New Haven was home to one of the important early events in the burgeoning anti-slavery movement when, in 1839, the trial of mutineering Mende tribesmen being transported as slaves on the Spanish slaveship Amistad was held in New Haven's United States District Court.
New Haven foi o fogar dun dos primeiros acontecementos importantes no crecente movemento anti-escravista cando, no ano 1839, o xuízo dos membros da tribo mende amotinados cando eran transportados como escravos no buque escravista español La Amistad celebrouse no Tribunal de Distrito de New Haven.