"We were chained--hand and feet together. Onboard the Amistad... the cook told us they carry us to some place and kill and eat us. We were beaten."
Those words were spoken in a Connecticut courtroom on January 8, 1840, by an African man named Sengbe Pieh, also known as Cinque. He was describing the torturous ocean journey that he, like most other slaves, had been forced to make to the U.S. Yet Cinque's journey was unusual. As the Amistad sailed across Cuban waters, Cinque led an uprising of the 52 other kidnapped Africans on the ship. They demanded to be returned to their homeland.
Instead, the ship's crew secretly steered the boat to Montauk, New York. The Africans were arrested and put on trial. Their case made history when the U.S. Supreme Court declared their enslavement illegal and freed them.
Rebuilding the Boat
Now, 161 years after its fateful journey, the Amistad is setting sail once again. Since 1998 more than 170 blacksmiths, sailmakers and carpenters have been working to re-create the historic ship. The $3.1 million, 129-foot wooden boat is equipped with old-style sails. It has plenty of modern features too, including a satellite-navigation system, radios and twin diesel engines.
A special ceremony is planned for the ship's launch from Mystic Seaport in Connecticut on March 25. A bell will ring 53 times--one time for each of the original ship's African passengers. The ship will be sprinkled with a mixture of waters drawn from Connecticut, Cuba and Sierra Leone, the Africans' homeland.
Out to Sea
The Amistad's first stop after it leaves Mystic will be New York Harbor on July 4. Next it will sail to and from ports in the U.S. and maybe Cuba and Sierra Leone. Wherever it journeys, the new ship will carry the legendary tale of the original Amistad. Says Quentin Snediker, the project's coordinator: "This vessel will be part ship and part floating museum."
To find out more about the Amistad, visit the Mystic Seaport website at amistad.mysticseaport.org.