General Overview and Timeline of La Amistad

La Amistad off Culloden Point, Long Island, New York
Date: 26 August 1839
Contemporary Painting, Artist Unknown

Author: Shanna Campbell

La Amistad was a ship known as a two-masted schooner, which is a type of ship defined by its rig. It was initially launched in 1839. It was owned by a Spanish national named Ramon Ferrer, who lived in Cuba. After the revolt of the Mende captives, the court case United States v. Amistad took place, ultimately deciding that the Mende people free. La Amistad has also been in the hands of the United States, which they acquired in 1840, and in the hands of the French, who acquired it in 1844. "Amistad" is Spanish for "friendship, which is ironic due to the legacy La Amistad and its revolt have today.

Timeline of La Amistad:

1811: Spain abolished slavery.

28 June 1839: La Amistad leaves Havana for a small port near Puerto Principe, Cuba. There was some general cargo; 53 African slaves were also on board, taken from Mendiland, modern-day Sierra Leone, and bound for a sugar plantation.

Around 1 July 1839: The Mende captives, around forty-nine adults and four children, revolt onboard La Amistad.

21 August 1839: La Amistad was discovered by USS Washington around thirty miles southeast of Sandy Hook. It was taken into United States custody.

October 1840: La Amistad is auctioned off by the US Marshal and is purchased by Captain George Hawford, who renamed the ship Ion.

22 February to 2 March 1841: The court case United States v. Amistad takes place. The United States Supreme Court ruled, with a 7-1 majority, that the Mende people were free and not slaves.

1844: After sailing the ship for a few years, Hawford sells Ion to French buyers in Guadeloupe.

After Haeford's sale in 1844, there is no record of what happened to Ion under the French in the Caribbean.