This is a photo of Robert Smalls, a former enslaved person turned businessman, publisher and politician. Smalls was born into enslavement in Beaufort, South Carolina in 1839. When he became a teenager, his mother convinced her master to rent him out for work as a deckhand on a coastal cotton transport steamship named the Planter. He quickly became the ship's de facto pilot and learned the Charleston harbor like the back of his hand. When the Civil War broke out in 1861, the Planter was commissioned by the Confederates for wartime activities such destroying Union owned lighthouses, mapping the Atlantic coast and transporting weapons. Smalls won the trust of white Confederate soldiers and took charge of the ship while it was still in port. He took the opportunity to sneak his family and several other enslaved people onto the ship. In order to leave the port, Smalls had to impersonate a white captain by wearing his wide-brimmed straw hat and giving secret code signals at multiple checkpoints. Smalls steered the ship into Union territory and after a tense stand-off, he was able to peacefully surrender the ship, along with ta massive supply of ammunition. Smalls first words to the perplexed Union soldiers was "Good morning, sir! I've brought you some old United States guns sir!" For his bold escape, Smalls got a $4,000 bounty on his head. The Union awarded him $1,500 for the confiscated ship and ammunition. Smalls was active throughout the war, lobbying the Secretary of War Edwin Stanton to begin enlisting black soldiers. Once President Lincoln gave his approval, Smalls personally recruited 5,000 black soldiers on his own. After the war, he used his award money to buy the home where he was born from his former master. He entered politics and served in the South Carolina state senate from 1870 to 1874. He then went on to serve 5 non-consecutive terms in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1874 to 1886. Smalls died in 1915 as a free man. He was born into enslavement and died as a war hero, civil rights activist, U.S. Representative and home owner.
@historyinmemes @JordanPeele this needs to be a movie
@historyinmemes He founded the Republican Party of South Carolina.
@historyinmemes A great Republican Congressman.
@historyinmemes Not sure why they haven’t made a movie about this guy.
@historyinmemes This would make a great movie..Smalls patience and determination..made a great impact to our country
@historyinmemes You forgot to mention that he owned slaves… I live in Beaufort!🤨
@historyinmemes I have always been amazed at his story! ❤️❤️
@historyinmemes A former slave is better than “ former enslaved person “. I don’t think DEI and pronouns were a thing back then .