Amistad Memorial
The American School for the Deaf in Hartford had an important role in the events after theAmistadMunity. Although slavery still existed when the school was founded in 1817, the transportation of African people across the Atlantic Ocean to be sold as slaves had been illegal for over a decade. Sadly, the practice continued regardless. In 1839, a group of 53 Mende men, women, and children from Sierra Leone were kidnapped and sailed aboard theTecorato Cuba. Once there, they were placed aboard the schoonerAmistadto be sold as slaves elsewhere on the island. Their leader, Joseph Cinqué, escaped his chains and overtook the ship. In their efforts to sail back to Africa they were intercepted by a U.S. Naval vessel off the coast of New York and brought to New Haven.
Legal battles and many trials followed and because the Mende people did not speak English, there was confusion about their travels. In October 1839, Rev. Thomas Hopkin Gallaudet, former principal at ASD, came to visit them in prison in Hartford. Gallaudet and his fellow teachers worked with the Mende captives using American Sign Language to build a way to communicate. Their education did not end when they were transferred to the prison that was located where this monument stands. Educational materials produced for ASD were in high demand and widely used by the captives. The Africans won their freedom after an 1841 court decision. They moved to Farmington until they had enough funds to return to Sierra Leone.Credits and Sources:
Photo courtesy of:
CT Freedom Trail.
