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Happy Robert Smalls Escape Day!
Neo-Confederates love to "remember" imaginary black Confederates.
I prefer to honor the hundreds of thousands of enslaved people like Robert Smalls who liberated themselves during the Civil War by escaping to Union lines.
157 years ago today...
Neo-Confederates love to "remember" imaginary black Confederates.
I prefer to honor the hundreds of thousands of enslaved people like Robert Smalls who liberated themselves during the Civil War by escaping to Union lines.
157 years ago today...
...in the early morning hours of May 13, 1862, the enslaved seaman Robert Smalls seized his and his family’s freedom by commandeering a Confederate ship in Charleston, SC.
After sailing out of the city’s well-defended harbor, Smalls surrendered the vessel to the Union...
After sailing out of the city’s well-defended harbor, Smalls surrendered the vessel to the Union...
..fleet that blockaded Charleston, earning fame across the North and infamy in the South.
Smalls, now a free man, spent the rest of the war sailing ships for the U.S. navy and army. Once the war was over, Smalls became a leading figure in South Carolina politics...
Smalls, now a free man, spent the rest of the war sailing ships for the U.S. navy and army. Once the war was over, Smalls became a leading figure in South Carolina politics...
...,helping to to draft its 1868 state constitution.
The former bondman went on to be elected to the South Carolina General Assembly and to the U.S. House of Representatives, where he served 5 terms in office in the 1870s and 1880s.
For more, see: opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/05/12/rob…
The former bondman went on to be elected to the South Carolina General Assembly and to the U.S. House of Representatives, where he served 5 terms in office in the 1870s and 1880s.
For more, see: opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/05/12/rob…
