Over several centuries it is estimated that 12 million slaves made the Middle Passage from Africa to the Americas. Around 1.5 million died on the voyage due to mistreatment. A Spanish slave trader named Pedro Blanco had a fort on the coast of Sierra Leone where he acquired slaves and sold them to Europeans, mostly Spanish because it had not banned slavery yet. The slaves were kidnapped, prisoners of war (sold by African tribes), debtors, or punished for crimes. In 1839, the Spanish ship Tecora was loaded with 500 slaves and set sail for Cuba. The slaves were chained below deck and treated horribly. Many died and had their bodies thrown overboard. After two hellacious months, the ship reached Havana, Cuba. The slaves were auctioned off. Jose Ruiz and Pedron Montes bought 49 adults and 4 children for their plantation and set sail on June 28 on a schooner named the Amistad (“Friendship”). On July 2, the slaves managed to unshackle themselves and took over the ship. They used machetes to hack to death the cook who had taunted them that they would be killed and eaten. The captain was also killed. Ruiz was able to kill two of the Africans before he and Montes were captured. The slaves were led by Cinque (also known as Sengbe Pieh). Ruiz and Montes were kept alive so they could sail the ship to Africa. However, the two sailed northward without the slaves realizing it. The ship moved up the coast of the US. On August 26, 1839, the ship was stopped by a US Navy revenue cutter off Long Island. Ruiz and Montes were freed and the Africans were jailed in Hartford, Connecticut. Connecticut was still a slave state. The Africans were put on trial for murder and piracy. The problem was Cinque and the others did not speak English so they could not tell their story. A language professor named Josiah Gibbs managed to find a sailor from Sierra Leone named James Covey who could translate. Pres. Van Buren, hoping to get slave state votes in the next election, sent a Navy ship to whisk the slaves to Spain after they were found guilty. Abolitionists championed their cause. The abolitionists provided a lawyer. He argued that since the slave trade was illegal, the Africans had been kidnapped and had the right to try to escape. The court agreed and ruled that they should be freed. The Van Buren administration was upset about the verdict because the US had a treaty with Spain and Spain wanted its property back. The case was appealed and ended up in the Supreme Court where former President John Quincy Adams argued for the Africans. By a vote of 7-1, the Supreme Court ruled that they should be free. On November 26, 1841, they sailed back to their homes in Africa.
https://www.history.com/articles/the-amistad-slave-rebellion-175-years-ago
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Amistad
https://www.britannica.com/event/Amistad-mutiny
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