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The Amistad Affair
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Who:
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53 Africans, including Senbe Piah, the son of a Mende chief ( re-named Joseph
Cinque, by the slavers) who became the leader in the slave revolt and the
subsequent trial. Jose Ruiz and Pedro Montes - the Spanish slavers.
Friends of the Amistad committee lead by abolitionists Lewis Tappan,
Joshua Leavitt and Simeon Jocelyn. John Quincy Adams the former American
president who came out of retirement to argue the case in the U.S.
Supreme court against the New President Van Burden’s prosecutors who
supported the slavery.
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What:
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An incident, a slave ship revolt that became a critical event in the ending
of slavery. Africans were seized illegally, in Sierra Leone after
treaties against the slave trade and smuggled to Cuba. There after being
auctioned and sold they were sent to the sugar plantations at Puerto
Principe. Aboard the slave schooner La Amistad, the Africans managed
to free themselves and in a bloody revolt took over the ship with the
captain and cook and ten Africans, dying. They wandered the eastern
seaboard for a month - tricked by the remaining slavers, until capture
and arrest by the U.S. Navy for murder and piracy. The African’s case
went to the Supreme Court - where 3 years later they won their case
and returned to Africa and freedom.
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Where:
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Africa/Cuba/Eastern seaboard/Connecticut/New York
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When:
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April, 1839- the Africans are captured/July 2, 1839- they take over
the Amistad/August 24 - La Amistad is impounded by the U.S. Navy/1839-1841
the Africans remain in jail during the court trial/March 9, 1841 - the
U.S. Supreme Court rules in their favour/November 27, 1841 - they set
sail for Sierra Leone and arrive in January 1842.
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Why:
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A critical victory for the abolition movement in the U.S. and the world.
The Supreme Court ruled that the Africans were never slaves and should be
granted their freedom. Thus, with most of the western world not allowing
the transport of slaves in international waters and confirmed by the U.S.
Supreme Court - it marked the virtual end of new slaves coming from
Africa to the U.S. An important spark that would lead to the fire
that was the American Civil War.
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The story was re–told in Steven Spielberg’s 1997 film - Amistad - finally giving the almost
forgotten saga - the importance it deserves in the abolition of slavery.
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