Amistad - Freedom Schooner
Built at the Mystic Seaport Shipyard
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Amistad was launched from Mystic Seaport after a two-year construction period in the Henry B. duPont Preservation Shipyard in March of 2000.
For nearly a year, Amistad's crew has worked with international agencies and organizations in the United States, Canada, Great Britain, Europe and West Africa in the recognition and commemoration of the 200th anniversary of the abolition of the Atlantic slave trade in the former British Empire (1807) and the United States (1808).
Amistad has been visited by thousands of school children and conducted more than 50 public ceremonies and sailing events that have raised the awareness of the history of Atlantic Slave Trade and the stories of resistance waged by black and white abolitionists.
Throughout her Atlantic Freedom Tour, Amistad worked with museums and educational outreach programs to tell the history of the trade and to highlight the significant way the legacy of that history reflects in today's social, political and cultural character. The voyage included a special two-month stay in Freetown, Sierra Leone, the original West African homeland of many of the Amistad captives. This symbolic "homecoming" was a profound experience as the crew, students and church organizations, non-governmental organizations and the governments of Britain, the United States and the United Nations worked together in a show of cooperation and the celebration of peace and reconciliation after the Sierra Leone civil war.
Exploring Amistad
The Mystic Seaport site, Exploring Amistad, explores the Amistad Revolt of 1839-1842 and and how history was made.
Amistad America, Inc.
Amistad America, Inc. built a recreation of the freedom schooner Amistad at Mystic Seaport. Keel laying was on March 8, 1998, the nearest weekend day to March 9, the date the Supreme Court handed down its decision in favor of the Amistad Africans.
Construction photos and more details are available at the Amistad America site.
The Amistad Friendship Quilt Project
The Amistad Friendship Quilt Project is a community effort to provide imaginative quilts for the bunks of the schooner Amistad. Quilt blocks were created and contributed by individuals from around the world, then assembled and donated to the ship. This effort, promoted by Montgomery College in Maryland, Amistad America, and Mystic Seaport, reflects a primary goal of the Amistad project, to unite people of diverse cultural backgrounds in the achievement of a common goal.
Amistad -- The Film
Mystic Seaport provided research and served as a location for four days of shooting during production. Our waterfront represented New Haven Harbor of 1839, and figures prominently in the film.
Available Amistad Merchandise
Amistad Launch Commemorative Coin - Amistad s/n Print by James Mitchell - Amistad Poster