Cinqué, who led a successful mutiny aboard the slave ship “Amistad.” Print by John Sartain (c. 1840). In the collection of Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery.
"Cinqué was the slave name given to Singbe Pieh by the Spanish who illegally enslaved him and fifty-two others in 1839. While the slave ship 'Amistad' sailed from one Cuban port to another, Cinqué led a successful mutiny aboard the ship. But the Africans then had to rely on a Spanish helmsman, who steered the ship to Long Isand instead of back to Africa. U.S. authorities secured the 'Amistad,' and the slaves were interned in New Haven, Connecticut. While the federal government, fearful of offending the South, wanted to recognize the law of property and return the slaves to their owners, the District Court in New Haven ordered them freed. When the government appealed, ex-president John Quincy Adams defended the 'Amistad' prisoners before the U.S. Supreme Court, successfully arguing that the right of habeas corpus prohibited their illegal seizure. Cinqué and his fellow captives were returned to Africa," [Text by "DCW" accompanying the print]
Cinqué, who led a successful mutiny aboard the slave ship “Amistad.” Print by John Sartain (c. 1840). In the collection of Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery.
"Cinqué was the slave name given to Singbe Pieh by the Spanish who illegally enslaved him and fifty-two others in 1839. While the slave ship 'Amistad' sailed from one Cuban port to another, Cinqué led a successful mutiny aboard the ship. But the Africans then had to rely on a Spanish helmsman, who steered the ship to Long Isand instead of back to Africa. U.S. authorities secured the 'Amistad,' and the slaves were interned in New Haven, Connecticut. While the federal government, fearful of offending the South, wanted to recognize the law of property and return the slaves to their owners, the District Court in New Haven ordered them freed. When the government appealed, ex-president John Quincy Adams defended the 'Amistad' prisoners before the U.S. Supreme Court, successfully arguing that the right of habeas corpus prohibited their illegal seizure. Cinqué and his fellow captives were returned to Africa," [Text by "DCW" accompanying the print]