August 26 - The Amistad

Labor History in 2:00 · Aug 26, 2026 · 1m

On this day in Labor History the year was 1839.

That was the day that the Amistad sailed into Long Island, New York.

The Amistad served as a Spanish slave ship.

Fifty-three captives, led by an enslaved rice farmer by the name Joseph Cinque, had revolted against their captors and taken control of the ship.

They came from what is now Sierra Leone, Africa.

They had endured the brutal Middle Passage on a Portuguese slave ship, the Tecora.

They had landed in Havana, Cuba where they were transferred to the Amistad.

From there they were supposed to sail to a Cuban sugar plantation.

The transaction…