Handout
University of Missouri

Famous Trials: Stamped With Glory: Lewis Tappan and the Africans of the Amistad

For Students 9th - 10th
Read about Lewis Tappan, "an abolitionist and devout Christian," and his participation with the Amistad trial. Providing detailed information and original documents, this is an excellent resource on Tappan and his efforts to expedite...
Website
Smithsonian Institution

National Portrait Gallery: The Amistad Case:

For Students 9th - 10th
Pictures and text from the Smithsonian Institute about the 1839 slave rebellion on the slave ship, The Amistad and the ensuing trial of the 36 Africans involved in the rebellion.
Lesson Plan
US National Archives

National Archives: u.s. V. Amistad: A Case of Jurisdiction

For Teachers 11th - 12th
Students will review the Amistad case and use passages from the case explore the concept of jurisdiction and how a case travels through the federal court system. Also, included are links to the background of the Amistad case, a...
Website
University of Missouri

Famous Trials: Amistad Trials

For Students 9th - 10th
This site discusses the history and significance of the Amistad trial. Make sure to click on the "cont." link for more information on the history of the case.
Handout
University of Missouri

Famous Trials: Amistad Trials: Biography of Joseph Cinque

For Students 9th - 10th
A biographical sketch of Joseph Cinque, a leader of the Amistad Revolt. An interesting note is an observation by a phrenologist concerning his determination of Cinque's character by examining his head.
Handout
University of Missouri

Famous Trials: Amistad: Lewis Tappan

For Students 9th - 10th
A short essay on the life of abolitionist Lewis Tappan and his involvement with the Amistad case.
Website
University of Virginia

Miller Center at Uva: u.s. Presidents: John Quincy Adams: Life After the Presidency

For Students 9th - 10th
Perhaps John Quincy Adams' most important service to his country came after he was president. Read about his terms as Congressman in the House of Representatives.
Website
Library of Congress

Loc: Slavery the Peculiar Institution

For Students 9th - 10th
Using primary sources, explore the slavery system in the South. Sources include advertisements for slaves, pictures of slave ships, the Supreme Court decision in the Amistad case, spiritual freedoms, journal entries, and pamphlets.
Handout
Cornell University

Cornell University: Law School: Amistad Revolt

For Students 9th - 10th
This site from the Cornell University School of Law provides a brief description of what happened during the Amistad Revolt and gives details concerning the Supreme Court that followed.
Unit Plan
PBS

Wnet: Thirteen: Slavery and the Making of America: Slave Responses to Enslavement

For Students 9th - 10th
Using primary documents, oral histories, and other historical resources, learn how African Americans responded to enslavement prior to the Civil War. Includes interactive exercise.
Website
Other

History of the Federal Judiciary

For Students 9th - 10th Standards
Incredibly in-depth site regarding the history of the federal judiciary. Well organized, easy to navigate, and crisply arranged, this site can be used for many lessons. The accuracy of the information is very reliable since its author...
Website
Other

The Amistad Committee: Yale, Slavery & Abolition

For Students 9th - 10th
This essay explores Yale University's relationship to slavery. It seeks to answer questions such as why did Yale name most of its colleges after slave owners and pro-slavery leaders? Included is a downloadable PDF, timeline, map of Yale,...
Lesson Plan
US National Archives

Docsteach: u.s. V. Amistad: A Case of Jurisdiction

For Teachers 11th - 12th
Students will analyze specified passages from the Supreme Court's decision in United States v. Libellants of Schooner Amistad to explore the concept of jurisdiction and how a case travels through the federal court system.
Website
Other

Amistad Digital Resource: The Great Depression

For Students 9th - 10th
Provides discussion on the Great Depression, the effect this economic crisis had on African American families, and how Roosevelt's New Deal provided relief for black people.
Activity
Read Works

Read Works: Sailing for Freedom

For Teachers 3rd - 5th Standards
[Free Registration/Login Required] An informational text about African slaves who rebelled and overtook their slave ship the Amistad. A question sheet is available to help students build skills in reading comprehension.
Activity
Other

Amistad Digital Resource: Plantation to Ghetto: The End of World War One

For Students 9th - 10th
A good description of the role of African Americans in World War I and their hopes for less discrimination. Read about the migration to cities in the north, the soldiers who fought in the war, but also the racial violence and riots as a...
Website
Other

Amistad Digital Resource: Racial Violence and Terror

For Students 9th - 10th
Learn how the Ku Klux Klan perpetuated hate and violence against African Americans, communists, Catholics, Jews, and others that threatened their notion of white supremacy between 1880 and 1951.
Website
Other

Amistad Digital Resource: Jim Crow

For Students 9th - 10th
This article explores the Jim Crow system of racial exploitation which was a way of regimenting segregation in both political and cultural relations.
Website
Other

Amistad Digital Resource: Voting Rights

For Students 9th - 10th
Article discusses African Americans and their push for the right to vote which eventually resulted in blacks being elected as officials in the 1940s.
Website
Other

Amistad Digital Resource: Pop Culture

For Students 9th - 10th
General overview of African American pop-culture in the mid 20th-century highlighting music, art, theater, and sports.
Website
Other

Amistad Digital Resource: Pan Africanism

For Students 9th - 10th
Learn about Pan-Africanism, a political movement in the early part of the twentieth century that aims to unify people of African descent.
Handout
Other

Amistad Digital Resource: Harlem Renaissance

For Students 9th - 10th
Read about the Harlem Renaissance, the 1920s rebirth of African American arts centered in the Harlem neighborhood in New York City.
Website
Other

Amistad Digital Resource: Marcus Garvey

For Students 9th - 10th
Biographical essay on Marcus Garvey, a Jamaican political leader who advocated "Africa for the Africans", Black Nationalism, and Pan-Africanism movements. He was the founder of the United Negro Improvement Association (UNIA) and the...
Website
Other

Amistad Digital Resource: Early Labor Movement

For Students 9th - 10th
Description of the early labor movement and the growth of the black urban working-class. Also discussed is the unionization of African Americans and left-winged political organizations such as the African Black Brotherhood, Brotherhood...