Grade 11 American History – Movie Comprehension Quiz: Amistad
Name: _______________________________
Multiple Choice (20 Marks) Application
Read each question and circle the answer that is MOST correct.
1. From what country did the slave-carrying cargo ship, The Amistad, come from?
a) Portugal
b) Spain
c) Holland
d) Britain
2.
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
3.
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
4.
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
5.
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
e) Italy
Who was the President of the United States at the time of The
Amistad incident?
Thomas Jefferson
John Quincy Adams
James Madison
Martin Van Buren
John C. Calhoun
The slaves aboard the Amistad were first brought to
____________________________, a center for the slave trade
in the America’s.
Boston, Massachusetts
Raleigh, North Carolina
Port au Prince, Haiti (formerly Santo Domingo)
Havana, Cuba
Rio Di Janiero, Brazil
Luis and Montez are:
Portuguese Slave traders who claim the Amistad rightfully
belongs to them.
Spanish crewmen who were spared by Cinque in hopes that
they would sail the Africans back to their homeland.
Cuban slave owners who contend that the slaves were born and
raised on their plantation.
British naval officers who are searching for the slave fortress
along the West Coast of Africa.
American abolitionists who hire lawyers to fight the Africans’
case in the Federal District court system.
The Amistad and its cargo of African slaves are tricked and sail
directly to the United States and land in:
New York, New York
Salem, Massachusetts
Providence, Rhode Island
Washington, D.C.
New Haven, Connecticut
6. The Lomboko Slave Fortress is destroyed at the end of the movie by British Warships. The fortress is located in:
a) The Congo
b) Ethiopia
c) Sierra Leone
d) Ghana
e) Nigeria
7.
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
At a preliminary hearing in a district court, the African’s are charged with “insurrection on the high seas”, and the case rapidly
dissolves into conflicting claims of property ownership from:
The Kingdom of Spain, the U.S., the surviving crew members of the Amistad, and the naval officers responsible for
recapturing the slave-ship.
Queen Isabella II, Martin Van Buren, the District of Columbia, and John C. Calhoun.
Northern Abolitionists, Napoleon Bonaparte, John Quincy Adams and British Officers aboard the Royal Navy’s West African
Anti-Slavery Squadron.
Frederick Douglas, the Queen of Spain, the Federal District Court of Connecticut, and Luis and Montez.
King George of England, Thomas Jefferson, The country of Mexico and the African Kingdom of the Congo.
8.
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
Cinque is credited with being a mighty, and brave warrior and becomes the leader of the Africans. He is credited with killing:
A hundred men
A rampaging elephant
A ferocious Lion
A deadly pack of Hyena’s
All of the captives on board of the Amistad.
9.
Theodore Joadsen (Morgan Freeman) and Christian activist, Mr. Tanner (Stellan Skarsgard), are two well known abolitionists
who end up hiring attorney Baldwin to represent the African’s in the case. He specializes in:
Criminal Law
Constitutional Law
International Law
Property Law
Tort Law
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
10. As the hearings drag on, Baldwin and Joadsen regularly walk the city docks, counting in
___________________, a language common to the Western part of Africa, in hopes of finding an interpreter to
help them communicate with the African’s for the case.
a) Swahili
b) Igbo
c) Yoruba
d) Arabic
e) Mende
11. What does the crew aboard the slave ship do in order to save
food and other provisions?
a) Stops in the West Indies to pick up more supplies.
b) Sells all of the slaves in a slave auction.
c) Rations the remaining food by turning it into gruel so that it
will last longer.
d) Deliberately drowns fifty people by throwing them overboard.
e) Starves all of the slaves.
12. During the trial, as the tension mounts, Cinque jumps to his
feet, and in the broken English he has learned, cries out over
and over again:
a) Let us us Go!
b) Give us us Free!
c) I am not an animal!
d) God Bless America!
e) Me not slave!
13. What incident almost sparks off a riot in the prison where the
Africans are being held?
a) They are denied food.
b) One of the Africans dies, and they are not allowed to grieve in
their custom.
c) The music of the church goers makes the Africans go crazy.
d) Cinque has his hand smashed in the door to the jail.
e) The African’s are not supplied with proper clothing.
14. What does one of the church-goers pass on to one of the Africans?
a) A Rosary
b) Hot, fresh Biscuits
c) A Bible
d) Prayers
e) A Hymn
15. While in the former president’s house, what does Cinque see that reminds him of home?
a) A Lion’s Tooth
b) A picture of his wife
c) An African Violet
d) Fufu
16.
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
What is the name of the former president who argues on behalf of the African’s in the Supreme Court?
James Marbury
John Quincy Adams
Abraham Lincoln
Thomas Jefferson
John Adams
17.
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
While on the passage overseas from Africa, what does one woman do in order to avoid a life of slavery?
She quietly slips overboard with her new born baby and plunges into the sea.
She pretends she is dead to avoid being whipped.
She befriends her captors in hopes that they will be kind to her.
She picks up a sword and attacks the crew.
She remains docile and subservient and does whatever her captors tell her to do.
18. During the final scene in the Supreme Court, the defense makes reference to this important document and draws comparisons
to the African’s plight and the American forefathers:
a) Declaration of Independence
b) Articles of Confederation
c) The Constitution
d) The Bill of Rights
e) The Emancipation Proclamation
f) Jay’s Treaty
19.
a)
b)
c)
d)
At the end of the movie, Cinque:
Is found guilty and is executed.
Is found innocent and returns to Africa and is crowned a chief
Is found innocent and returns to Africa only to find that his town had been destroyed and his wife and children had been sold
into slavery.
Is found innocent and remains in America as an aide and personal assistant to his lawyer, Mr. Baldwin.
20.
a)
b)
c)
d)
What evidence does Baldwin find on the Amistad that will corroborate (support) Cinque’s story?
A diary written by one of the crew members detailing all of the events of the Journey from Africa.
An inventory of all the ships cargo including the weights and dates of every item on board.
The shackles and chains used to hold all of the slaves.
The dead bodies of African Slaves stowed away into the ships Galley.
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