantic slaver. Despite the filmmakers orgy of self-congratulation for rescuing black heroes from oblivion, the main characters of Amistad are white, not black. Introduction. In October 1841, in an uncanny parallel to events on the Amistad, American slaves being transported from Virginia to Louisiana on the Creole seized control of the ship, killing some crew members and directing the mate to sail to the Bahamas. I know you, Mr. President. Theodore Joadson Monologues.
