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Today in Labor History March 9, 1841: The U.S. Supreme Court issued a ruling that freed the remaining 35 survivors of the Amistad mutiny. In 1839, Portuguese slave traders had illegally transported 52 Mende people from west Africa to Cuba, on the Amistad, in violation of European treaties against the slave trade. Joseph Cinque led his fellow captive Africans in a mutiny, killing the cook and captain, and forcing the remaining crew to return them to Africa. The crew tricked them and sailed up the Atlantic coast, presuming they would be intercepted by the U.S. Navy, which captured the ship near Montauk, Long Island. President Martin Van Buren wanted to send the prisoners back to Spanish authorities in Cuba to stand trial for mutiny. However, the Court recognized the mutineers’ rights as free citizens. Abolitionists raised funds for the mutineers’ defense. Former President John Quincy Adams, who opposed slavery, represented them in court.