In 1839, eight weeks after their dramatic mutiny, 49 trafficked African men aboard the schooner La Amistad dropped anchor off the coast of Montauk, desperate for fresh water and food. Instead of being helped, their ship was seized and they were transported to Connecticut as captives. These events would lead to an international diplomatic crisis and a series of momentous legal battles that brought into question basic tenets of American democracy and foreshadowed the Civil War. Mia Certic, executive director of the Montauk Historical Society, will talk about the Amistad case and how what happened on Long Island set the stage for what was to come.

📷 La Amistad anchored off Culloden Point in Montauk. Unknown artist. 1840. Watercolor. New Haven Museum.

📷 William H. Townsend. Amistad Survivors (l-r: Fuli, Marqu, and Pona). 1839. Library of Congress.