The Steven Spielberg movie, Amistad, made Joseph Cinque a recognized name to many people. It was a film based on an actual incident and court case called the Amistad Affair.

In August of 1839, a suspicious-looking ship called the Amistad was sailing on the Atlantic Ocean when it was spotted and forced to dock in New London, Connecticut. It had been a slaving ship carrying 53 enslaved Africans en route to Cuba. The Africans, led by Sengbe (his name was changed to Joseph Cinque), had somehow unchained themselves and revolted. They killed several sailors, and, holding the captain hostage, they forced him to take them back to Africa. The captain tricked the Africans; he would steer the boat towards West Africa by day and turn it towards America at night. Eventually, the Amistad got close enough to the United States where it was discovered.

The news media buzzed. The Africans were jailed. Soon they were brought to trial for murder. Since the United States was deeply involved in slavery and Americans were torn about the issue, some people argued that Cinque and his fellow Africans should be tried and sentenced. Others thought that they should be returned to the Spanish since they were Cuban property and Cuba belonged to Spain. Still, others argued that the Africans should be sent back to Africa.

A series of trials lasted over a two-year period. Martin van Buren was president at the time, and he became directly involved since the U.S. was concerned that Spain would start a war over their property: the Africans. Eventually, Cinque (who had learned English by this point) acted as a spokesperson for himself and the other Amistad defendants. With the help of several abolitionists and former president John Quincy Adams as the defense lawyer, Cinque and the others won the U.S. Supreme Court case in March of 1841, and the Africans were granted their freedom to go home.

It is believed that when he finally returned home, Cinque never reunited with his wife and children because his village had been raided. Just as he had been stolen a few years before, they were also probably kidnapped and sold into slavery.

To learn more about Cinque and the Amistad, read these books:

Amistad Rising by Veronica Chambers

Amistad by Joyce Annette Barnes

Amistad: A Long Road to Freedom by Walter Dean Myers