Download Sengbe Pieh (Cinque), the African who lead the revolt against the

The story of the Amistad began in January 1839
when hundreds of native Africans were captured
from Mendeland near Sierra Leone, and sold into
the Spanish slave trade. The captives endured
brutality, sickness, or death during a horrific
journey to the Spanish colony at Havana, Cuba, on
the notorious Portuguese slave ship Tecora. Upon
arrival in Cuba, the Africans were fraudulently
classified as native Cuban-born slaves and sold at
auction to Don Jose Ruiz and Don Pedro Montez,
who planned to transport them to their plantations
on another part of the island aboard the cargo
schooner La Amistad which, ironically, means
“friendship” in Spanish. Desperate, the Africans
staged a revolt three days into the journey and
seized control of the vessel, killing the captain and
Pieh (Cinque), the African who lead the
the cook; two other members of the crew dove into Sengbe
revolt against the Spanish crew on the Amistad
the sea. The Africans were led by Sengbe Pieh, a
Picture courtesy of ClipArt.Com
25-year-old Mendi known to the Spanish as
Cinque, who managed to unshackle himself and his companions.
Montez and Ruiz were ordered to sail east towards the rising sun, and Africa. During the
night, the Spaniards would secretly change course, attempting to sail back to Cuba or to the
southern coast of the United States. After more than two months at sea, the beleaguered
Amistad finally arrived at Montauk Point, Long Island, New York, where the vessel and its
African “cargo” were seized by the Federal survey brig Washington. On August 29, 1839,
the Amistad was towed to New London, Connecticut, where the African's legal struggle for
freedom was waged in the lengthy battle which ultimately involved the former President of
the United States, John Quincy Adams.
The Legal Battle Begins
Charged with murder and piracy and claimed as salvaged property along with the Amistad,
Cinque and the others were imprisoned in New Haven, after a judge in New London ordered
the case to be heard at the next session of the U.S. Circuit Court, in Hartford. Groups
involved with the growing abolitionist movement organized a legal defense, and began to
provide for the Africans’ physical well-being and educational instruction. The Amistad
Committee, as they came to be known, located a translator who could speak Mende fluently
and thus allow the captives to tell their own story. Three days into the circuit court trial, the
judge referred the case to the U.S. District Court.
The Political Implications of the Case
The implications of the Amistad case were profound. If the Africans were found guilty
under American law, they faced permanent slavery or death.
If they were handed over to Spanish authorities without trial,
as Spain pressed President Martin Van Buren to do, the
constitutional separation of powers was openly compromised.
If freed after a trial, key pro-slavery forces would be
embittered and likely withdraw their support for Van Buren
who sought reelection in 1840. Hoping that the courts would
order the Africans returned to Cuba, President Van Buren
requested and received a concurring opinion from U.S.
Attorney General Felix Grundy and the Cabinet. Secretary of
State John Forsyth had a ship ready to sail for Cuba
immediately after the trial, to prevent an appeal. The Africans
defense centered around the fact that the importation of
slaves from Africa was illegal under Spanish law, and
international treaties to which Spain was a party. During the
John Quincy Adams, sixth President
of the United States, defended the
District Court trial, Cinque and the others described how they
Africans at trial--although old and
almost blind, Adams believed it was
had been kidnapped, mistreated, and sold into slavery. The
his moral duty
District Court judge agreed, ruling that the Africans were
Photo courtesy of the White House
www.whitehouse.gov/history/
legally free and should be transported home. (The murder and
presidents/\ja6.html
conspiracy charges were dropped in the circuit court trial, the
judge having found that the United States had no jurisdiction in those incidents.) Dismayed,
the president ordered an immediate appeal, and the case went to the U.S. Supreme Court.
The Amistad Committee believed that they would
need additional legal help to assure a favorable
outcome for the Africans and decided to ask
former President John Quincy Adams to intervene
on their behalf. Adams was considered one of the
nation's leading opponents of slavery because of
his relentless fight against the gag rule in
A contemporary depiction of the Amistad revolt
Congress, which between 1836 and 1844
Picture courtesy of americaslibrary.gov
prevented Congress from considering antislavery
petitions. Adams's status as a former President would attract publicity and interest in the
case and forestall the Van Buren administration from failing to extend due process of law to
the Africans. The interpretation of international law and treaties between the United States
and Spain would be important to the outcome of the case, many of which Adams, had
helped to formulate while serving as a diplomat and Secretary of State. Finally, even though
he had not actively worked as a lawyer for quite a while, Adams had experience arguing
before the United States Supreme Court.
In November 1841, Ellis Gray Loring and Lewis Tappan of the Amistad Committee paid a
call on Adams at his home in Quincy, Massachusetts, (today the Adams National Historical
Park "Old House") to ask him to defend the Africans. At first, Adams questioned his ability
to rise to this challenge. He was 72 years old, nearly blind, busy with his duties as a member
of Congress, and had not argued a case as a lawyer in more than 30 years. He ultimately
took the case believing that this would be his last great service to his nation. In February
1840, he argued passionately for the Africans' right
to freedom, decrying President Van Buren's illegal
attempts to influence the judicial system and
circumvent the Constitution. In March 1841, the
Supreme Court issued its final verdict: the Amistad
Africans were free people and should be allowed
to return home. John Quincy Adams wrote a letter
to inform his co-counsel Roger Sherman Baldwin
of the verdict and reported that, “The decision of
the Supreme Court in the case of the Amistad has
this moment been delivered by Judge Story. The
captives are free...Yours in great haste and great
joy...”
At the end of 1841, the 35 survivors of the Amistad
and five American missionaries sailed for Sierra
Leone. They established a colony and encouraged
educational and political reform eventually leading
to independence of Sierra Leone from Great
Britain. The Amistad case unified and advanced
the abolitionist movement in the United States.
Civil libertarians increasingly used the judicial
system to press their causes, inflaming political
Amistad Memorial at New Haven Green
Photo courtesy of Amistad Memorial, Inc.
passions throughout the country and laying the
groundwork for the abolition of slavery and the modern Civil Rights movement in America.