during the late nineteenth century, the practice of slavery was technically legal in many countries. However. slaves did not all quietly accept their fate; there were hundreds of slave rebelloons. Well-known examples include the rebellions led by Gabriel Prosser in 1800 and by Denmark Vesey in 1822. One of the most interesting rebellions, however, was the battle that occurred aboard the Amistad. This battle has been widely studied, not for its magnitude, but for the trial that followed it. History clearly shows the importance of the abolitionist movement in influencing the trial's result.