In 1839 approximately forty Africans were kidnapped from West Africa. These men were from the Mendi tribe or group of Africans who lived near the coast of Sierra Leone. They were taken on a Portuguese ship by Spaniards to be sold in Havana, Cuba as slaves.
Nineteen years before that date, however, slavery had been abolished in all Spanish countries and was, therefore illegal. Ten days after the Africans arrived in Havana, Cuba, they were purchased by Don Jose Ruiz and Don Pedro Montez. These men had fraudulent papers stating that the Africans whom they had captured were “Ladinos,” (Cuban blacks who had been in servitude in 1820). They had supposedly paid for such falsification.
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After the purchases were made the Africans were immediately placed on a schooner called the Amistad. Two nights later “a powerful black
African from the group of men named Sengbe” (Cinque in Spanish) headed his group in their defense. Sengbe demanded to know the
destination of the Spanish vessel when the cook amused himself by replying that they were being taken somewhere to be killed and eaten.
Sengbe and his men immediately rose up, armed themselves and took control of the ship. After a scuffle, both the captain and his cook were dead. Sengbe (Cinque) held Ruiz and Montez as prisoners, while he permitted the crew to go free. Since Sengbe and his men were not navigators, they trusted the two Spaniards to navigate the ship back to Africa, and made their demands. The Spanish were, however, deceptive, and managed to work the vessel northward instead of eastward, as requested. Sixty days later, on August 26, 1839, about a half mile from the northern shore of Long Island, the long schooner was anchored. The American lieutenant who investigated the matter placed the Africans in safe keeping after hearing the twisted story of the Spaniards. These African men unfortunately were kept in the New Haven jail.
There were white men of good will whose sympathies were aroused. Three antislavery philanthropists also volunteered to solicit funds for the protection of the Africans.
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The funds were also used to hire attorneys to defend them. The attorneys were Roger Sherman, Seth Staples and Theodore Sedgwick.
A Yale professor of theology became interested in the case and tried to assist with the understanding of the language which the Africans spoke. In order to do this, he visited them and memorized the words and sounds which they used for numbers one through ten. With this information, he visited the docks in New York and repeated the numerals one through ten in the Mendi language. Finally a Mendian native came forward in recognition of the language. After hearing the story of Sengbe and the predicament of him and his men, he offered to help. This Mendian native was James Covey.
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He traveled back to New Haven with Professor Gibbs and interpreted what Sengbe and his companions had to report. Covey became Sengbe’s interpreter, and soon thereafter, a vocabulary of the Mendi language was made, and conversation with the Africans became possible. It is said that English lessons were being taught to the Africans, as well as Christianity. Clothes were given to these men also, and they were often taken to the New Haven Green where they did their physical exercises. The English lessons were given to them by a Jewish professor who taught at the Yale Divinity School at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut.
Regarding the court ruling, the legal questions were these:
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1.
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Did the schooner taken from Montauk Point come within the jurisdiction of Connecticut?
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2.
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Should the Africans be tried for murder on the high seas?
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3.
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Were the officers of the Brig Washington entitled to salvage?
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4.
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Were the Africans the property of Ruiz and Montez, or were they free men who were kidnapped?
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5.
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Should the United States accede to the demands of the Spanish minister that the schooner and cargo be delivered to the owners and the Africans taken to Havana, Cuba as assassins?
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The Circuit Court, as well as the Supreme Court, decided that the Africans would not and could not be detained for murder occurring on a Spanish vessel. The matter was mainly tried in the district court and was quite an exciting trial here in New Haven. The judge who presided, a Judge Judson, although not sympathetic about the antislavery agitation, was just and honest in enforcing the correct laws as they pertained to the Africans. This Judge Judson pointed out that Ruiz and Montez had fraudulent papers; that the Africans were not at all slaves, but rather free men who were illegally captured. He further explained that the Africans had been unlawfully transported to Havana, Cuba, and that the African men were free to return to their native Africa. The judge further stated that Ruiz and Montez had made their purchases with full knowledge that the Africans were free men; that the Africans had not become pirates and robbers by taking possession of the Amistad and seeking their freedom.
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It was further explained that no clause in the U.S. treaty with Spain demanded the surrender of the Africans.
Justice was done and Sengbe and his African followers were safely accompanied home to Africa, sailing eastward.
In observation of the 150th anniversary of the Amistad Affair involving Joseph Sengbe known to the Spaniards as Cinque, the Amistad Committee in New Haven this year (1989) expects to raise $350,000. A statue of Sengbe erected in the center of New Haven is being considered, to remind us of the accomplishments of the Africans. These accomplishments were possible only because the community did what was right by insisting that fairness should prevail. The officials practiced the right action by enforcing just laws for the betterment of mankind.
Several events including exhibits, will be held beginning September 17, 1989 in the New Haven area. There will be a symposium at Yale University and an essay contest in the New Haven Schools. An original musical performance has also been planned for the occasion.
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Many other African Americans have contributed endlessly to building and improving the United States in the following areas: Math and Science, Research, Law, Inventions, Engineering, a variety of technical fields, Almanac making, Traffic Light Designing, surgery, Writing, Facilitating in the Press and News Media, Civil/ Human Rights, etc.
Some of these Americans are:
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William E.B. DuBois
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Benjamin Banniker
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George Carruthers
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George Washington Carver
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Dr. Charles Drew
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Lewis H. Latimer
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Garrett Morgan
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Charlotte Forten
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Lester Granger
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George Edmund Haynes
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James Weldon Johnson
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Eugene K. Jones
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Dr. Martin L, King, Jr.
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Rosa Parks
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Malcolm X
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Kelly Miller
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William Trotter
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Sojourner Truth
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Harriet R. Tubman
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David Walker
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Whitney Young, Jr.
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Adam Clayton Powell
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Julian Bond
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Constance Baker Motley
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Barbara Jordan
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Shirley Chisholm
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Judge Thurgood Marshall
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Reverend Jesse Jackson
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Judge Warren L. Pierce
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Carl Rowan
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Roy Wilkins
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James Baldwin
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Inamu Amui Baraka
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Leroy Jones
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Lerone Bennett, Jr.
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Arthur Mitchell
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Pearl Bailey
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Harry Belafonte
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Cab Calloway
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Nat King Cole
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Diahann Carroll
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Bill Cosby
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Ossie Davis
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Sammy Davis, Jr.
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Aretha Franklin
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Redd Foxx
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Lena Horne
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James Earl Jones
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Mahalia Jackson
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Johnny Mathis
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Diana Ross
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Sidney Poitier
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Paul Robeson
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Cicely Tyson
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Leslie Uggams
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Adam Ward
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Desmond Wilson
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Flip Wilson
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Jan Matzeliger
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Granville Woods
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Lewis Latimer
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Garrett Morgan
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George Washington Carver
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Guion Bluford
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Walter Massey
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Daniel Arabus
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and many more.
Students may make a list of the local black individual Americans who have contributed to the growth of this area and country.
In order to further motivate students in the areas of education and achievement of purpose, such motivation will now be discussed.
