← Who Did What Now With Katie Charlwood
Who Did What Now With Katie Charlwood
180. Robert Smalls Vs the Confederacy
01:31:43
You're Killing Me Smalls!
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Hi, this is Hannah Berner from Giggly Squad. This episode is brought to you by Peloton. I've been trying to stay consistent with moving my body in ways that actually fit into my real life. And Peloton makes that so much easier. The new cross training series balances your workouts with 15 plus workout types for endless movements on and off your equipment. Stay motivated with weekly personalized plans that guide you from beginner to experienced. Push past your goals with routines tailored for you. It feels really approachable, even if you're just getting back into a routine, which a lot of us are. This January, it's nice not having to think about what to do. It's already mapped out for you. Get the new Peloton Cross training series. Terms apply.
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Flowers die in three days. Matching underwear from Meundies. That's a gift that lasts. Meundies creates matching prints for couples and friends. Same adorable designs and different cuts for each of you. All made from their signature ultra modal fabric that feels impossibly soft. With 30 million pairs sold and 90,000 five star reviews, MeUndies matching prints are the perfect gift. Valentine's Day is February 14th, so don't wait. Get exclusive deals up to 50% off at Meundies.com acast code acast that's Meundies.com acast Code acast. Hello, delicious friends, and welcome to who did what now, the history podcast. That is not your history class with me, your host, Katy Charlwood, history harlot and reader of books. Now, I have nothing against January. January is a mighty fine month. No harm to her, you know, it's grand. However, this one just seemed to go on forever. It was like we were stuck in an ouroboros of despair. Like bad things kept happening consecutively, one after another in a row. And yeah, we're. We're finally in February and it's Black History Month over in The US And I thought, you know what? Since I've started doing things as a series, like, I've been doing like a month long series on the podcast. I thought, you know what, let's cover Black History Month. It'll be a perfectly reasonable thing to do. And yeah, yeah. However, people are already starting to have conniption about it. And I thought, I genuinely thought, if anyone was gonna have an issue with me talking about black history is because I am the whitest person you've ever seen. I am whiter than Taylor Swift's dancing. I am whiter than a mayonnaise sandwich on Wonder Bread. You know, I'm so white, I glow in the dark, okay? I'm a very white person. Okay? And so I thought, if anyone's gonna have an issue, it's gonna be about that, right? I'm like, here's black history taught to you by a white woman. Like, And I thought if that was going to be the issue, that was going to be a fair point, you know, but that was going to be it. I didn't think that the issue was going to be me talking about black history during Black History Month and the topic being black history. Like, I thought, you know, start on page one, right? So the reason that there were so many black people in America right now is because of the slave trade. Like that, that, that's a fact. We all know that. That's page one. You know, that is the very start that is actually before anything on, like modern American history in the UK when you study it, because they started 1870, you know, so it's 1870 to 1970. Like, like, that's the, that's one of the, the core modules. And so, like, this is before that, but we all learn it anyway because, like, you have to know context because history doesn't exist in a vacuum. And so I was like, okay, great, I'll just start, I'll start here. This is a very basic point, you know, we'll all start from here. This is very normal. No one's gonna be up in arms about it because this is a, you know, a historically agreed upon fact. Like, we all know this is what happened, and yet people seem to be mad that I'm talking about the transatlantic slave trade and not every single other slave trade that happened in all of history. But I know what you're thinking. You're thinking, hey, Katie, quit your jibber jabber and fact me and fact you I will. But first we have got to get our source on Be Free or the Amazing Story of Robert Smalls Escape from Slavery to Union Hero by Kate Lineberry. Robert Smalls. From Slave to War Hero, Entrepreneur and Congressman by Tim White Yearning to Breathe Free Robert Smalls of South Carolina and His Families by Andrew Billingsley. Black Charlestonians a Social History 1822-1855 by Bernard E. Powers Jr. From Slavery to Public Service Robert Smalls, 1839-1915 by Okon Edit Uya Black Congressman in Reconstruction Historiography by John Hosmer and Joseph Feynman. Captain of the Planter the Story of Robert Smalls by Dorothy Stirling. And of course, we have our old favourites, history.com and biography.com now, are you sitting comfortably? Good. Then let's begin. Now before we get into this, I just want to say that I don't need another Spider man reboot. I don't need another Batman film. Like I've seen those stories. They're fine. They're also fictional. What I'm saying is I also don't need another Princess Diana movie and or TV show. I'm just saying that I could very well do with, you know, a movie or miniseries about Robert Smalls because six seasons in a movie come on, like something, something. Because this, this is a hell of a guy. And it's got action, it's got adventure, it's got adversity. It has like, politics. It's everything. Okay, it has everything but. Okay, let's get into it. Let's get into the story of Robert Smalls. Robert Smalls was born on the 5th of April, 1839 to an enslaved woman, Lydia Polite, on the Ashdo plantation on Ladies Island, Beaufort, South Carolina. Now, not to be confused with Beaufort, North Carolina. Those are different places. Even though they're spelt the same, they are pronounced differently. If I'm wrong, you can blame the American who told me that. So this is in South Carolina, where in 1839, chattel slavery still very much existed. And so because his mother was enslaved when he was born, so was Robert. Lydia polite was around 42, 43, and she would have been referred to as a house slave. Oh, I have so many horrible words to say in this episode. I'm gonna formally apologise now for all of the shitty terms that I have to say throughout. So house slaves, they typically had a better life than say, field slaves. Fck. I just realized something. I realized why they're called house elves in. Oh, fck you jk. Fck you jk. Sorry, not sorry. Actually, waiter, waiter. I did not order this swurf in turf. Anywho, so Being a field slave, being an enslaved person who worked out in the fields, I mean, this was grueling, hard labour. This was first thing in the morning, last thing at night, till your hands were bleeding. If you didn't reach the imaginary target that someone set in their head for you, you're getting whipped, you're getting beaten. Like, you were very easily abused. And there was no. Not retort, but there was no reaction to that. There was no comeuppance. Like you couldn't respond to it, you couldn't react. You could just suffer. Back in my first year of college, sidebar. I remember my professor just taking just one class to cover all of the implements, instruments and devices that were specifically designed and utilized in the abuse and torture of enslaved people. Like, it's, it's recorded. We have documents and sketches and descriptions and evidence. We have all of it, or not even all of it. There's probably some stuff we, we still lost to history because that's what happens. But when you think that such a thing is designed specifically for cruelty just because you don't see a person as a human, like, it's, it's wild. And like, I'm the first person to point out if, you know, a torture device or, you know, an instrument or tool of some kind is. Is fake, right? Because I'm. I went. I was a dark kid, okay? I was obsessed with the macabre and things like that. And I've been to, I don't know how many torture museums and things like that over the years, and I've spent a lot of time debunking things. And that's why things like this stick in my head, because this stuff's real. But anyway, field slaves out toiling in the fields, hence the name. And then house slaves, still bad, but slightly better off because they would work in the household, so they would do your basic household chores. I say basic household chores as if houses back then weren't large and also very dirty. Because if people are coming in from outside, like, there's going to be dust. There's going to be people who just naturally expect you to clean up after them all the time. So you're doing everything from, you know, cleaning, setting, lighting fires. You're going to be washing floors, windows, walls, mending clothes, cooking food, serving. You know, you're doing everything. And so being enslaved and in the home, like, again, slightly better off, but, you know, you're still owned by another person and deemed their property and also are subject to very specific variations of abuse because you're in Close proximity. Which brings me to Robert Small's father, who you may have noticed I have not yet mentioned. That is because we do not have a definitive answer as to who that was. However, it is generally believed that Lydia Polite's owner, Henry McKee, was Robert's father. Now, plantation owners assaulting and raping the black women that they owned is not a new concept. Looking at you, Thomas Jefferson Henry McKee owned the Ashdale plantation, which was at least 420 acres at that time. And the primary crop you're gonna be shocked at this was Sea island cotton. So there's like a little cabin at the house and it's basically got a little plaque on it. And it's like, Robert Smalls, born here, except he wasn't born in that cabin. Because I think previously a bunch of the cabins had just like burned down. There was a fire and the current cabin is like where the old kitchen used to be. So it's like it's the same general location. But that particular cabin that he was born in no longer exists. But yes, he was in fact born in a cabin. Just again, not that one specifically. So the thing about Robert Smalls is he was definitely mixed race. According to contemporary sources, he had, and I quote, distinct mulatto features. If you happen to be a European person who has never heard this term, unfortunately I'm going to have to explain it to you now because apparently racism wasn't quite bad enough. We have to add colorism into the mix. So it's biracial person, specifically someone who was of both sub Saharan African and white European descent. Typically at this time it would mean that you had one black parent and one white parent and you were mulatto. And if you're thinking this couldn't possibly get worse, well, no, it absolutely could. So this is a racial classification which then gets further refined. I guess you have the term quadroon, which refer to people who were thought to be 1/4 of Sub Saharan African descent and 3/4 European descent. Then of course you have octoroon. You can really see that they're working really hard to come up with these names, which is like 18 sub Saharan African descent and 7/8 European descent. And then you have Griff G, R I, F, F E, which was for people who were assumed to be 1/4 European descent and 3/4 sub Saharan African descent. So this will actually all lead into that whole idea of the one drop rule. Like according to the one drop rule me, the whitest person you have ever seen would be deemed black. And actually During Jim Crow era in the segregated south, because of that one drop rule, I would actually be referred to as mulatto, which is wild when you think about it, because, dudes, I'm so white. I think oregano was spicy, actually. Sidebar. There was a whole thing on TikTok a few years ago about, like, how white are you? And I ate an entire dessert spoon of mayonnaise for the joke. I'm not sure it was worth it, because I deeply regretted that decision. But do I actually, actually like spicy food? I mean, or what I deem to be spicy food? So Robert Small's mother, Lydia, she was an enslaved servant in this household, in Henry McKee's household. And so Robert grows up in this household on Prentiss Street. So he's growing up in this house, and he was generally favored by Henry McKee. Now he grows up alongside Mickey's children, right? And he knows them, and they're okay. Now, there's this whole thing about them being friends, like, them being, like, okay with each other. And it's tough, I think, to say that when he is deemed to not be a person in this culture, right, in this society, he's not a human being, like, from their perspective, like, because he can be owned, like, property, you know, and so. But he has a slightly better life. And he's favored by Henry McKee, probably because it says offspring more than, say, workers in the field. And so, like, Lydia actually grew up, like, in the fields. Like, that's what she did before she became an enslaved servant in the household. And so she got, like, worried. Like, she was genuinely worried that growing up, that because he had this fairly comfortable, like, for his position, like, a fairly comfortable, like, childhood, that he would not be aware of the severity of the world in which he lived. And so she had him brought out and had him work in the fields to, like, understand that kind of labor, to understand that kind of treatment that is received by them. And he would be forced to watch whippings happen, you know, so that he had understanding of. Of the power play and the authority that was over him and the life outside this bubble that he was growing up in, which was, you know, fairly comfortable for the one he was living in. And as a child, like, they would go down to the docks because, like, the water's right there, right? So this plantation, the Asdel plantation, it's at this. It's at Lucky Point Creek, which is a branch of the Kusaw River. So, like, there's water all around. And then, of course, you have the docks so you have like steamships passing and like, they like the water. Kids. Kids fucking love water. Do you ever see kids in a puddle? Kids love a puddle. You know what? You know what? If we were all wearing wellies, welly boots, Wellingtons, for those of you who don't know. They're like a rubber boot. You wear them as children in the rain or farmers in a muddy field. Like they're a rubber boot. And so if we had them, like, your life would be okay. Like, jumping in a puddle is fun, right? You know what? Go jump in a fcking puddle. Okay. So like kids love water, right? It's a thing. But yeah, he's having this sort of, again, fairly comfortable life. So like at one point she takes him to a slave auction, like, just to make it clear and to hammer home, like, this is the reality of the situation. And also this is an era, like when you go from being a child to being an adult. Like, there's no adolescence, there's no teenage year. Like, that doesn't really count. You are child and then you are adult. So basically 12, 13, you know, when you're getting close to that puberty straight stage, like, you're like, you're a man now. Do man work. Like, that was very much a thing. And so when he's 12, Lydia manages to convince Henry McKee to send Robert to Charleston to learn a trade. Because, like, she didn't want him to become another enslaved person toiling in a field. And so she wanted to give him a skill to like protect him from that. And so in 1851, Henry McKee sends Robert Smalls to Charleston, where McKee has like, other homes. And so he lives there and he ends up working as a busboy in a hotel. And he earns a grand total of $5 a week, which is approximately $210.47 today. Now it should be known that the money he earns, right, the money he is earning as his job as a busboy, he doesn't get to keep, right? Because remember, he is an enslaved person. He doesn't have the right to money. And so his wages, his money just goes sent right Back to Henry McKee. After this, he gets other jobs, one of which is a lamp lighter. So street lamps, you would actually have to light them at night. So you'd go out and you'd light the street lamps. And so he would do that. And then he got a job as a knocker, upper right. This is a real thing. This is one of my favourite jobs from history, actually. A knocker upper would just go around and tap on windows to wake people up. In the era before alarm clocks, you would have a knocker upper come around and just be like, tap, tap, tap. And, like, he manages to negotiate with his owner, Henry McKee, so that he can actually keep, you know, a little bit of the money that he earns from the jobs that he is doing. So he's making $16 a week, which is approximately $617.44, but he manages to negotiate with Henry McKee that he can keep $1 of that, which is about $38.59. So he's a teenager, and he's getting jobs on, like, the docks and on the ships. So he's a rigger, he's a sail maker, and he just keeps toiling away until he gets to become a wheelsman. Now, if he were a white man, then he would have, like, gained the title of helmsman or pilot, but because he was a black man, the highest he could hope for was wheelman. And as he's doing this, he is becoming incredibly knowledgeable about the local waterways. Like, he knows Charleston Harbour like the back of his hand. So he's very comfortable in his position. He's very knowledgeable in his position and the manner in which he grew up. It means that he can talk to, like, nearly anybody. He can. He can hold his own in a conversation. And he wasn't uncomfortable speaking to different people. Now, it's a wee bit rare at the time. Like, he's. He's basically not saying boo to a ghost. You know, he's chilling out, and he's just keeping his nose down and doing his job. But he's 17, and the heart wants what it wants. And he meets a hotel maid called Hannah Jones. She's 31 years old. He's 17, and this is a May December romance. So he just, like, he's head over heels. And in 1856, right, they get married. Well, they. They kind of get married, basically, because marriage was like a. It's a. It's like a legal thing, you know, it's a contract. And if you are an enslaved person, you legally cannot enter a contract, especially without your owner's permission. So effectively, they had to go to their owners and request that they would be allowed to marry. Now it's kind of a thing. It's not legally recognized and all because, you know, they're seen as property and not people just. I know I'm hammering this home and I'm a broken fucking record about it, but you just need to be aware of this. So basically, they have to ask for permission. They get married and they have children. Now Hannah actually has two daughters of her own. They are 12 and 14 years old. So yeah, there's like a three year age difference between her oldest daughter and her husband. Just, okay, whatever. Now, them being married actually could be very beneficial in the eyes of, of a slave owner. Right, because chattel slavery, the whole purpose, like the core of chattel slavery, is that you are not only enslaved, but every generation after you is also enslaved. So if you have children, then that's just more property for the slave owner. And so Henry McKee and Samuel Kingman, that's Hannah Jones's owner, they agree to let them marry and also, in addition, furthermore, allow them to live together as man and wife, like, away from both slave owners. Like, they're not worried anything's going to happen because they're like, you're just here and enslaved, and that's just how things are. And they don't change. And you're not going to rock the boat. You're just going to continue existing in this fashion. And also, McKee and Kingsman, they're continuing to receive income, right, for both of these enslaved people, because the businesses that they are working for are sending them money back. So, you know, they don't really have to worry about them as such. So they're just kind of like, okay, cool. Like, for slave owners, these two are like, fairly chill in comparison to quite a lot of them, like, at least in this particular scenario. So when he's 19 and Hannah is 33, they have a daughter who they name Elizabeth. And it's at this point that Robert Smalls starts worrying like, it's chattel slavery. He has no rights, his children have no rights. And he is suddenly very aware that he can be separated from his family. And so Robert basically does the math. Now, he can't read or write, he's illiterate, but he can do sums. And so he ends up. And so he does the only reasonable thing, which is he tries to arrange to purchase them, right? So he goes to Kingman and Kingman, who owns Hannah and also Elizabeth by default, like, he offers to sell them to Robert for the Lulu price of $800, which in today's money is $31,621.66. So it's fairly steep, and it's deliberately steep. You know, it's meant to be difficult to obtain. Now this is something I want everyone to consider for a second. So, you know, when people bring up the argument of, like, there were so many black slave owners. Typically, like you, when you actually look at who owned who, the owner was typically a black man who had purchased his family. Like, that's how that worked. Now, of course, there's always going to be an outlier somewhere. There's going to be an exception to the rule. So. But typically, usually this was how it was. Like, in order to keep them together, they would work, they would raise money, and they would try and buy their freedom and then purchase their family. Like, that was sort of the goal, you know, to try and keep them together because they just wanted to keep their family. And Robert, he's been saving up like a little a month, but he's not quite near $800 yet. So two years later, in 1860, something happens which changes the course of Robert Small's life. Abraham Lincoln was elected the President of the United States.
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Hi, this is Hannah Berner from Giggly Squad. This episode is brought to you by Peloton. I've been trying to stay consistent with moving my body in ways that actually fit real life, and Peloton makes that so much easier. The new cross training series balances your workouts with 15 plus workout types for endless movements on and off your equipment. Stay motivated. With weekly personalized plans that guide you from beginner to experienced. Push past your goals with routines tailored for you. It feels really approachable, even if you're just getting back into a routine, which a lot of us are this January. It's nice not having to think about what to do. It's already mapped out for you. Get the new Peloton Cross training series terms apply.
- [29:42]
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Flowers die in three days. Matching underwear from Meundies. That's a gift that lasts. Meundies creates matching prints for couples and friends. Same adorable designs in different cuts for each of you. All made from their signature ultra modal fabric that feels impossibly soft. With 30 million pairs sold and 90,000 five star reviews, MeUndie's matching prints are the perfect gift. Valentine's Day is February 14th, so don't wait. Get exclusive deals up to 50% off at Meundies.com acast code acast that's Meundies.com acast Code acast. On the 6th of November, 1860, Abraham Lincoln was elected the 16th President of the United States. And he was the very first Republican president. And he won effectively, like, because of the North, Right? There were absolutely zero ballots cast for him in 10 out of the 15 Southern states, right? The states that were very much pro slavery. So he Ended up getting like, was it 39.8% of like the total votes? So it was basically like a foray race and he just had the most. And that's. That's it. So he was elected in November, in 1860, and he was due to like be inaugurated and take office in March 1861. Now because of his, you know, anti slavery stance, it triggered to like, just like a domino effect of secession from. From the Union, you know, so effectively the first being. And you're going to be shocked by this, South Carolina, the very state that Robert Smalls was from. And on 20 December 1860, South Carolina was the first state to secede. Now, I don't know the accent of South Carolina specifically. I'm also not really good at any Southern accent. They're all very cartoonish. But for the sake of buffoonery, and if anyone's interested, here is South Carolina's secession declaration, or part of it. A geographical line has been drawn across the Union and all the states north of that line have united in the election of a man to the high office of president whose opinions and purposes are hostile to slavery. Um, I think that's a little bit of my Foghorn Leghorn impression just kind of like weaseled its way in there. But yeah, I feel like that's pretty much cut and dry. But yeah, basically South Carolina was first followed by like Florida, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana and Texas. Now, like six of these states basically declared themselves to be like their own sovereign nation, the Confederate States of America, with Jefferson Davis as the provisional president. Now, so like basically the border states, sort of the upper South. So things like Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky, Missouri, Arkansas and Delaware. Like, originally, they like rejected the whole secessionist appeal. Basically, Buchanan and Lincoln refused to recognize the Confederacy. And this, this triggers the American Civil War. So there's always going to be someone who's like, oh, no. The Civil War was fought over states rights. Which rights, dear fellow? Which rights specifically? What rights did the states, you know, that seceded? What rights specifically did they take umbrage with? What were they fighting for? It was the right of slave ownership. Okay, that's the rights. Like, that's it. Now you can throw together your lost cause analogies and whatever. No, no, no, no, no. It was about slavery. Right. It was about the right to own people. Okay, okay, Glad we cleared that up. In 1861, the Civil War breaks out. And that same year, Robert Smalls and Hannah Jones smalls welcome Robert Jr. Into the world. So April 12, 1861, Civil War. There we go, it's happening. And so Robert Smalls, at this point, he had been working as a wheelman for the CSS planter. Now there are a few other enslaved people working on the ship. He is one of them. But he is really, really good at his job, and he is very observant. So he already knows the waterways. He already knows all around Charleston, all, like, all the water in that. On top of that, he understands what all of the flag signals are for, and he also watches the schedules of officers and other white seamen. So when the. The Civil War kicks off, right, There's a fort in Charleston called Fort Sumter, which at the time was occupied by Union soldiers. And so, you know, there's. The war's happening, and so the Confederate forces, they just fire on this fort, right? And like, they just. Absolutely. I'm gonna use the term bombard. They bombarded it, right? And the funny thing about this is, like. And. And it's just very much a situation of rich people being, like, oblivious rich people. Like, they come out to see, like, the firing and what I'm assuming are gunpowder explosions because many, many rich white Charlestonians, they come out to watch this splendid pyrotechnic exhibition that is my folklore. Like, our impression, it's really bad. I haven't done it in a long, long time. The last time I did it, I was. I was in Canada. Dear goodness. Oh, no, not going into that. It was back when the whole man versus Bear thing was happening, and then it became like a nation versus nation thing. It was just like one thing after another. So, yeah, there's a war going on. There's a Civil War going on. And so the Confederacy, what they do is they charter the CSS planter, and so it goes to Fort Sumner. Did I call it Sumter earlier. Anyway, and so they start using it to basically transport, like, supplies. So everything from, like, ammunition, guns, you know, just those kind of things. And so it was going, like, in and out of Charleston Harbor. And again, he is just, like, on the ship. He's a wheelman. I was going to call him a pilot, but, like, he. He's not allowed that title because he's enslaved. And so he and a bunch of other enslaved people, they are on this ship, they're on the CSS planter, and they are working on behalf. For the rights of a state to continue slavery. Like, enslaved people are being forced to work on behalf of keeping slavery. It's like handing someone a shovel and expecting them to not only dig their own grave, but the graves of Their friends, children, and neighbors. Right? That's. That's what that is. So now, because obviously there is a waterway, the Union navy decides what a handy thing to do is and just sets up a blockade, which basically stops trade in and out of Charleston. So it's like, cutting it off from certain supply routes. And not only this, but, like, other southern ports. And so it was basically buggering up the economy of the South. And so you can't earn money. You don't have any profits. And so things are going to go south for you. And so, like, they're trying to, like, break the blockade. They're. They use, like, torpedoes at one point. It is not working. Spoiler alert. Didn't work. And, like, by November 1861, the Union troops had taken Port Royal. So, like, Port Royal, South Carolina, which is, like, 60 miles, like, south of Charleston now. Port Royal, South Carolina, not to be confused with Port Royal, Jamaica, like, from our pirate season. It's a different one. Okay. But, you know, names stick. It's why we have so many new castles in the world and yet so little old castles. And so because they've taken, like, these places, a lot of white southerners, they. They just get the heck out of Dodge. They just boat because they're just, like, not staying for this now. They go and they happen to leave behind enslaved people. So what happens is basically a lot of these black people become free. And like, by, I think, March 1862, Lydia Polite, Robert Small's mother, she's in Beaufort, and she's free. And she's engaged, I think, to a. To a cook, but she's engaged and is free. Robert at this point, still is not. Meanwhile, he's still serving on the planter. So the whole, like, purpose of the CSS planter was to, like, survey the waterways. They were to, like, deliver things like troops, supplies, dispatches, and also lay minds. And so basically, he's sailing the planter. He's piloting effectively right through Charleston harbor. He's going along, like, the Florida coasts, Georgia, South Carolina. He's, like, on all these rivers. And so he's getting to know, like, all of all of the waterways, like, around the area. And he is learning them very well. And then something interesting happens. So basically, April 1862, there is this barge, and. Right. And it's being worked on by these enslaved people. And so they're like, you know what? Why don't we just go out to the blockade? And so they do, and they go out to the naval blockade to the Union, and they're Just like, guess we're here now. And it was like a real act of defiance against the south, you know, against this. This confederacy that these guys had just gone and done that, like, that they just went and did it. And so it wasn't like the biggest thing in the world, but it was big enough to, like, sow some seeds. And at this point as well, Robert Smalls, he's saved up like $700 out of the 800 that's supposed to be, you know, for the purchase of his wife and daughter, Hannah and Elizabeth. And so he's trying to, like, save up and then. But remember, he's also had another child at this point. And so obviously the price will have multiplied and he's not going to have this money. He's not going to be able to. To purchase this. And so he's. He's laying some plans now. One thing leads to another, and one of the other enslaved people on the boat makes a joke. He just floats the idea, you know, that maybe, just maybe they could steal the planter. And Robert's like, that's not a joke. And then basically side eyes everybody just to see, like, who's on board. And most of the enslaved people, shocker. Yeah, they're in on it. One isn't just because he's a product of. Of his environment, but the rest are very much into this. And so they start meeting in Robert's house for a plan. Now, here's the thing as well. These are enslaved people. They have no rights. And so they are well aware that by attempting this, if they are caught, if they fail in any way, they're dead. Right? Not only will they be executed, but they will probably be made an example of, like them and their children. And so they have to be very, very careful and very, very serious about what they're going to do next. And they are looking at this world they're living in and that they are fighting to uphold the very chains that are, you know, metaphorically and sometimes very literally, like, keeping them in place. And so Robert Small says, fuck this for a game of soldiers. And he decides to take his life in his hands. So he's a wheelman, he is piloting the planter, and he's away for what, a fortnight, and then returns with four, as my brother would say, big motherfucking guns. And so these are being dismantled, like, from forts in Charleston. And so there's like, these big guns. And then you also have, like, more guns and about 200 pounds of ammunition. So the CSS planter is stocked up with all this firepower and is moored at the wharf and at the headquarters of Charleston's direct commander, Brigadier General Roswell S. Ripley. And a crazy random happenstance was also in charge of the barge that was stolen. And so that evening 20 guards were posted at the wharf, like, and a couple were just like, like just a wee bit away from the boat that they were fairly close. And it is scheduled to head out in the morning. And because of, you know, the barge being stolen previously, three white officers were supposed to stay on board the ship overnight. Samuel Pitcher, Samuel Hancock and Charles Rayleigh. Now these fellows, they disembarked leaving Smalls and the crew on board as was their custom, right? They were just going into town like they always did. And so they left Robert and the other enslaved crew on board. So it's the night of the 12th of May and these guys have just scalped, they've just gone off to have some booze in a tavern probably. And so Robert Smalls decides this is it. And so he gets a message out to Hannah and a few other people on the shore. And so Robert and the six other enslaved crew, they're on the planter, you know, I mean, apart from that one guy they didn't trust actually. And so in the early hours of 13th May, 1862, he puts on a captain hat. And so they go, right, like as they're planning this, like they know it's go big or go home. And go home doesn't mean go home. Go home means go to the bottom of the bay. Because they've decided that if they get caught, if their plan fails, they're just going to blow up the boat with them on it because that is a better option than what they will face on the other side if they are caught. So yeah, Robert ends up breaking into the captain's cabin. He's caught the captain's jacket, his hat, he's got all these guns. And so at 3:30 in the morning, off they sail. And the guards who were actually stationed on the wharf, like they don't do anything because they know it's expected that this is going to leave in the morning, right? They haven't been told when in the morning, if it's 3:30 or 5:00am they just know it's going and it leaves. There is a captain with a hat on in the dusk, like the shape's there. And so off it goes. They make their way to another dock where they pick up Small's wife Hannah and their children Elizabeth and Robert Jr. They also collect four other women and then another child as well. So basically, they get all these people on the boat, and when they're there, they explain the plan to the women, right? And they're like, listen, if we get caught, we're going down. Like, they didn't understand quite how big the war was, but they understood enough, you know, and so they decided that it was best to tell them this plan. And naturally, everybody freaked the fuck out because nobody wants to be exploded. They're going to be exploded. Nobody wants to be exploded. And so they end up, like, it takes about an hour for everyone to calm the fuck down. And then many of the women are just, like, locked into cabins, and they're like, listen, if you make a loud noise, we're going to have to shoot you quite. I mean, we don't know if they would or not have the time. But there is every possibility that they could have. And there's every possibility that this was just a tactic to keep people quiet so that they could, you know, make it through their plan. No, they didn't lock them in cabins. It was state rooms, which I think is slightly nicer than cabins, I guess. So the planter leaves this dock and it has to pass five checkpoints. And each one of these checkpoints has gun batteries, right? So basically, you have to get, like, fairly close to the shore and then do these, like, signals, like flag signals, right? There are nautical flag signals. And luckily Robert knows them because he learned them, because he paid attention. And obviously, as they're sailing, they need to get, like, close enough, but not too close, because they need to show, you know, that they're safe. But they don't want to give away that they've, you know, stolen a ship. Luckily, it's still kind of, like, dusky. It's still not entirely light. So there's a lot they can get away with in, like, that sort of like early morning time. And so they're doing all of the flag signaling and they get past all of the checkpoints. Now, at this point, the sun has risen and, you know, it's gonna be pretty obvious that something is awry because the Confederate seamen are going to go to the dock and see that the boat isn't there. And it's going to become clear that the reason the boat isn't there is because someone has taken it. So they're going to be out looking for this. And so they really, really need to get going. And so they are. Are having to go, like, pick up speed, right? They really got to get those knots in and so they have to just really power towards the Union blockade. So they have to go for it, which is, you know, look good speed wise, but bad visually because this is a Confederate ship speeding towards a Union blockade. So it's kind of like a very delicate balance. And so as they get closer, right, so they're getting towards the, the USS Onward, right? They're just like, they're like raising the alarm and they think it's like a rebel ramen ship, but because of course it is fcking speeding towards them. So they're like shit, you know, and so the USS Onward, it comes around and it's been brought around to fire on the CSS planter. And like luckily they're paying enough attention like on the planter. And so they pull down the Confederate flag and they raise up like not a white flag, cuz they don't have one of those but, but a bed sheet, they have a white bed sheet and that's what they have pulled up to just be like, hey, not Confederacy. So the Union ships, they see this big white bed sheet and realize, you know, what is just a general symbol of truce or peace at war? Like it's a kind of thing of like don't shoot me innocent. You know, we have that. Like that is a generally recognized symbol. So they don't shoot on the ship. And as the planter approaches, Robert yells out, good morning sir. I've brought you some of the old United States guns, sir, that were for Fort Sumter, sir. After which the other crewmen just like cheer because yeah, they're like, hey, we're here now, huzzah. And so basically the, they bring up, you know, the women and children who were below deck and they come up and yeah. So Robert chats to the captain of the onward. They raise the American flag, all is well. Meanwhile, back in Charleston, Brigadier General Ripley wakes up to discover that the ship is missing. And it doesn't take very long to notice that the planter is right over there next to the ships in the blockade. Now of course rumors spread, right? And the rumor is that like white Union spies like chartered the ship because you know, of course it had to be them. And anyway, this news gets all the way to Richmond, Virginia where you've got these Confederate leaders who are informed of this very unpleasant situation for them. And they are very, very annoyed about this because the planter like strategically was a very useful ship for the Union because it's a water transport ship and it's for shallow water. Like it is very convenient going around all of these rivers and bays and along the coastal lines where that water is, you know, not as deep. And so it is a very, very useful ship to have access to which the Union now have and the Confederacy do not. And it's also like doubly stinging when they realize that it was enslaved people who commandeered the vessel. Like, that's gonna, that's gonna be a punch to the gut. No, the three white officers, Sam, Sam and Chuck, they are severely punished. Like all of the papers at the time are just rabble, rabble, rabble, rabble. They're just full of rage. And just like they call the fact that the white officers like left the boat, they're like, they call it disgusting treachery. One of them calls it one of the most shameful events of this or any other war. I think you might be using hyperbole there. I think you might be exaggerating somewhat in this situation. But yeah, they are basically just hugely embarrassed that this happened. And of course they're just like, ah, punish, ah, but yeah, they're, they're arrested and jailed. Those officers are arrested and jailed. Meanwhile, over in the union, Robert Smalls is telling this story to the local commodore and the local commodore is telling the story to the captain of the Onward and tells him to, to submit a claim for the black crew. Effectively anytime a ship or a boat was captured by the Union, it would then be auctioned off. And half of the money went to the Union and so like the other half went to the crew that captured the ship. Effectively. What they're saying here is that the, the onworld didn't capture the ship, the black crew did. Yeah, effectively it's like, hey, give money to this crew, effectively, which is like, good because they didn't have much, if anything. So they end up sending like this civilian that they'd accidentally like captured when they captured a ship that. So they send the civilian back to Charleston with a note. And it's basically along the lines of, oh, it's really, it's really embarrassing to like take this off of a fellow countryman. But like, oh dear. This doesn't really help them though because the three officers, Samsam and Chuck, they are all like court martialed and charged with disobedience of orders and neglect of duty. Two of them are convicted and then one of them isn't. So this happens, but then a general steps in and he goes, well, they weren't given clear orders, so it's not their fault that they were off the ship because you never actually told them to specifically stay on the ship. And now that they don't have those guys to blame, they're blaming the owner of the planter. So, yeah, basically the citizens are, like, super angry that, you know, a bunch of enslaved people stole the ship and they're looking for someone to blame. But they're not the only ones who are angry. Remember Hannah Jones or Hannah Jones Smalls and her daughter and, you know, her children with Robert, like, they were all still owned by Samuel Kingman, right? And so he ends up filing a claim for loss of property with the state of South Carolina. So, like, in this claim, he says that Hannah was worth $800, that Clara was worth a thousand dollars, which is like, okay, but you were gonna sell Hannah and Elizabeth to Robert for $800, which honestly feels like a buy one, get one free in this situation. So, like, Elizabeth, like, as a child, she's worth, like, $300. And Robert Jr. Because he's like baby slash infant, he's $150. So he's put this big claim in for them, and he's putting this claim into the government, because as far as he's concerned, this is their cock up and he deserves to be compensated. On the other hand, Henry McKee, like, he's not looking for compensation, so he isn't doing that. And he's like, lost a bunch of shit at this point. So he's lost his property, he's lost his land. And by property, I meant his home. I meant, like physical structures. He's also lost the enslaved people that he had. And on top of this, right, two of his children passed away from scarlet fever, you know, so not. Not really the best of times for him. But he did also own people. Meanwhile, the USS Planter and the newly freed Robert Smalls is very useful to the union indeed. AI is transforming customer service. It's real and it works. And with fin, we've built the number one AI agent for customer service. We're seeing lots of cases where it's solving up to 90% of real queries for real business businesses. This includes the real world. Complex stuff like issuing a refund or canceling an order. And we also see it when FIN goes up against competitors. It's top of all the performance benchmarks, top of the G2 leaderboard. And if you're not happy, we'll refund you up to a million dollars, which I think says it all. Check it out for yourself at fin. AI flowers die in three days. Matching underwear from meundies. That's a gift that lasts Meundies creates matching prints for couples and friends. 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The Union discover, thanks to the information from these men, that the Confederates had abandoned an island which was, like, in a very, very important location in Charleston harbor. And so they're just, like, taking it. And Robert Smalls, he is, like, big news at this point because he's. It's very much a kick in the teeth to the Confederacy. Like, former enslaved person steals a ship for his freedom and joins the Union. And so, like, the ship gets sold and he earns, like, he's given, like, fifteen hundred dollars, right? And then you have the other crewmen, they get like $450 each. And then like, two of the sort of, like, women who weren't married, they got a hundred dollars each. Now, the wives didn't earn or weren't provided any extra money for the situation because it was assumed that they would just share with her husbands at. That's just how things were. Listen, one injustice at a time, okay? I would like to state that, like, they were definitely, like, underpaid. Like, they were definitely given less money than they should have been from this auction of the ship. They got something, but it was definitely less than what they should have got. And I think it's probably just because of who they were. So, yeah, Civil war still going on. And Robert, again, when he was wheelman of the planter, like, one of the things they did was lay mines in Charleston. And so that's what he's doing. He's helping remove underwater mines in the Charleston harbour. And so he's doing this, and he's making about $40 a month, which is, like, pretty good at this time because, like, most people were making, like, $13. And he's. So. He's not doing too badly. So he's doing this work for the Union Army. And he is also being very vocal about abolition. And so become. He's become this prominent voice. Like, he's invited up to New York to speak, and he's sort of, like, associated with the Navy, but he's not part of the Navy, because in order to be, like, part of the Navy, you have to be literate. And he wasn't. So he goes to speak, or he's invited to speak, I should say, up in New York. And Admiral Dupont, he's just like, don't do that. Because, like, P.T. barnum, that asshole who we will definitely be covering at some point, right? P.T. barnum, you know, that asshole who we will definitely be talking about at some point. Yeah. So he had a habit of exploiting people for profit. And the Admiral was worried that he would do that to him, right? That he would do it to Robert Smalls. Because, like, just the year before, there was a former slave who had escaped, right? William Tillman, who had killed three people with an axe and escaped, right, for freedom. And so P.T. barnum, like, takes him and puts him on display, right, with the axe. And Admiral dupont didn't want this happening to Robert Smalls. And so he just, like, kept him working on the ships. So he keeps him working, right? And then Hannah and Elizabeth and Robert Jr. They go back to live in Beaufort. So in Beaufort and sort of other areas like it, plantations that had been abandoned or captured were being used for newly freed black people, right? For them to live and work. So they're effectively trying to, like, turn it around and try and make it, like, I want to say, less horrible. All the while, Robert's reputation grows. And by August 1862, he goes to Washington, D.C. to help persuade President Abraham Lincoln to allow black men to enlist and fight for the Union. And thanks to this, up to 5,000 black men were allowed to join the Union forces. And so Robert continues on working for the Union, right? So he's now a pilot on several Union ships, but he's a civilian, right? He's not. He's not a member of the Navy because, again, he's not literate, right? So he's. As a. As a pilot, he sees, like, 17 major battles, right? During one of which, so, yeah, there's a Confederate ship, and it is firing on them. And the captain of their ship, who is absolutely kacking it, right? He ends up hiding in a coal Bunker, because he's just, I don't know, shit, scared. And Robert Smalls is just, again, fuck this for a game of soldiers. Because he's not getting caught. Because he knows what's gonna happen to him if he is caught by the Confederacy. And so he mans the wheel and he guides the boat to safety, right? So, like, the quartermaster ends up making Robert captain of the planter, right? And they just do this because, like, they're like, dude, this other captain was a coward. And if it wasn't for him, like, we would be gone, our ship would be down. Luke, he's just like, absolutely not. Not a chance. And so now Robert is making a hundred and fifty dollars a month. Like, this is good, right? Like, the average black soldier at this time was making $13 a month, and he's making 150. So he is doing well. Financially, he's doing well. But personal life, things are going to take a turn for the worse. On May 1863, Robert Smalls Jr. Passed away from smallpox at 16 months old. Smallpox is a horrible disease that can absolutely destroy you. That's why inoculation is important. And vaccinate your fucking kids, okay? Vaccinate your kids. Because if you don't vaccinate your children sidebar because you're worried about autism or some bullshit that has already been discredited, you are saying that you would rather have a dead child than an autistic child, which that's fcked up, right? You are genuinely a terrible person, right? You're a bad human if you believe that. And you shouldn't be listening to me, because if you believe that vaccines are bad, you don't. You don't deserve knowledge, okay? Because clearly you don't want it. Anywho, in December 1863, Hannah and Roberts welcomed their third child into the world. Sarah. Sarah Smalls is the first of any of their children who was born free. In 1864, the planter is docked. It's sent to Philadelphia for basically an overhaul. So they have to look, you know, check it for leaks and cracks and, you know, just do general ship upkeep, right? And so while all this is going on, Robert Smalls decides he's going to learn to read and write. And so he's in Philadelphia, and when he's there, he gets on a streetcar. A streetcar is kind of like a tram, I think. Yes, it is a tram. And honestly, trams are great. Like who Framed Roger Rabbit was right. Trams, fantastic. Love a streetcar. And so he gets on the streetcar and it's raining and there's sort of an outside like part to it and there's an inside part, right? And so the conductor sends him out to the outside part and he's like, why would I go to the outside part? It's raining. And the whole purpose of him being sent out there is because he's a black man, right? And he's expected to get out of the way in case white people want to be inside the streetcar. And he was like, what is the purpose of me being on the streetcar if I'm gonna get wet anyway? And so he gets off and goes out in the rain. And this becomes like a massive news story. Like it makes headlines. And Philadelphia is like already full of like Quakers and stuff anyway, who not really super into the whole racial injustice situation. And so there's this big like abolitionist push, right? And it's like, what is with these race laws in Philadelphia? And so it becomes very much a thing, you know. And this is just like sowing the seeds of things to happen later on. So, yeah, Civil war still raging on and Robert is back captaining the planter. And he just happens like cherry on the cake. He just happens to be at Charleston when it falls in the war, right? He's there, he's helping the Union army. And like, it is such like a sweet deal for him. Like, he is loving it. So like he ends up going into Charleston, right? And he goes there with General Saxton. They go in, there's just like a bunch of people cheering. A bunch of black people are there and they're like, you're now free. Everything's amazing. And when he's there, like proper, proper, like full circle moment, he sees Ferguson, the Scottish dude who used to own the planter. And he goes up to him, like, he pushes through the crowd, he brings General Saxon with him and he introduces him to him and it's just like, yeah, buddy, we're equals now. It's just golden. So he's back on Holm Tarfia and Robert discovers that know the house that he grew up in or adjacent to Henry McKee's house in Beaufort over there, right? It is about to be auctioned. So again, like I said earlier, Henry McKee, he lost everything because like a lot of Southern like plantation owners and there's this whole thing about property taxes. And so like they were just, they were just upping and leaving. And so Robert Smalls buys that house that he was in with his mother. He buys it for $665. The home where he was enslaved, he now owns as a Free man. And so Robert and Hannah and their children, they're living in this big old house together. And, you know, they're, like, hosting parties and stuff. They're just having, you know, a life. And a lot of, like, recently freed people, people they would have known beforehand, like, they still know them if they're still in the area. Like, they're joining, they're coming together, and they are celebrating. And then. And then in April 1865, the Confederacy surrendered. Now, the Civil War wouldn't fully end until May, when the final battle would happen, but it's 1865, and this is over. Well, the war is over because it's wild, though, because the Confederacy lasted four years. Like, it lasted four years. And people are so pressed about it. Like, the Wild west lasted longer. Like, that's a longer period of time. Like, I think it's like, 14, 15 years or something like that. I'll have to double check. But it's, like, so short. Like, England has had more kings named George than there are years in the Confederacy. Reading Anne Lister's diaries would take you longer than the Confederacy ran. So, yeah, basically, the south falls Civil War over, and things aren't great for the south at this point because, you know, war. Now, Robert Smalls is probably more decent than a lot of people in the world are because I am an incredibly petty person. Robert Smalls is not. So the McKee family, right? He decides to be very considerate to them. He invites Henry McKee's widow and some of her children, who may or may not be his half siblings, to come back and live in that home, right? The difference is it's now his. Now, like, they refuse to, like, sit at the same table as him. And he's like, that's fine, but continue to live in this house that is mine. And, like, he continues to be very good to this family. Like, he helps, like, Henry McKee's, like, son get into the U.S. naval Academy. And he also, like, helps, like, One of the McKee's daughters, like, when she needs money because, like, he has it. And he's like, let me help you. And, like, he's, like, generally a good dude. In, like, 1866, Robert Smalls, he's out transporting some Union officers. And as he's sailing, he notices a ship approaching from the rear. And it's coming very, very fast. And that ship is called the Fanny, right? The Fanny is owned by one John Ferguson. You know, let's just, like, so in Scotland, by the way, Fanny means vagina. And so. And so, like, he's named his shep that and it's coming right at them, okay? So like the fanny speeds up and it's like coming towards them and then it pulls up basically beside them and it's running like parallel. And the whole point like Robert realizes because he's not new at this that the fanny is trying to get them to like hit something, that there's going to be something in the water. Like it's trying to force them into an obstacle. And so the guy at the helm, right, McNulty, so he is like trying to get it to turn port to basically almost like come in front of the planter basically again to like push it in the way of some kind of obstacle. And Robert, because he's not one to be fucked with just like full steam ahead. I know there's no steam. Shut up. Like he's just like lets go. And so it speeds up and just absolutely whacks into the fanny and like pushes the ship. He's like pushing the fanny up the Savannah river for about half a mile, right? And like obviously the wheelman is absolutely pissed at this. He's so angry. So the wheelman, McNulty, he like pulls out a revolver because he's pissed because one, you know, he's just been embarrassed two by a black man. And so like it's just like doubly triply worse for him. He's caught his gun and he's cocked it right at him. And then Robert pulls out a double barreled shotgun which is just absolutely golden, okay? And so they're like okay, let's, let's not. Okay. And so the union officers, they just like Force McNulty to stand down and he like just has to because he's going to die if he doesn't. So anyway, the planter is valued at $15,000 and goes up for auction. Ferguson tries to buy it back and he even tries to buy it back with like like somebody like buying it for him. And the union find out and they're just like no. Anyway it gets sold, this rich guy gets it and then he ends up giving it back to John Ferguson. And so Robert, he's just continuing on with his life, right? He just becomes an entrepreneur, he gets into business, right? He buys property all around Beaufort and he co founds the Enterprise Railroad Company of Charleston. Like he becomes like a co owner of a store and he becomes an advocate for free public education and starts a school for black children. And so like he ends up starting a newspaper even just because he's, he's Just. He just goes from strength to strength. Right. And so Robert also helped form the first Republican organization in South Carolina. Right. At one point, he ends up being called the King of Beaufort County. Now, this is a different time for Republicans and Democrats, for those of you who don't know. So, yeah, we should just slap into some context. Basically, during the Civil War and the later Reconstruction era, the two main political parties, the Republicans and the Democrats, they had ideologies that look quite different from what people associate with those party names today. So in the mid 19th century, the Republican Party was newer. Right. It was founded in the 1850s specifically to oppose the expansion of slavery. Republicans supported the Union, pushed for abolition, backed Reconstruction, and especially the radical Republicans opposed, argued that the federal government had a responsibility to protect the civil and political rights of formerly enslaved people. By contrast, the Democratic Party was dominant in the south and strongly tied to slavery before the war. During Reconstruction, most white Southern Democrats opposed black citizenship, voting rights and federal intervention, promoting states rights as a way to resist racial equality and restore white political control. Right. The major ideological shift in these parties, right. It didn't happen all at once. It was gradual over, what, nearly a century after Reconstruction, collapsed in 1877. Right. Southern Democrats, like, they basically entrenched white supremacy through Jim Crow laws. Well, Republicans slowly retreated from the civil rights movement. Right. The most, like, significant realignment. So it happens during the New deal in the 30s, when the Democrats under Franklin D. Roosevelt expanded the role of federal government into, like, economic and social policy, which was very attractive in the north, especially for black voters. And then, like, the big break came during the civil rights era, like, the 50s and the 60s, because you had, like, Lyndon B. Johnson, who was supporting civil rights legislation, like JFK as well. Meanwhile, many white Southern voters sort of wiggled on over to the Republican Party, which, like, just kept, like, increasingly emphasizing, like, limited fake federal government and states rights. And so, like, by the end of the 20th century, like, these parties had basically reversed sort of their both regional and ideological bases. Like, they just completely switched, which is sort of the alignment that we have today. Okay, Cliff Notes over. So, yeah, at this point, Robert Smalls was a Republican, so he was elected to the South Carolina House of Representatives, then to the State Senate in 1870. Right. And then in Beaufort, what was happening is African Americans outnumbered white people seven to one. Somebody's gonna come after me for the way I'm pronouncing Beaufort. Like, they're like, it's Beaufort. It's Beaufort. It's something wrong. I'm saying something wrong with My mouth, it feels weird to say, which means I'm definitely fucking it up somehow. Robert Smalls was then elected to Congress as one of the first African American members. And he served in the US House for five terms, not like in a row, but like all together. And that started in 1870. Now he's, he's like doing well in life. However, that does not mean he's entirely safe because, yeah, South Carolina, it just so happened to have red shirts, right? Red shirts were basically South Carolina's version of the Ku Klux Klan. The Ku Klux Klan, which was invented by people of Scottish heritage. Full witch, part of my lineage, respectfully apologizes for. I'm so sorry. Right. In fairness, they were a bunch of knob heads who are like super into Greek mythology. So, like, take from that what you will. So in 1876, he's touring South Carolina with the Republican governor, right? And there's this rally in Edgefield, and a former Confederate general and red shirt leader overruns the rally and basically threatens Robert. Like, he's like, threatens his life, threatens to kill him, so on and so forth. Now all the Republicans totally unharmed, but, like, there was an uneasiness because of how, like, easy it was for the red shots to move through the town and get that close, right? So in 1876, Robert Smalls is running against George Tillman, who was racist. I don't, I don't have any, any better description than big ol racist in Tillman. Like, he actively, actively worked to stop Republicans from voting. Like, there were like redshirt attacks. There was trying to spoil votes. Like it was a whole situation. And like, Robert Smalls still won, right? So basically Tillman's trying to do all this sht to disrupt the voting. And Robert Small still wins, like, tough. But of course, the Democrats over this era, you know, weren't super fond of how democracy had not worked in their favor. And so the Democratic state government, it had charged Robert with taking a $5,000 bribe. Like, a bribe that they could not prove or substantiate. They were like, oh, he totally took a bribe. And so he was convicted and sentenced to three years in prison. And so he ends up appealing to the Supreme Court, like the state supreme Court. And so he ends up being released after this appeal because they're like, yeah, obviously. And then 78. So there's a. There was two years later, there's another election. And it's not super great for black politicians in South Carolina. You've got white supremacists who are just doling out death Threats, and they're just, like, physically threatening people, like, all the time. And Tillman, he's just organizing, you know, just widespread fear, intimidation and abuse, you know, and basically there's all this threatening that just continuous. And it basically results in Tillman winning, so, like, 60% of the vote. Like, he ends up winning. And on top of this, like, things are just, like, piling up against Robert Smalls at this point because he had obviously bought in an auction Henry McKe's house, but it had actually been purchased by someone else before that. Like, before, like, the south fell. And so he was suing Robert Smalls for ownership of the house, even though the guy, like, lost it because he didn't pay taxes on it. And so he's like, the sale's invalid. And so, yeah, like, this was a common thing that was happening at the time. But anyway, it goes all the way to the Supreme Court. And the Supreme Court's like, no, Robert Smalls owns this house fair and square, which then sets a precedent, right, all across the south for other black property owners. So now Robert Smalls, he's coming up gravy, right? Things are going well again, basically. There's so much, like, intimidation and cheating just, like, going on through all these elections. And, like, the next election, like, he's running against George Tillman again. And the Republican Party, it's just absolutely buggered up because of just all the shit going on. And Smalls, he contested the election on the grounds that the red shirts and Tillman had used violence to intimidate voters. And Congress agreed and seated Smalls, right? So the Democrats, like, the Congress, like, they didn't get involved in the vote because they were like, if we don't show up and vote right, it'll be fine because they won't get enough votes. Spoiler alert. They did. And so effectively then gerrymandering comes into it. And so effectively, they do all this to ensure that no more black people can be seated. And Robert being. Robert, like, was just. Just lucked out at this point because a candidate died just before the 1884 election. And so Robert Smalls takes that seat. The next election, Robert Smalls is up against Henry Thompson, who's African American, right? And this is where colorism comes into it because Robert Smalls is. Is lighter skinned. And so there's like, the whole, like, point of this campaign is that Robert Smalls isn't black enough to be black, right? That's where this is coming from. And, like, once colorism entered the chat, it basically created this rift and so Democrats won the election because of this. Right? So, like, by 1890, Robert Smalls is actually remarried because Hannah, she passes away in 1883. Like, it's a very, like, sudden, like, quick illness, and she's gone. And so he remarries. So he marries Annie Wig. And they have a son, William Robert Smalls. Now she passes away in, like, 1895. Yes. So, yeah, they have a son, William Robert Smalls Jr. And he, perfectly healthy, loves to arrive old age. And like Robert Smalls, he's very, very focused on ensuring that all of his children get an education. Like, he is an advocate for free education and very much a promoter of public skills. Now, actually, a year before he meets or he marries Annie, like, so in 1889, President Benjamin Harrison appoints him as the U.S. customs Collector for the Port of Beaufort. And so he works there till, like, 1892, until he is, you know, kicked out by the Cleveland administration. He is reappointed in 1898 by William McKinley. Right. And he basically served in this position until 1912. So he is appointed by President Taft or reappointed by President Taft, and then is blocked by two white senators, one of which is the brother of George Tillman Benjamin. But yes, Robert Smalls, born enslaved, served five terms in the U.S. house of Representatives fighting for public education, civil rights, for equal access to transportation. He remembered that streetcar for protections against racial violence. And when white supremacists tried to roll back Reconstruction, Robert Small stood in their way with legislation, speeches, and relentless competence. And he lived long enough to see Reconstruction rise, fall, and be betrayed. He lived long enough to be marginalized again by the same country he had saved, served, and reshaped. But he never. He never stopped insisting on his own dignity. On the 23rd of February, 1915, Robert Smalls passed away from complications of diabetes in his home in Beaufort, South Carolina. And so ends the story of Robert Smalls. I really wish I had more time to delve into, like, the politics side of things because, like, you've got this whole chunk of life, like, enslaved, Civil War politics. Like, I'm probably gonna go over, like, the Reconstruction era as well, because, like, it's always painted as a failure when really it was. It wasn't really given a chance to flourish like it was anyway. You can't expect him, a system to survive when you're trying to actively crush it, you know, if you don't give it a chance, like, it's not going to work. But, like, Robert Smalls was, like, one hell of a dude in, like, he's one of the few men in the world that I think that having the audacity is just like super good for him. Like 10 out of 10. But yeah. So ends the story of Robert Smalls, the man who not only took freedom into his own hands, but tried to give it to others. So if you liked my retelling of this story, feel free to rate and review five stars. If you don't like it, you can just not see anything at all. It's fine. But yeah, catch me on the socials. I will try. And be a considerate human. I will try. But I'm. I'm much pettier than Robert Smalls ever was. I'm a bitch. And so. And so we are. But now it is time for recommendations time. So the Belfast show was postponed due to a scheduling issue. It's found accidents happen. The club were very amazing and apologetic and even tried to find me like, another venue, but we just couldn't find one in that short space of time. But touring information will be coming out in the next couple of weeks. I'm very excited. Look forward to seeing you all. And of course, it is recommendation time for reading the Invisible man by Ralph Ellison. For listening black girl nerds. You know what? I realize I've just kind of gone nerdy in this week's recommendations. You know what? We're just gonna stick to it. For watching Lovecraft country, watch Lovecraft Country. And that is your recommendation for this week. I hope you have a good one. Adios. Au revoir. Au vuitize, my friends. Bye Bye.
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Hi, this is Hannah Berner from Giggly Squad. This episode is brought to you by Peloton. I've been trying to stay consistent with moving my body in ways that actually fit into my real life. And Peloton makes that so much easier. The new cross training series balances your workouts with 15 plus workout types for endless movements on and off your equipment. Stay motivated. With weekly personalized plans that guide you from beginner to experienced. Push past your goals. Routines tailored for you. It feels really approachable, even if you're just getting back into a routine, which a lot of us are this January. It's nice not having to think about what to do. It's already mapped out for you. Get the new Peloton Cross training series terms apply.
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