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Slave ship replica La Amistad docks in Yonkers
News 12 Westchester | September 9, 2019

History has come to life as the replica of a slave ship docked in Yonkers this weekend.

Families had the opportunity to tour La Amistad on Sunday.

In 1839, the ship was taken over by slaves in an unprecedented uprising.  The slaves ordered the surviving crew members to return the ship to Africa but U.S. officials intercepted the ship off the coast of Connecticut.

The legal battle that ensued went all the way to the Supreme Court, which decided that since U.S. had banned the African trade, the slaves were legally free.  

The ship became a symbol in the movement to abolish slavery and also became the subject of a major motion picture directed by Steven Spielberg and starring Morgan Freeman, Anthony Hopkins and Matthew McConaughey.

The ship's name means friendship.