Slave Revolt Leader, Slave Trader: New Evidence on an Old Rumor against Sengbe Pieh

Within the larger understanding of the Amistad mutiny of 1839 and its consequences, this poster will focus on the history of a claim made that Sengbe Pieh (also known as Cinque), leader of the revolt aboard the ship La Amistad, returned to Africa and engaged in the slave trade. The poster will briefly introduce the 1839 Amistad incident and subsequent trial before the U.S. Supreme Court, the abolitionist and missionaries that assisted in the defense of the Amistad Africans, and how the re-telling of the story of the Amistad had been used to cultivate financial support for Christian missionary work among African Americans in the southern United States and in Africa in the 19^th and 20^th centuries. I will then document previous research on the rumor against Cinque that traces its origins to the mid-20^th century. Finally, I will introduce new archival sources that add to what is currently known about Sengbe Pieh’s life in Africa following the Amistad case and provide new evidence for, or against, the long-standing yet unsubstantiated rumor against him. The goal of this poster is to provide “the missing link” in the primary sources on Pieh’s life and foster new research on the Africans that were aboard the Amistad ship.