August 26 - The Amistad

On this day in Labor History the year was 1839. That was the day that the Amistad sailed into Long Island, New York. 

The Amistad served as a Spanish slave ship. 

Fifty-three captives, led by an enslaved rice farmer by the name Joseph Cinque, had revolted against their captors and taken control of the ship. 

They came from what is now Sierra Leone, Africa. They had endured the brutal Middle Passage on a Portuguese slave ship, the Tecora. They had landed in Havana, Cuba where they were transferred to the Amistad. From there they were supposed to sail to a Cuban sugar plantation. 

The transaction was illegal. Most of the major slave destinations in North and South America had outlawed bringing in newly enslaved people. But since existing slave labor was still used in these areas, the illegal slave trade continued.

On July 2nd, the African captives escaped their chains and set upon their captors before they could load their guns. They killed the ship’s captain. The Africans demanded to be returned to Sierra Leone. The US Navy intercepted the Amistad as it sailed up the US coastline. 

The Africans were thrown into prison and charged with murder. The case garnered national attention and made it all the way to the United States Supreme Court.

Former President John Quincy Adams presented the defense for the accused. The court found in favor of the Africans. Thirty-five were returned home. The others had died while incarcerated or at sea. The Amistad became the subject for a 1997 film by Steven Spielberg.

While the Amistad became famous, it was not the only one, similar uprisings were attempted on hundreds of slave ships during this era.