AMISTAD MEMORIAL

In 1839, the Spanish schooner Amistad left Cuba for the United States with 53 slaves captured in Sierra Leone. Confined in the holds, the slaves led by Joseph Cinque managed to break their chains and rebel against their captors. Armed with knives, they take the crew of seven by surprise and kill the captain. They spare the ship's owner so that he can take them back to Africa, but the owner tricks them and continues northwards until a US Navy ship intercepts the Amistad. Accused of mutiny and murder, the Africans are sent to New Haven where they are incarcerated. The city becomes the scene of an interminable trial to determine the fate of the captives and the ship. The event divides the nation and fuels the growing abolitionist movement. Former president John Quincy Adams stands up for the captives. In 1841, the Supreme Court announced its verdict: it was established that the Amistad had violated the 1807 ban on importing slaves into the United States. Considered free men who had made legitimate use of force to end their illegal captivity, the Africans were acquitted. After their liberation, many New Haven residents supported them and integrated them into the community until their return to Africa in 1842. The La Amistad Memorial, erected in 1992 in front of the City Hall, commemorates these events.