The U.S. Supreme Court declared Joseph Cinquez and

his fellow mutineers free. In August 1839, in the most

famous slave ship revolt in history, Cinquez, the

son of an African king, and his Mendi followers had killed

the captain and taken over the Spanish slaver the Amistad.

The rebels were captured off Long Island, where they had

been discovered floating in a "mysterious long black schooner"

with tattered sails before trying to sail the Amistad back

to Africa.