widely studied, magnitude, but for the trial that followed it. History clearly shows the importance of the abolitionist movement in influencing the trial's result The African men and women who would later find themselves captives aboard the Amistad were first sold to a Spanish slave trader. From there, they traveled to Cuba aboard a slave ship called the Tecora. Many of the prisoners died during the nearly two month no voyage because of the unhealthy conditions on the ship. Finally, a Cuban plantation owner purchased about fifty males from the Tecora. The purchaser then hired a schooner known as the Amistad to transport his new slaves to his plantation. Because importing slaves was illegal, the purchaser, Jose Ruiz, obtained papers stating that the Africans were born in Cuba. This made the sale acceptable under the Cuban laws of the time. overcrowding The Amistad was loaded with its purchase on June 28, 1839. Beatings, aboard the and lack of food were all cited later by the slaves as the conditions they faced surprising schooner on the third night of the voyage, the situation on the Amistad took a was a turn. The person credited with changing the fate of the prisoners aboard the ship freeing man named Joseph Cinque. Cinque managed to free himself and then set about