MassachusettsHISTORY EXPLORERS GRADES 3–8
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Read · watch · investigate

John Quincy Adams & Amistad

Who acted to defend freedom in the Amistad case?

Start here · grades 3–5
Historical portrait of John Quincy Adams.
Historical portrait of John Quincy Adams.

The captives acted first

In 1839, people kidnapped in West Africa were taken to Cuba through an illegal slave trade. They were then put aboard the schooner Amistad. Sengbe Pieh, also called Joseph Cinqué, and other captives resisted and demanded a return to Africa. The ship instead reached waters near Long Island, where U.S. authorities seized it.

A fight in court

The captives argued that they had been born free and kidnapped. Lawyer Roger Sherman Baldwin worked on their defense. John Quincy Adams, a former president from Massachusetts, later argued before the Supreme Court. In 1841, the Court ruled in favor of the Africans’ freedom. This decision did not abolish slavery across the United States.

A Massachusetts connection

John Quincy Adams grew up in the Adams family of Braintree, now Quincy. He was John and Abigail Adams’s son. He had been president before the Amistad case and was serving in Congress when he took part in it.

History on screen: Anthony Hopkins as John Quincy Adams

This courtroom scene comes from the 1997 motion picture Amistad. Anthony Hopkins is an actor portraying Adams. The scene is a dramatization, not a recording or exact transcript of the 1841 argument.

Watch the scene on Movieclips ↗

Teacher preview and reading alternative

Preview the selected courtroom scene before sharing. The full film includes disturbing violence and is not assigned here for grades 3–5. Use the reading above when video is unsuitable or unavailable. Embedded media may contain platform advertising; language buttons do not translate the film.

Compare film and evidence

How do music, acting, and camera choices shape your feelings? Which historical claim could you check in a court record? Include the captives’ own actions when retelling this story.

Meet John Quincy Adams
Sources, grown-up reading & teaching notes

These are original reading companions. Follow the sources to check a claim. External pages and recordings keep their own languages.

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