Amistad replica headed for Cuba

New Haven, Conn. (AP) - The official tall ship of the state of Connecticut is headed for the largely forbidden waters of Cuba for a 10-day, two-city tour of the island nation.

The Amistad schooner will be dropping anchor in Havana's harbor on March 25th.

The 10-year-old ship is a replica of the Cuban coastal trader that sailed from Havana in 1839 with a cargo of African captives, only to become an emblem of the abolitionist movement. The trip to Cuba is high-profile exception to the 47-year-old U.S. embargo of the Caribbean island.

It's part of the Amistad's voyage of retracing the old Atlantic slave trade triangle. After setting sail from Havana in 1839, the original  Amistad's African captives rebelled and took over the ship until it was seized off the coast of Long Island.

The captured Africans became an international cause for abolitionists; their fate was finally decided in 1841 when John Quincy Adams argued their case before the Supreme Court, which granted them their freedom.