Amistad Mutiny (also known as Amistad Case). In 1839 off the coast of Cuba, Africans held as slaves aboard the ship Amistad were led by a fellow captive named Cinqué in revolt against their Spanish captors. Several of the crew were killed in the mutiny, but two Spaniards were allowed to live and ordered to sail the ship back to Africa. Instead, they sailed up the Atlantic coast until reaching Long Island. There the ship was seized by U.S. officials, and the Africans were imprisoned in Connecticut. In the trial that followed, a federal court ordered the prisoners returned to Africa. The case was appealed to the Supreme Court, where former President John Quincy Adams represented the Africans. In 1841 the Court ruled that they had been illegally kidnapped and were free persons. Private funds were raised for their transportation, and the Africans returned to their homeland.