The Amistad Mutiny

The Amistad Mutiny Slavery, a dirty word no matter how it’s pronounced: Abducted and herded to the slave fortress of Lomboko1 for trade. To be tossed in chains below deck on the Portuguese ship Tecora,2 Sailing the Atlantic Middle Passage3 leg of the voyage, Disenfranchised from their Mendiland4 home in Africa. Bound for Caribbean disembarkment on the Cuban Island5 in 1839; They are transferred and transported like stock of intrinsic value, For resale in the new world to produce wealth for the plantation owners: Who see these human beings as property to be exploited; Whipped into working, planting and harvesting sugar cane fields. History condenses a span of time as a way of life in reading materials, Accepting evil’s existence as necessary for the advancement of ideals, Apologetic for past transgressions, these same institutions enjoy existence, Praised on moral high ground with forgiveness, enjoying the riches Slavery has endowed in allowing generations of ‘privileged living.’ Prodded down and up gangplanks, blinded by the sun, Ebon colored skin and bone zombies shuffle along. In steps determined by iron links connecting their ankles, While cruel eyes watch; desensitized to the inhumane procession, Boarding the friendship schooner; translation “Amistad”6 in Spanish. Somewhere in the hull of suppression, depression, and suffering, A Mende hero arises by the name of Joseph Cinqué,7 who remembers, Rice crops, wife and children smiling, and a cool breeze of summer, Conspires mutiny, as a means to freedom: a nail is all that is required. In hopes of escape to return home, on the other side of the Atlantic. A nail which is employed to slip the shackles off (from their ankles and wrists which they rub for circulation) Then storm the deck with makeshift weapons, In murderous tumult, hacking until they are victorious. Freedom is more than a word spoken in haughty circles: it is blessèd. But irony always twists and the lives they spare to sail the ship Steer in the rising sun’s direction by day, and northwest by night. For two months, until eventually, the schooner is overtaken by the US Navy,8 Off the New York State coast, and the rebellions arrested, And placed in leg irons again; to face the courts in a slave nation. Reiterated words of disrespect are challenged and debated in law and order, As if these people were subhuman, aliens from another world. Conscience is inconsequential; for deeming them other than property, The courts would then condemn themselves as the animals, For engaging so monstrous a crime of God’s creation. For two years, the case is argued: appeal after appeal9 without remorse; Are these prisoners slaves or not? Property of another or free persons?10 Subtlety, prejudicial reference to skin color inferiority relationship is not reasoned Nor justification for slavery. Guilt of evil doing is avoided, and the Mende acquitted; To return home at their own expense, no amends by the United States government.11 *** Notes: 1) Lomboko: ‘Lomboko’ was a Spanish slave fortress off the Gallinas Coast of Sierra Leone (West Africa) owned by the infamous Spanish slave trader Pedro Blanco (1795-1854). In 1849, a British expeditionary force of Royal Marines and the Royal Navy attacked Lomboko and freed the slaves, then destroyed the fortress. 2) Tecora: ‘Tecora’ was the name of a Portuguese slave ship. The transatlantic slave trade began with the Portuguese in 1526. Portugal abolished slavery within its African colonies in 1869. Brazil was the last country in the Western World to abolish slavery in 1888. 3) Middle Passage: Slave trade between Europe, Africa, and the New World was a triangular pattern. Ships left Europe and sailed to African coastal slave ports where they loaded and then crossed the Atlantic (Middle Passage) with their human cargo to be sold in the New world and then returned to Europe with goods acquired from the New World. From 1526 to 1867, it is estimated that fifteen million African slaves made the journey, and three million did not survive. 4) Mendiland: ‘Mendiland’ is located in Sierra Leone, a British colony since 1808. Sierra Leone acquired independence from Great Britain in 1961. Britain abolished slavery throughout its Empire in 1833. 5) Cuba: Cuba was a colony of Spain from 1492 to 1898. The slave trade was legal in Spain if those enslaved were Spanish or were from Spanish territories. Spain enacted previous agreements for the abolition of slavery in 1837 and abolished slavery in Cuba in 1886. Following the Spanish-American War of 1898, Spain withdrew from Cuba, which, for the next three and a half years, was ruled by the U.S.A.. Cuba became an independent nation in 1902. 6 La Amistad: ’La Amistad’ is the name of a schooner sailing ship. Amistad in Spanish means ‘friendship.’ 7) Joseph Cinqué (1814-1879): ‘Joseph Cinqué who’s Mende name is Sengbe Pieh, was born in Sierra Leone, Africa. He was a rice farmer, with a wife and three children. Joseph Cinqué was kidnapped and sold into slavery because of a debt he owed, and eventually, was purchased by Pedro Blanco in 1839, who then shipped him off to the New World aboard the Tecora to be sold. Once in Havana, Cuba, Cinqué and fifty-three other slaves were sold to two Spaniards who loaded them onto the ‘La Amistad’ with the intention of reselling them to sugar plantation owners. On July 2, 1839, Joseph Cinqué led a revolt by the slaves aboard the La Amistad and took control of the schooner. 8) The “La Amistad” was overtaken by the US Navy brig ship ‘USS Washington.’ 9) Three courts in the United States of America tried the Mende, who were acquitted by all three: the courts—first the District Court, then the Circuit Court, and finally the Supreme Court; ruled in their favor. 10) The trials were all argued on the basis if the Mende having been born in Africa were illegally abducted and forced into slavery or whether they were ‘property’ and thus, slaves to be returned to their owners (the Spanish government). In 1807, the United States enacted a law prohibiting new slaves from being imported into the United States. In 1839, slavery was legal in Connecticut, and illegal in New York State. Dutch traders first brought African slaves to Jamestown in North America in 1619. Slavery was officially abolished in the United States of America in 1865. 11) Fifty-five people of the Mende aboard the “Amistad” were imprisoned by the United States government. Thirty-five survived and returned to Sierra Leone after the trial ordeal with funds obtained by private and missionary society donations.