338 Political Activity and Resistance to Oppression: From the American Revolution to the Civil War
back to his homeland. Cinque searched for his family only
to fi nd out that a series of slave wars had annihilated them.
Faced with the daunting task of restarting his life, Cinque
entered the marketing arena and began selling goods that
he procured along the coast of Sierra Leone. His haggling
within the coastal market appears to serve as the former
slave’s last offi cial record. Lessened communication with the
mission contributed to this lack of information and aroused
speculation about his occupation, his longevity, and where
he passed away. Cinque reportedly became a trader, slaver,
tobacco merchant, chief, or mission interpreter. Another
source contends that Cinque died an elderly man at the ab-
olitionist station in 1879 where he requested and received a
Christian burial, but there is no actual proof of his passing
at this location; in fact, no one really knows what happened
to the legendary fi gure.
What is known, however, is the impact Cinque had on
people of African descent. A statue outside New Haven’s
City Hall, where the famous Amistad mutiny trial occurred,
provides a life-size testament to this proto-freedom fi ghter.
In Cinque’s native Sierra Leone, a $5,000 bank note captures
his masculinity and countenance. Because of the memory
of his valiant eff orts, and his immortalization in print and
sculpture, Cinque’s lasting fame for his unwavering dignity,
integrity, and manhood has endured.
See also: Adams, John Quincy; Amistad; Pennington, James
Williams Charles; Tappan, LewisDawne Y. CurryBibliography
Barber, John Warner. A History of the Amistad Captives. New York:
Arno Press, 1966.
Cable, Mary. Black Odyssey: Th e Case of the Slave Ship Amistad.
New York: Viking Press, 1971.
Jones, Howard. Mutiny on the Amistad: Th e Saga of a Slave Revolt
and Its Impact on American Abolition, Law, and Diplomacy.
New York: Oxford University Press, 1987.
Kromer, Helen. Th e Amistad Revolt 1839: Th e Slave Uprising Aboard
the Spanish Schooner. New York: Franklin Watts, 1973.
Owens, William A. Black Mutiny: Th e Revolt on the Schooner
Amistad. Philadelphia: Pilgrim Press, 1968.Clarkson, Thomas
Th omas Clarkson (1760–1846) was one of the most infl u-
ential British abolitionists. He was born in Wisbech, Cam-
bridgeshire, and entered Cambridge University in 1780to diff erent practices regarding slavery’s maintenance. Brit-
ain had placed a ban on slave exportation as far back as 1808,
and other countries soon followed; however, Spain defi ed
international protocol by continuing to supply labor for Ca-
ribbean plantations. With these countries operating under a
diff erent set of rules, questions loomed. Slavery’s inhumanity,
the masters’ punitive disciplinary measures, and slavery’s il-
legality forced the American Colonization Society and other
antislavery activists to lobby for the institution’s demise. Fur-
thermore, with this being a widely publicized event, news-
papers such as Herald of Freedom, New York Herald, and the
Colored American oft en debated about the issue of slavery
and about Cinque’s physiognomy. Reporters anxious to wit-
ness “the specimen” courted readers with topics ranging
from Cinque’s physical appearance to his demeanor. Chron-
iclers, who focused on Cinque’s appearance, underscored
the prevailing racial ideology of the time. Th is focus further
demonstrated how Cinque’s appearance made the African
leader diff erent, objectifi ed, and demonized. Even so, oth-
ers, such as abolitionist and activist Henry Highland Garnet,
lauded Cinque, whom he considered an American patriot in
speeches that he rendered and published a decade later.
Once Cinque acquired his freedom, he boarded a ship
sponsored by the American Mende Mission and headed
Portrait of Joseph Cinque, 1839. (AP Photo/New Haven Colony
Historical Society)