Wanderlust World Wanderlust World Cinqué (Sengbe Pieh, c. 1814–1879) was a Mende rice farmer and leader from the region of present-day Sierra Leone (near modern Freetown).
In 1839, he was kidnapped by African slavers, sold to Portuguese traders, and transported to Havana, Cuba, aboard the slave ship Teçora. There, Spanish planters José Ruiz and Pedro Montes purchased him and 52 others, placing them on the schooner La Amistad for coastal transport.
The Revolt: On July 2, 1839, Cinqué led the captives in seizing the ship, killing the captain and cook. They ordered Ruiz and Montes to sail east toward Africa. The Spaniards secretly navigated north/west. After two months, the Amistad was seized off Long Island by the US Navy.
Legal Victory: The ensuing US Supreme Court case (United States v. The Amistad, 1841), argued by John Quincy Adams, ruled the Africans were free individuals illegally enslaved. Cinqué and 34 survivors returned to Sierra Leone in 1842.
He is celebrated as a symbol of resistance against the transatlantic slave trade.