Freedom's Sons

AMISTAD CAPTIVES VICTORY JUSTICE TRIUMPHANTtrumpeted the March 13,1841, headline of The Colored American,one of the first U.S. newspapers published and edited by African Americans. The cause for this jubilation was an unprecedented event. At a time when most black Americans had no legal rights, a group of captive Africans had challenged the U.S. government before the Supreme Court -- and won!Freedom's Sons is a tale of unbending courage and moral integrity in the face of incredible odds. It is the extraordinary true story of the only successful slave revolt in American history. In 1839, fifty-three Africans aboard the Cuban slave ship Amistad broke out of their chains and took over the ship. Attempting to return to Sierra Leone, they landed instead on the northeast coast of the United States, where they were captured and put on trial. A year and a half later, former president John Quincy Adams argued the Supreme Court case that ultimately set them free.