The Rebellion at Sea

On July 2, 1839, Sengbe Pieh (later known in the United States as Joseph Cinque) led 56 fellow Africans (52 adults and 4 children), the captives being transported aboard La Amistad from Havana, in a revolt against their captors. In the main hold below decks, the captives found a rusty file and were able to free themselves. Armed with machete-like cane knives, they ascended the stairs to deck and were successful in gaining control of the ship they demanded the captain to return them home. The ship's navigator, Don Pedro Montez,deceived them about the direction that their course was set on and sailed the ship along the North American coast to the Eastern tip of Long Island, New York. The United States Revenue Cutter Service discovered the ship and took its occupants into custody. They took the Africans to New Haven Connecticut to be tried in court.

At the time the transport of slaves to the Americas was illegal, so the ship owners fraudulently described the Africans as having been born in Cuba. On appeal The Amistad Case reached the US Supreme court, which in 1841 ruled in that the Africans had been illegally transported and held as slaves, and ordered them freed. La Amistad's survivors returned to Africa in 1842.