Amistad - The Spirit of Connecticut

Amistad to Mark 10 Year Anniversary!

March 25 marks the 10th Anniversary of Amistad's Launching at Mystic Seaport.

Amistad was launched from Mystic Seaport in March 2000 after more than two years of construction in the Henry B. duPont Preservation Shipyard. Since that time she has had tens of thousands of visitors walk her decks learning the story of the Amistad her role in the struggle for human rights. She has sailed the East Coast, Gulf Coast and Great Lakes. In 2007-2008 she sailed the "Atlantic Freedom Tour" including ports in the UK, Portugal and most meaningfully Sierra Leone, West Africa, home of the original Amistad captives. This winter she is sailing a Caribbean Freedom Tour visiting a number of Island Nations with histories connected to the Africa Diaspora. Stay tuned for information about upcoming events to mark her 10 year anniversary.

Since her launch on March 25, 2000, 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.

The Mystic Seaport site, Exploring Amistad, explores the Amistad Revolt of 1839-1842 and and how history was made.

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.

Category:

Travel & Events

Tags:

• Mystic
• Seaport
• Museum
• Amistad
• Tall
• Ship
• Boatbuilding
• Henry
• B.
• DuPont
• Preservation
• Shipyard

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Wonderful!