The rebellion
On July 2, 1839, the Amistad (which means “friendship” in Spanish) was sailing off the shore of Cuba. On board were two Spanish men, José Ruiz and Pedro Montes, the crew, and 53 black Africans. Ruiz and Montes had bought the Africans illegally at the end of June. Before they were sold into slavery in Havana, the 53 men had been abducted, or taken against their will, from their homes in Africa.
One of the slaves, Joseph Cinque, found a nail and used it to free himself and others from the iron collars that held them in chains. Armed with knives they found on board, the slaves killed two crew members, including the captain. They took control of the Amistad and demanded that the ship sail east, to Africa. Each day, Ruiz and Montes sailed east towards Africa as they were commanded. However, each night the two men turned the ship around and sailed west, towards the United States, where Ruiz and Montes were hoping to be rescued.
Capture and trial
Two months later the Amistad reached the waters off Long Island, New York. There the ship was seized by the U.S. Navy, which towed it to Connecticut. The rebels were jailed and charged with murder and piracy. The case of the Amistad was now in the hands of the United States government.
Abolitionists, people who were fighting against slavery in the United States, came to the aid of the Amistad rebels. The abolitionists built public awareness of the Africans' situation and raised money for their defense. In November 1839 the trial of the African men began in Hartford, Connecticut. Ruiz and Montes claimed that the men were their legal property. But the judges disagreed. In January 1840 the court ordered that the men be freed and returned to Africa.
Freedom
However, political pressures caused a delay. Since Cuba was then a colony belonging to Spain, the United States government felt it should turn the Africans over to the Spanish government. Eventually the case was heard before the U.S. Supreme Court. Former president John Quincy Adams represented the captives. In March 1841 the Supreme Court agreed with the earlier decision: the rebels were not guilty. In an 8-1 decision the judges proclaimed the men were “entitled to freedom,” even “by the laws of Spain itself.” In November the 35 survivors of the Amistad set sail for Africa. They arrived in Sierra Leone in January 1842.