1839 — The Amistad Mutiny

On July 2, 1839, Sengbe Pieh, known as Joseph Cinqué, worked a hidden file loose, broke his chains, and led fifty-three illegally enslaved Mende captives in revolt aboard the Spanish schooner La Amistad off Cuba. Armed with cane knives, they seized the ship and ordered it sailed east toward Africa.

The crew secretly steered north into American waters instead, and the ship was seized off Long Island. The captives faced trial, and in 1841 the United States Supreme Court declared them free. It was a landmark victory for the captives, one that electrified the abolitionist movement far beyond the courtroom.