Amistad's Orphans

An Atlantic Story of Children, Slavery, and Smuggling

Lawrance Benjamin Nicholas

The lives of six African children, ages nine to sixteen, were forever altered by the revolt aboard the Cuban schooner La Amistad in 1839. Like their adult companions, all were captured in Africa and illegally sold as slaves. In this fascinating revisionist history, Benjamin N. Lawrance reconstructs six entwined stories and brings them to the forefront of the Amistad conflict. Through eyewitness testimonies, court records, and the children's own letters, Lawrance recounts how their lives were inextricably interwoven by the historic drama, and casts new light on illegal nineteenth-century transatlantic slave smuggling.

About the Author

Benjamin N. Lawrance is the Hon. Barber B. Conable Jr. Endowed Chair in International Studies at the Rochester Institute of Technology.

Reviews

"There is no study that focuses on the experiences of children from the point of capture in Africa through trade to the coast and the Middle Passage to the Americas. This manuscript stands alone. A unique topic. An important revisionist history" – Walter Hawthorne, Michigan State University

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