The film Amistad, directed by Steven Spielberg, was about a slave ship that became entrenched in American politics between 1839 and 1841. Amistad, covers many different forms of African slavery Slave trade. This film depicts how Amistad became involved not only in a controversial Supreme Court case, but also how she was exposed to the brutality of slavery, divisions between citizens, corruption, and the American political system. The Supreme Court case United States v. The Amistad was a critical case because it embodied the nation's mindset and practices at the time. The Amistad Supreme Court case also influenced how the Northern and Southern states would develop in the years to come. The Amistad case was one of the factors that ultimately contributed to the American Civil War. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay In the excerpt from The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, the author writes about the brutality of slavery and how he experienced it. Equiano writes: “One day they had caught a certain number of fish; and after they had killed and satisfied all those who thought right, to our astonishment, who were on deck, instead of giving us some to eat, as we expected, they threw the remaining fish back on the seat, although we collected and paid for some as we could. , but in vain; and some of my countrymen, pressed by hunger, took the opportunity, when they thought no one saw them, I am trying to get a little in private; but they were discovered, and the attempt earned them very severe floggings. This quote from the excerpt really puts images in people's minds of how unjust slaves would be treated and what they had to endure: starvation and beatings. Until something like this is actually witnessed, it often doesn't have that big of an impact on people. Similar horrors of slavery were projected in the film. When slavery was practiced illegally off the west coast of Africa by Spanish slavers, owners unfairly whipped slaves. When Africans were loaded onto the Tecora (slave ship), they did not receive adequate care or nourishment. More often than not, slaves did not have enough food to eat and became malnourished. Many times, when slave owners felt like they might get caught for illegally transporting slaves, they killed them. The Amistad ship was extremely inhumane. As shown in the film, a woman and her child freely jumped from the ship into the ocean. Going back to the excerpt from The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, it explores a similar situation of what these slaves would do. “..., I would have jumped from the bank, but I couldn't; and, moreover, the crew watched very closely us who were not chained to the decks, to prevent us from falling into the water: and I saw some of these poor African prisoners cut severely for attempting to do so….” The torture experienced on the slave ship was unimaginable. Many men, women and children were killed unjustly because it was profitable to exploit others. The unfair transportation and care of slaves was horrific and was presented correctly in the film. The exchange of slavery demonstrates to people how morally corrupt political systems can actually be, and to the people who make it possible. Men's moral hypocrisy due to slavery was induced by European education, that is, men were taught to see Africans as unequal citizens. This was illustrated in the film when observations were madeon the management of slaves as property or livestock. African defense attorney Roger Sherman Baldwin advanced the idea of ​​presenting the slaves' case regarding ownership to abolitionists seeking to help Africans gain freedom. Sherman said you could win a property case, which was his specialty as a lawyer. Since Africans were considered inferior by people in Europe and America, both populations claimed they could treat Africans as property. This form of moral corruption contributes to the disgusting cruelty and political corruption of the film. The men were also morally corrupt due to the profitability of the slave trade. They also didn't care about their actions because they thought it was worth the amount of money they would profit from. Barbarism is used and seen in many illegal acts to make money. In today's world, terrible atrocities are still committed for financial gain. It was due to political corruption that the case was argued numerous times until it finally reached the Supreme Court level. Attorney Roger Stephen Baldwin and his abolitionist colleagues Lewis Tappa and Theodore Joadson prevailed three times in the Amistad case. Two of those victories came at the state level and one came at the Supreme Court. For a time, Secretary of State John Forsyth was under pressure from the South, Spain, and President Martin Van Buren. This was to ensure that Africans remained the property of Spain. John Forsyth replaced the judge and eliminated the jury to gain the judge's favor. Forsyth brought a young lawyer to the stand to establish laws against Africans. The explanation behind Forsyth's plan to acquire a young judge was the ability to manipulate his decision using issues such as corruption and reputation. Being a young judge, they would most likely be more persuasive due to their lack of experience and honor in the legal field. The young judge, however, was confused whether he should listen to Forsyth or his religious beliefs. His moral sense assured him that he should liberate the Africans, regardless of the effects on his career. Forsyth's plan failed when the judge came to his senses. This example of political corruption of the time shows the need for stronger laws to protect both the legal system and the people due to the lack of separation of powers. This was not the end of corruption. The case was again rejected and moved to the Supreme Court where seven justices were Southerners and two Northerners. The President and the South assumed they would eventually get their government, but once again their plans to undermine it continued to fail. The United States justice system experienced corruption several times, but ultimately prevailed and the Africans were freed. A final theme displayed by Amistad was the division among the American public. Most South Americans practiced slavery because it was their “way of life.” Southerners assumed that everyone had slavery to support their lifestyle as they assumed the country was run by free labor or slaves. However, in the North there were many abolitionist religious communities who insisted that Africans were equal human beings and should not be treated like animals. Many abolitionist groups had consistently been seen protesting in front of federal buildings. As shown in the film, religious abolitionists were seen singing sacred songs, while pro-slavery supporters harassed lawyer Roger Stephen Baldwin and threw objects at him. As a result, The Amistad enlightened audiences about.