Sengbe Pieh, later known as Joseph Cinqué, was an ordinary man. He owned a rice field in Sierra Leone and lived with his wife and three children. However, one day, everything changed. Cinqué is brutally torn from his family and home by slave traders who imprison him in Lomboko. He was cruelly kept there, away from his wife, family and livelihood, for about a year. Eventually, he was carelessly sold to a slave trader named Pedro Blanco for less than a few bottles of Spanish whiskey. Say no to plagiarism. Get a custom essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”?Get the original essayIn 1836, the British passed a law allowing the destruction of ships caught trafficking in slaves, because the Slave trading was illegal in Britain. In response to this, slave traders would wait until prisons and the like were filled with (largely innocent) black prisoners, then take their human cargo in huge loads to minimize the risk of getting caught by having to make multiple trips. Slave trader José Ruiz purchased Cinqué and 48 other slaves from the now full prison for one of these voyages, and put him on his schooner, La Amistad. Frightened and disoriented Africans were herded like cattle, restrained and heavily chained among a cargo of tableware, jewelry, fabrics, and other fine objects. In May 1839, La Amistad left Havana, Africa, with the original intention of going ashore. in Puerto Principe, Cuba. However, unbeknownst to the crew, a rebellion was brewing below deck. Cinqué convinced his fellow prisoners that they could take the ship back and return home to Africa. He pointed out that the crew was weak and old and that they had cane knives that looked like machetes. Eventually, a blacksmith named Burna figured out how to free the mutineers from their chains with a primitive spike. Freed from their chains, Cinqué and his co-conspirators settled down to wait for an opportunity. On July 2, 1839, a storm shook La Amistad, distracting the crew. Seeing the opportunity, Cinqué and two other freed prisoners armed themselves and went to the bridge to organize their revolt. They fought furiously with the crew and killed La Amistad's captain and cook. The navigator was spared and they ordered him to take them back to Africa. However, the browser was sneaky. Taking advantage of the fact that the mutineers lacked supplies and spoke no English, he sailed northeast from La Amistad, toward Africa by day, but in the opposite direction, toward the Bahamas by night for several weeks. Eventually, American authorities captured the exhausted and starving escapees and threw them into another prison in New Haven, Connecticut, a state where slavery was legal. Before the trials could even begin, just as Cinqué and his companions were being arrested, the Spanish embassy demanded the return of La Amistad's slaves. They claimed that because they were technically Spaniards, Spain should have custody of future runaway slaves, but the United States simultaneously claimed the latter as its property. The abolitionist movement, seeing that the plight of the African mutineers was a good opportunity to arouse public sympathy, also took action. American President Martin Van Buren also had this affair in his sights. It was his re-election year, so he decided to stir up pro-slavery sentiment with his support and thus gain more votes for his campaign. Ultimately, the abolitionist sentiment around this affair managed to interest many, 83(2), 101-106.