The Amistad Rebellion

ALSO BY MARCUS REDIKER

The Slave Ship: A Human History

Villains of All Nations: Atlantic Pirates in the Golden Age

The Many-Headed Hydra: Sailors, Slaves, Commoners, and the
Hidden History of the Revolutionary Atlantic
(
with Peter Linebaugh
)

Who Built America? Working People and the Nation’s Economy,
Politics, Culture, and Society, Volume One: From Conquest and
Colonization Through Reconstruction and the Great Uprising of 1877
(
with the American Social History Project
)

Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea: Merchant Seamen, Pirates,
and the Anglo-American Maritime World, 1700–1750

AN ATLANTIC ODYSSEY OF SLAVERY AND FREEDOM

VIKING

Published by the Penguin Group

Penguin Group (USA) Inc., 375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014, U.S.A. • Penguin Group (Canada), 90 Eglinton Avenue East, Suite 700, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M4P 2Y3 (a division of Pearson Penguin Canada Inc.) • Penguin Books Ltd, 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England • Penguin Ireland, 25 St. Stephen’s Green, Dublin 2, Ireland (a division of Penguin Books Ltd) • Penguin Books Australia Ltd, 250 Camberwell Road, Camberwell, Victoria 3124, Australia (a division of Pearson Australia Group Pty Ltd) • Penguin Books India Pvt Ltd, 11 Community Centre, Panchsheel Park, New Delhi—110 017, India • Penguin Group (NZ), 67 Apollo Drive, Rosedale, Auckland 0632, New Zealand (a division of Pearson New Zealand Ltd) • Penguin Books (South Africa) (Pty) Ltd, 24 Sturdee Avenue, Rosebank, Johannesburg 2196, South Africa

Penguin Books Ltd, Registered Offices: 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England

First published in 2012 by Viking Penguin, a member of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

10   9   8   7   6   5   4   3   2   1

Copyright © Marcus Rediker, 2012

All rights reserved

Illustration credits appear on pages
287
–
88
.

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING IN PUBLICATION DATA

Rediker, Marcus.

   The Amistad rebellion : an Atlantic odyssey of slavery and freedom / Marcus Rediker.

   p.      cm.

   Includes bibliographical references and index.

   ISBN: 978-1-101-60105-1

   1.   Slave insurrections—United States.  2.   Amistad (Schooner)  3.   Antislavery movements—United States.  4.   Slave trade—America—History.  5.   Sierra Leoneans—United States—History—19th century.   I.   Title.

   E447.R44 2012

   326.0973—dc23

   2012014810

Printed in the United States of America

Designed by Carla Bolte   •   Set in Adobe Palatino LT Std. with Bodoni Ornaments ITC

No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. Purchase only authorized editions.

For Wendy,

with love