As an archivist at the Amistad Research Center at Tulane University in New Orleans, Louisiana from 1988 to 2001, I was understandably aware of the significance of the Amistad Revolt and its place in American history, but it was never positioned as an important event related to Muslims or Islamic history in America. About two years after working at the Center, I came across a newspaper account of the meeting of the Amistad Africans with a translator, James Covey, contracted by the Amistad Committee (later the American Missionary Association) to assist in the defense of the jailed Africans in New Haven, Connecticut. To my surprise and utter confusion was the first words spoken to the Africans was “As Salaamu Alaikum!” The translator further stated that upon seeing the Africans he immediately recognized them as Muslims from the Mende tribe. I was astonished that no one, including our director, noted Amistad Research Center director and historian of American Missionary Association (AMA), scholar Dr. Clifton Herman Johnson had ever once mentioned this connection to me, a visibly African American Muslim. The Amistad Committee had specifically discussed the issue of these Africans being “Mohammadans” and this had given them pause as to whether they should use them as a test case to challenge the system of slavery in the courts. In spite of these real concerns the Amistad Committee headed by Lewis and Arthur Tappan, wealthy financiers and abolitionists, decided to go ahead with using the Africans’ case due to the impressive and dignified presence of Sengbe Pieh (later Joseph Cinque), the leader of the Amistad Africans.

Who was Sengbe Pieh (Cinque) and why is it important to recognize, acknowledge and celebrate his identity as a Muslim? Cinque was the leader of the Amistad Revolt, one of the most celebrated uprisings against the Transatlantic slave trade that occurred in 1839. On the morning of June 28, 1839, La Amistad (a Spanish schooner meaning friendship) set sail from Havana, Cuba, with 53 Africans on board who had been abducted from West Africa and sold in violation of international law. Their intended fate was enslavement on plantations down coast from Havana. After overhearing the cook discuss eating them, probably spoken in jest, but these Africans were aware and deathly afraid of cannibalism, so led by Cinque, the Africans attacked the crew of the Amistad schooner, killing all but two of the crew members. They ordered that the ship be guided toward the rising sun, back to Africa, but each night the Cubans reversed direction. 

​Zigzagging for two months, the ship eventually was brought by northerly winds and currents to Long Island. The Africans were jailed and charged with piracy and murder. In New York City, a group of Christian abolitionists, headed by Lewis Tappan, formed a defense committee. Cinque was known to have taken an active and central part in making the argument for the Africans. It was important that their voices and concerns were central to their defense. Cinque met with the attorneys throughout the case and one of the most important arguments made was his main statement he requested be told to the judges, “tell them that we want free” ie we want to be freed. The case wound its way through the court system, with the Africans taking an important part in the defense. With help from former President John Quincy Adams, attorneys took the case to the United States Supreme Court, which ruled that the Africans were free.

After such an amazing victory to have occurred during a time when slavery was still institutionalized in America, Cinque and the Amistad Africans should be celebrated. What they show us is that even the oppressed and downtrodden can be victorious. Even in the most dehumanizing and hopeless conditions, it is important to fight for yourself and your rights. In recent research (linked below) scholars have worked to bring to light the significance of Cinque’s role as a hero for African, African Americans and Muslims.
 
For more information on the Amistad Africans and Cinque click on the links below:
 

• Howard Jones, “Cinque of the Amistad a Slave Trader? Perpetuating a Myth” in Journal of American History (2000)

• http://www.common-place-archives.org/vol-10/no-01/yannielli/

• Amistad Research Center at Tulane University-The Amistad Event

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_v._The_Amistad