In April of 1839, a group of militant Portuguese abducted a group of 53 Africans, and shipped them to Havana, Cuba. In June of 1839, the Africans were purchased as slaves by four Spaniards and put on the schooner La Amistad (Spanish for “the friendship”) for a voyage to Principe, an island republic, off the west coast of Africa, in the Gulf of Guinea. During this voyage, in the summer of 1839, the Africans performed mutiny on the ship, led by Cinque (Djimon Hounsou), they kill two of the crew, and take control of the ship. They have one goal: return to Africa. With little or no navigational skills, the Africans had to rely on the re