The Story of the Amistad: Then and Now

In 1839, Mende captives from Sierra Leone took control of the ship, the Amistad. Unable to navigate back to Africa, the ship was captured and towed into the port of New London Harbor in Connecticut. The Mende were faced with slavery or execution, and their cause was taken up by many residents throughout Connecticut. U.S. Circuit and District courts ruled in favor of the Mende. This case was then appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court and in 1841 this court agreed with the lower court decisions and the Mende captives were ordered freed.

The role that Connecticut and its citizens played has been told and retold over the years, and in 1999 a new organization was formed and a recreation of the Amistad ship was built in Mystic, Connecticut and launched in 2000. Since then, the Amistad has been used as a floating classroom to teach students and adults around the world about this important story. In 2015, Discovering Amistad was formed to take ownership of the recreation Amistad and has continued its mission to advance racial and social justice today.

bijouxbroussard · F Best Comment

An amazing story. Sengbe Pieh, aka Joseph Cinque, led the captives on the Amistad.

Barefooter25 · 46-50, M

The first time I heard of this incident was through the movie that came out 25 years ago. It was nominated and won an Academy for Best Picture. It starred Matthew Mcconaughey , Morgan Freeman and Anthony Hopkins. The Amistad story almost sparked an international incident between the US and Spain. The ship was headed towards Cuba before the Mende slaves took over the ship. The spanish wanted the slaves back but unfortunately for them, the importing of slaves in the US was outlawed long before this incident happened.

DffrntDrmmr · M

@Barefooter25 Yep. It was brown and black people importing the slaves to Cuba. No white people were involved. America had long before banned the importation of slaves (as soon as possible after it ratified its Constitution). America freed these Africans from slavery.