THE STORY OF SENGBE PIEH :

The Mende man who led the successful La Amistad (Spanish slave ship) revolt

Might of Mende people

A rice farmer with 3 children and a wife born in Mende land modern day Salone “illegally” captured by Portuguese slave traders he with many others It is said some where even are wearing gold where taken to Havana Cuba to be sold into slavery where have him the name Joseph Cinqué

him and 52 other men, women and children were bought by 2 Spanish owners and bordered in the La Amistad. It was illegal to for international slave trade at this point but if they were born in Cuba it was legal Spanish territory which is why the traders/sellers lied

and changed his name to Joseph cinqué. In shackles on a long boat trip separated from his wife and kids... On the 3rd day pieh freed himself and his fellow people from shackles and led a brutal revolt killing everyone on the ship except from one man a navigator(clip from the film

(some sources say 2 survived)Pieh told him to send them back home they were tricked and sailed to America’s and in hope that other Spanish sailors would see them and help it ended up reaching United States Long Island New York when landed the Spanish man told the lie about

then being Cuban born Etc and the brutal revolt led by Sengbe Pieh thus all Africans were charged with mutiny and murder they were taken to new haven Connecticut to await there trial luckily there were interpreters from Mende to English which allowed them to tell the true story

A print of Cinqué that appeared in The Sun on August 31, 1839

Sengbe Pieh served as the informal representative it was held by the Supreme Court that they would be freed and sent back to Africa as it was illegal for international slave trade and so they were (This took 2 years)

In the year 1842 they finally reached back to sweet mama Salone unfortunately at this time there was a civil war in the country and his family perished in that war so he never got to see them again

This is one of my favourite Sierra Leonean icons of all time we have a rich history for such a tiny country I’ll keep posting more interesting figures