March 9, 1841
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Africans who seized control of the Cuban ship Amistad had been illegally forced into slavery, and thus were free under American law. Despite an international ban on the importation of African slaves, Cuba continued to transport captive Africans to its sugar plantations until the 1860s, and Brazil to its coffee plantations until the 1850s. Early in the morning of July 2, 1839, in the midst of a storm, the Africans rose up against their captors and, using sugar-cane knives found in the hold, killed the captain and a crewmember. Two other crewmembers were either thrown overboard or escaped, and the two Cubans who had purchased the slaves were captured. A U.S. Navy ship seized the Amistad off the coast of Long Island and the Africans were imprisoned pending an investigation of the Amistad revolt. Despite Cuban demands for the return of the 34 supposedly Cuban-born slaves, American abolitionists advocated the return of the illegally bought slaves to Africa. The Supreme Court ruled that the Africans had been illegally enslaved and had thus exercised a natural right to fight for their freedom. In November, with the financial assistance of their abolitionist allies, the Amistad Africans returned to West Africa.
