How to Pronounce Robert Smalls
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Apr 05, 1839 Beaufort, South Carolina, United States Died on 23 Feb 1915 (aged 75)
American politician
AriesRobert Smalls - Place of Birth, Date of Birth, Age, Wiki, Facts, Net Worth, Birthday, Biography and Family
Robert Smalls, Date of Birth, Place of Birth, Family, Facts, Age, Net Worth, Biography and More in FamedBorn.com
About Robert Smalls
- Robert Smalls (April 5, 1839 – February 23, 1915) was an American businessman, publisher, and politician.
- Born into slavery in Beaufort, South Carolina, he freed himself, his crew, and their families during the American Civil War by commandeering a Confederate transport ship, CSS Planter, in Charleston harbor, on May 13, 1862, and sailing it from Confederate-controlled waters of the harbor to the U.S.
- blockade that surrounded it.
- He then piloted the ship to the Union-controlled enclave in Beaufort-Port Royal-Hilton Head area, where she became a Union warship.
- His example and persuasion helped convince President Abraham Lincoln to accept African-American soldiers into the Union Army. After the American Civil War he returned to Beaufort and became a politician, winning election as a Republican to the South Carolina State legislature and the United States House of Representatives during the Reconstruction era.
- Smalls authored state legislation providing for South Carolina to have the first free and compulsory public school system in the United States.
- He founded the Republican Party of South Carolina.
- Smalls was the last Republican to represent South Carolina's 5th congressional district until 2010.
