The Amistad Mutiny (Ella Baker)

In 1839, 53 Africans were captured in western Africa in what is modern day Sierra Leone. The Transatlantic slave trade had been banned by international treaty. But a number of European countries turned a blind eye to violations. Shipped to Cuba and sold to slave traders, the 53 were given Cuban identities in what amounted to a human trafficking operation for African slaves. Boarded on a Schooner called the Amistad, the 53 rose up and killed the ship's captain and a crew member. Taking control of the schooner, it sailed aimlessly in the Atlantic along the United States coast. Seized by a United States Coast Guard ship, African would be charged with Murder and Piracy in the United States. Learn about this early abolitionist's fight to free the Africans. The case had consequences for United States international relations with Spain and the division between the American north and South pre-Civil War.