This page shows questions in the Amistad public release module at MSDE. 8th Grade Social Studies
"Amistad"
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Note: This set contains more items than what would regularly appear on an operational test. All of the following items were field-tested (on different forms) and yielded the following student responses. An operational EBAS would contain four 2-point items and one 4-point item.
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Introduction
A student is trying to learn more about how people have triumphed over tragedies. They are researching a revolt on a ship named the Amistad led by Joseph Cinque. The compelling question is:
What was the most significant factor that led to Joseph Cinque’s freedom?
The student has found the following sources. Use the sources and the source information to answer the questions.
Background Information
The Mende people live in Sierra Leone, West Africa. In 1839, Sengbe Pieh, a Mende man, was kidnapped from his home and sold to slave dealers. These dealers put him on a boat along with other kidnapped Africans and sailed across the Atlantic Ocean to Cuba. Once in Cuba, they sold Pieh and 53 other Africans to two Spanish men. These men renamed Pieh with the Spanish name “Joseph Cinque,” bound him in shackles and forced him aboard a ship called the Amistad. They were headed for a plantation in the Caribbean where they would force the Africans to serve as enslaved labor.
However, the plan was interrupted when Cinque broke the lock on his chains and his shackles. He then organized a revolt, killed the captain and the cook, and took control of the ship. He demanded that the Spanish men sail them back to Africa.
Instead, they sailed north and ran ashore off the coast of New York. American sailors discovered the ship and took it to Connecticut. Slavery was legal in Connecticut at the time. The two Spanish men were freed, and the Africans were put in jail in New Haven, Connecticut. The question of what would happen to the Africans went all the way to the Supreme Court, who has the final authority on legal questions in the United States.
Key Term
• abolitionist ‑ a person who worked to end slavery in the United States
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Source Information: The New York Sun published this portrait and quote from Cinque, who did not speak English, in 1839. New York was a free state bordering Connecticut, a slave state. Many abolitionists in New York believed that the Amistad case could help their anti-slavery arguments.
A transcript of Cinque’s quote follows the original document.
JOSEPH CINQUEZ
The brave Congolese Chief, who prefers death to Slavery, and who now lies in Jail in Irons at New Haven Conn. awaiting his trial for daring for freedom.
SPEECH TO HIS COMRADE SLAVES AFTER MURDERING THE CAPTAIN &C. AND GETTING POSSESSION OF THE VESSEL AND CARGO
“Brothers we have done that which we purposed, our hands are now clean for we have Striven to regain the precious heritage we received from our fathers. We have only to persevere, Where the Sun rises there is our home, our brother, our fathers. Do not seek to defeat my orders, if so I shall sacrifice any one who would endanger the rest. When at home we will kill the Old Man, the young one shall be saved. He is kind and gave you bread, we must not kill those who give us water. Brothers, I am resolved that it is better to die than be a white man’s slave and I will not complain if by dying I save you. Let us be careful what we eat that we may not be sick. The deed is done and I need say no more.”
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Source Information: On March 9, 1841, Supreme Court Justice Joseph Story delivered the 7 to 1 decision in the Amistad case. This excerpt is from the Court’s majority ruling on the case.
Source B
On the 7th of January, 1840, the negroes, Cinque and others . . . filed an answer, denying that they were slaves, or the property of Ruiz and Montez. . . . They specially set forth and insist in this answer, that they were native-born Africans; born free, and still of right ought to be free and not slaves; that they were . . . unlawfully kidnapped, and forcibly and wrongfully carried on board a certain vessel [ship] . . . which was unlawfully engaged in the slave trade. . . .
Upon the whole, our opinion is . . . that the said negroes be declared to be free, and be dismissed from the custody of the Court, and go without [delay].
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Source Information: Many students and professors from Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, worked on the Africans’ defense during the trial in 1840. This article was written during the 175th anniversary of the trial to honor the contributions made by abolitionists from New Haven. The article was published on March 7, 2017 and is titled “175 years later, the Amistad affair lives on in the Yale Library’s collections.” It includes an interview with Dr. Edward Rugemer who taught African American History at the university in 2016.
Source C
“It is a dramatic story that underscores [draws attention to] the federal government’s support for slavery,” Rugemer said. “But it also shows the resiliency [adaptability] of people to resist their oppression and the determination of the abolitionist movement to change society and convince people that slavery was an abomination [a disgrace].” . . .
Abolitionists, recognizing an opportunity to advance their cause, mobilized to help the Africans secure their freedom.
“Abolitionism was a growing movement when the Amistad case took place,” says Rugemer. “There was a growing network of activists who were devoting a significant amount of their time to the cause. The Amistad event happens, and they see it as a way to draw attention to the movement.” . . .
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Source Information: Kale was an 11-year-old African boy on board the Amistad. While in prison in New Haven, abolitionists taught him to read and write in English. This excerpt is from a 3-page letter he wrote to John Quincy Adams on January 4, 1841. Adams was a former U.S. president and lawyer who had been asked by leading abolitionists to defend the Amistad men in front of the Supreme Court.
Source D
I want to write a letter to you because you love Mendi people, and you talk to the grand court. . . . Mendi people been in America 17 moons [months]. We talk American language a little, not very good. . . . We want you to ask the Court what we have done wrong. . . . We want to be free very much. . . . If America gives us free we glad, if they no give us free we sorry—we sorry for Mendi people little, we sorry for America people great deal because God punish liars. . . . If Court ask who bring Mendi people to America, we bring ourselves. . . . Send us home. . . . We tell them there is one god. You must worship him. Make us free and we will bless you and all Mendi people will bless you. Dear friend Mr. Adams.
This is a question with 2 parts, including a question with drop-down menus from which you must select an option to fill in the blank, and, a test question that allows you to enter extended text in your response.
Part A
Part B
How might the intended audience you selected in Part A influence the information provided in Source A?
Enter your answer in the space provided.
This is a question with 2 parts, including a question with drop-down menus from which you must select an option to fill in the blank, and, a test question that allows you to enter extended text in your response.
Part A
Part B
Briefly explain your answer with evidence from both sources.
Enter your answer in the space provided.
This is a test question that allows you to enter extended text in your response.
Abolitionists used the Amistad case to further their cause.
Explain how evidence from Source C supports the statement.
This is a test question that allows you to enter extended text in your response.
Consider the Source Information provided for Source D.
How might Kale’s perspective on the court case impact the information provided?
This is a question with 2 parts, including a test question that allows you to select spans of text directly from the passage, and, a test question that allows you to enter extended text in your response.
Part A
Consider the Source Information provided for Source C.
Select one detail in the Source Information that raises concerns about the usefulness of Source C as evidence for evaluating the abolitionists’ role in the Amistad trial.
Many students and professors from Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut worked on the Africans’ defense during the trial in 1840. This article was written during the 175th anniversary of the trial to honor the contributions made by abolitionists from New Haven. The article was published on March 7, 2017 and is titled “175 years later, the Amistad affair lives on in the Yale Library’s collections.” It includes an interview with Dr. Edward Rugemer who taught African American History at the university in 2016.
Part B
Explain why the detail you selected in Part A raises concerns about using it as evidence for evaluating the abolitionists’ role in the Amistad trial.
Enter your answer in the space provided.
This is a test question that allows you to enter extended text in your response.
Consider the Source Information provided for Source A.
Why might a historian question Source A’s usefulness in determining if the media helped Joseph Cinque gain his freedom?
This is a question with 2 parts, including a question with drop-down menus from which you must select an option to fill in the blank, and, a test question that allows you to enter extended text in your response.
Part A
Part B
Briefly explain your answer with evidence from both sources.
Enter your answer in the space provided.
This is a test question that allows you to enter extended text in your response.
The information provided in Sources A through D is credible. Use these sources to respond to the compelling question.
What was the most significant factor that led to Joseph Cinque’s freedom?
Develop a claim that responds to the compelling question.
- Explain how one source supports your claim.
- Explain how one source does not support your claim.
- Use details and examples from the selected sources to support your response.
Enter your answer in the space provided.