America's Hidden History | Robert Smalls
November 21, 2019
27:32
America's Hidden History
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America's Hidden History | Robert Smalls
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- (dramatic music)
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- - [Narrator] Modern historians have revised, rewritten,
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- and even deleted entire chapters of American history.
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- So what are we missing?
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- What happened to the history that didn't make the books?
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- Join historian David Barton, Tim Barton, and special guests
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- as they uncover the facts some historians
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- don't want you to know.
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- This is America's Hidden History.
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- (dramatic music)
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- (electronic beeping)
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- (electronic beeping)
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- (waves crashing)
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- - We're in Charleston, South Carolina,
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- standing on an island known as Sullivan Island.
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- Actually goes back to the days of the American Revolution.
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- There was Fort Sullivan that was here.
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- And then became known as Fort Moultrie.
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- But in the American Revolution this was a place
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- that really they were trying to protect
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- against the British coming in and blockading.
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- This is, Charleston Harbor
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- was a kind of significant port coming in.
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- And actually in the midst of talking about this,
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- the hero today is gonna be a guy named Robert Smalls.
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- We're gonna unfold his story,
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- which a lot of it happens here,
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- surrounding the Charleston Port.
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- And really the significance of protecting, keeping,
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- or regaining it in that sense.
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- - Yeah, in a strategic sense what happens to this port,
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- this is the connection to Europe,
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- this connects to so much else.
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- And so supplies come in here.
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- All sorts of goods come in here.
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- And the American Revolution, that's why a fort was here
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- because the British wanted to shut down Charleston
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- like they wanted to shut down Boston and Richmond.
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- If they could shut down the ports they can control the war.
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- So this really is a strategic place.
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- - Behind us is a fort, Fort Sumter.
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- Fort Sumter came after the War of 1812.
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- The Americans realized we needed something
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- to protect Charleston Harbor better than the fort
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- that's here on this island.
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- And so they began construction on Fort Sumter.
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- Now, Fort Sumter is a very significant thing
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- when it comes to the Civil War
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- because this was really recognized
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- as the start of the Civil War,
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- the battle that happened there.
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- And the battle that happened there,
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- the reason this kind of took place
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- was when Abraham Lincoln was elected to be president
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- it was in December 20th of 1860 that South Carolina said,
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- "I don't think we like the direction the country's going,
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- "we want to secede."
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- And they became the first to secede from the Union.
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- They were followed by several states after them.
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- At that time the Union forces were here
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- with Major Robert Anderson leading them.
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- And he only had roughly 80 men that were under his command.
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- Major Anderson recognizes
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- this is kind of a vulnerable position being on this island
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- because this fort was not fortified as well as Fort Sumter.
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- Now, even at a time when Major Anderson moved his men
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- to Fort Sumter, Fort Sumter wasn't fully complete,
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- but it was, it was still a lot better
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- than the fort on this island.
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- - Yeah.
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- It's a bastion built fort.
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- And as you look at it now, you can't see it from here,
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- but it's three stories high.
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- And they've got guns on various levels.
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- - The walls were five foot thick.
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- - That's right.
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- - So this really was a much better fortified position.
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- So he moves his troops over there.
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- The problem is as he gets on this island
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- and South Carolina is no longer part of the Union,
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- they really don't have the supplies in the fort they need
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- to sustain for as long as they're gonna be there.
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- They begin what was really kind of a siege
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- where they're not letting any supplies get to Fort Sumter
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- and the men that are there.
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- And so their food is running low.
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- They don't have the men really they need even
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- to operate the cannons in defense of the fort.
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- Well, the Confederates started a bombardment.
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- For 34 hours they bombed Fort Sumter,
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- at the end of which Major Anderson realized
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- we really aren't gonna be able to defend this position,
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- so they surrendered.
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- Well, after 34 hours, it was estimated
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- more than 3.000 shots were fired.
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- Cannons fired into that fort.
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- - And that kinda tells you how strong that fort is.
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- The fact that you can put 3.000 rounds into that fort
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- and doesn't kill anybody.
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- - Right.
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- And there was no loss of life during the battle.
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- (dramatic music)
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- (dramatic music) (electronic beeping)
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- (waves crashing) (seagulls calling)
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- This fort is actually a place where the hero today,
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- Robert Smalls, had some pretty interesting encounters.
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- - Now, the Union knows that this is a significant port.
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- They would like to shut this off.
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- They would like to have this port.
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- But you don't come sailing in there past Fort Sumter.
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- You're gonna get blown out of the water.
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- And so what they did was they put a blockade out there.
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- About seven miles out there's a blockade of Union ships,
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- they're not gonna allow anything to come in here,
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- they're gonna try to shut this off
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- and shut down the Confederacy from supplies.
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- And so one of the things that was happening on this side
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- was because the harbor is so significant
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- there's four forts in here.
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- They run all along here.
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- And so in those forts there were different boats
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- that would go back and forth carrying ammunition,
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- carrying cannons, carrying things to keep them all supplied,
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- to keep the Union from coming in.
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- And one of the ships that went back and forth,
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- this ship named Planter.
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- It was kind of the flagship for Confederate General Ripley
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- who had charge of the Charleston area.
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- And on the Planter was a young man named Robert Smalls.
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- Robert Smalls was actually born over in Beaufort
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- not far from here, couple hours maybe.
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- And his master, he was a slave, his master said,
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- "I'm gonna send you to Charleston,
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- "I want you to work there
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- "and send me back all the money you make except $1 a week."
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- So Robert's over here working.
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- Well, he becomes familiar with what's called
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- a seafaring life and what happened in the harbor.
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- And he was able to pilot ships and do a lot of sea jobs.
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- And so when the war broke out after secession
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- and the war comes, the Confederates took Robert
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- and they put him in the Confederate Navy.
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- They said, you're gonna be one of our pilots.
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- And they didn't call him pilots
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- 'cause that's too high a position
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- to give to a black guy back then.
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- So they just said he was one of the crew.
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- But he actually is the guy who steered the ship
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- and piloted it and so he had to go back and forth
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- on all these runs.
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- (dramatic music) (water rushing)
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- He and his crew said, "We don't want to be slaves.
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- "We want to escape to freedom."
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- And they started making plans on how to escape to freedom.
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- But you've got the Union Navy sitting out there
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- waiting to blow out anything that comes outta here
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- with the Confederate flag on it.
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- And you got all these forts here that you gotta get past
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- to get to the Union Navy, so it's tough.
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- They make their plans, they finally decide
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- when they're gonna do something.
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- So they get all the families to the crew guys
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- over at a place waiting for them kinda hidden.
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- And there were three white officers on that ship.
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- And they went ashore for a social gathering, for a party.
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- And while they're gone the,
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- Robert Smalls gets the rest of them together and said,
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- "Now's the time.
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- "We gotta do this."
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- And so they go pick up the rest of the family.
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- Now they're planning to sail out to the Union fleet
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- that's out there blockading this.
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- And to do that they've gotta sail past all these forts.
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- And no boat goes past any of those forts
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- without giving the right signals
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- and without giving the right passwords.
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- - And you can imagine in war time, right?
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- You're not letting vessels just freely sail back and forth
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- 'cause you don't know what's gonna be on those vessels.
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- Even if it looks like a Confederate vessel
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- because what if somebody's captured a Confederate vessel?
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- So to get past it you have to know the signals,
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- you have to know the codes, you have to know the procedures.
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- Fortunately, Robert Smalls knew those things.
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- - He knew all of those things.
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- And what he did was when they decided to take off
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- he went and put on the captain's jacket.
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- He put on the captain's hat.
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- And as they went past the different forts
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- he would imitate the captain's voice.
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- So he'd blow the right signals on the whistle
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- and he'd give the right passwords.
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- And when they got out to Fort Sumter the other crew said,
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- "No, we're all gonna die.
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- "Let's turn back, this is a bad idea."
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- (dramatic music) (waves crashing)
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- And Robert said, "No, we've come too far."
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- And so he prayed with them,
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- they had a prayer there as they went past.
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- And as they were waiting there to hear from the fort
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- that they're cleared to pass the fort,
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- all this tension is there.
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- And they're waiting and waiting.
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- And finally the fort says, "Okay, you're clear to pass."
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- so they head off out toward the Union fleet.
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- Now, they're still flying a Confederate flag.
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- - [Tim] Which they have to do where they are.
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- - [David] Have to.
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- - [Tim] 'Cause if they don't
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- the Confederate's gonna shoot them down.
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- But then you come to this moment
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- where you're between the Confederates and the Union.
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- And now you have a precarious situation
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- 'cause which flag are you gonna fly?
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- Somebody's gonna shoot at you.
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- Who's gonna do it?
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- - That's right, 'cause if you take down the Confederate flag
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- Fort Sumter's gonna shoot you.
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- But if you leave the Confederate flag up
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- the Union guys are gonna shoot you.
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- So here they are approaching the Union.
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- It was 4:30 in the morning
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- when they were approaching the Union ships.
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- The sun was just coming up.
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- What they did was they pulled down the Confederate flag
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- and they raised up a white sheet, a bed sheet.
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- And the Union ships were lining up wanting to blow them up,
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- and one of the gunners said,
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- "Whoa, I think I see something there."
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- And they waited.
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- And sure enough it was a bed sheet.
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- And so the Union ship goes over to this Confederate ship
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- that's got this white sheet.
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- They board, "What's up guys?"
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- And the black crew, Robert Smalls says,
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- "We have brought this to you.
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- "We want to go to the Union side.
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- "This is the flagship of General Ripley.
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- "And by the way, we have his code book,
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- "we have the codes for all the forts here.
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- "We know their fortifications."
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- And Robert Small who guided the ship Planter
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- back and forth here, he helped lay the mines in the harbor.
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- So he knew where all the mines were.
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- They called them torpedoes back then.
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- He knew where all the mines and torpedoes were.
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- He gave that information to the Union.
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- He said, "This is our gift to Uncle Abe."
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- Well, actually the Union was shocked
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- by finding out where all this stuff was.
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- And within a week they brought an assault
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- and actually were able to take Coles Island over here
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- which just, they hadn't been able to do anything
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- to that point.
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- (dramatic music)
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- (waves crashing) (seagulls calling)
- 00:10:21.250 --> 00:10:25.270
- So what happens is Robert Smalls then goes
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- to Washington, D.C., he meets with President Lincoln.
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- He works with President Lincoln to say,
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- "Hey, we really need blacks fighting on the Union side."
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- Congress actually gives what's called prize money.
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- Congress said, "You know, Robert Smalls,
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- "you and the crew of the Planter,
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- "the ship is worth this much,
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- "we're giving you that much money."
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- And they got to split prize money.
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- And that period of time he's really honored,
- 00:10:45.260 --> 00:10:47.160
- they have celebrations for him in New York City.
- 00:10:47.160 --> 00:10:49.240
- They do a gold coin with the Planter on it
- 00:10:49.240 --> 00:10:51.280
- and showing him on the other side.
- 00:10:51.280 --> 00:10:53.160
- So significant stuff happening.
- 00:10:53.160 --> 00:10:55.030
- Then he comes back and is in the Union Navy.
- 00:10:55.030 --> 00:10:57.190
- And they used him as a pilot in the Union Navy.
- 00:10:57.190 --> 00:10:59.190
- Now, they want Sumter out of the way.
- 00:10:59.190 --> 00:11:01.210
- If they can get Sumter and get past Sumter
- 00:11:01.210 --> 00:11:03.250
- then they can control the harbor.
- 00:11:03.250 --> 00:11:05.140
- So the Union several times tries to attack Fort Sumter.
- 00:11:05.140 --> 00:11:09.020
- And every time they're unsuccessful.
- 00:11:09.020 --> 00:11:10.260
- And on one of those occasions
- 00:11:10.260 --> 00:11:12.080
- there was a bunch of ironclad ships,
- 00:11:12.080 --> 00:11:14.070
- really the armored ships of the Union,
- 00:11:14.070 --> 00:11:17.000
- attacking the fort thinking that's how we can do it.
- 00:11:17.000 --> 00:11:19.210
- And Robert Smalls was piloting one of those ironclad ships.
- 00:11:19.210 --> 00:11:23.090
- And he did a great job.
- 00:11:23.090 --> 00:11:25.000
- But his ship got hit 96 times in that battle.
- 00:11:25.000 --> 00:11:29.080
- They finally brought it over here to the beach
- 00:11:29.080 --> 00:11:31.120
- and it sank overnight.
- 00:11:31.120 --> 00:11:32.190
- And so he got on a different ship.
- 00:11:32.190 --> 00:11:33.250
- And he ended up piloting six different ships
- 00:11:33.250 --> 00:11:36.070
- on the Union side during the Civil War.
- 00:11:36.070 --> 00:11:38.270
- But Fort Sumter never fell to Union.
- 00:11:38.270 --> 00:11:41.180
- They finally gave it up at the end of the war,
- 00:11:41.180 --> 00:11:43.280
- but it was never defeated.
- 00:11:43.280 --> 00:11:45.130
- It was just the end of the war that brought it on.
- 00:11:45.130 --> 00:11:47.110
- But Robert Smalls did so much here in this harbor
- 00:11:47.110 --> 00:11:50.080
- that brought him to national fame and national notoriety.
- 00:11:50.080 --> 00:11:52.290
- (dramatic music)
- 00:11:52.290 --> 00:11:55.220
- (bright jazz music)
- 00:11:59.020 --> 00:12:02.040
- (bright dinging)
- 00:12:02.040 --> 00:12:04.280
- (electronic beeping)
- 00:12:04.280 --> 00:12:08.000
- (bright dinging)
- 00:12:10.030 --> 00:12:12.230
- (electronic beeping)
- 00:12:15.110 --> 00:12:17.020
- (bright dinging)
- 00:12:17.020 --> 00:12:19.240
- (dramatic music)
- 00:12:19.240 --> 00:12:21.080
- - [Narrator] We hope you're enjoying TBN's exclusive series
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- America's Hidden History.
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- 00:13:10.120 --> 00:13:15.100
- (gentle music)
- 00:13:18.230 --> 00:13:21.100
- - We're in another part of Charleston Harbor,
- 00:13:33.240 --> 00:13:35.160
- and the story of Robert Smalls takes place
- 00:13:35.160 --> 00:13:37.050
- all over this harbor.
- 00:13:37.050 --> 00:13:38.190
- I mean, this is a center of activity for four years.
- 00:13:38.190 --> 00:13:41.020
- And this is a part of the harbor known has Secessionville.
- 00:13:41.020 --> 00:13:43.160
- - Yeah, Secessionville got its name actually
- 00:13:43.160 --> 00:13:45.290
- from people that were leaving Charleston.
- 00:13:45.290 --> 00:13:48.010
- Apparently some wealthy people didn't want to be
- 00:13:49.070 --> 00:13:50.280
- in the center of action in Charleston.
- 00:13:50.280 --> 00:13:52.150
- And so they got out in the country a little bit.
- 00:13:52.150 --> 00:13:54.270
- But it's also the place where the only land invasion
- 00:13:54.270 --> 00:13:58.230
- that happened for Charleston
- 00:13:58.230 --> 00:14:01.010
- as far as the Union forces trying to reconquer
- 00:14:01.010 --> 00:14:03.240
- and recapture Charleston happened in this area.
- 00:14:03.240 --> 00:14:06.140
- And they were not successful.
- 00:14:06.140 --> 00:14:08.140
- At the time the Confederate forces set up barricades,
- 00:14:08.140 --> 00:14:11.070
- had all kinds of perimeters, they had various forts.
- 00:14:11.070 --> 00:14:13.130
- Well, one of the officers was Thomas Lamar.
- 00:14:13.130 --> 00:14:15.250
- He was in charge of kind of this section of defense.
- 00:14:15.250 --> 00:14:19.110
- And so the fort, or actually the stronghold they had built
- 00:14:19.110 --> 00:14:22.090
- became known as Fort Lamar in his honor
- 00:14:22.090 --> 00:14:24.090
- because he was recognized as the hero of that battle.
- 00:14:24.090 --> 00:14:26.200
- And this is kind of where this area got its recognition,
- 00:14:26.200 --> 00:14:30.150
- at least in that regard for the battle of Thomas Lamar.
- 00:14:30.150 --> 00:14:33.230
- - The Confederates also had emplacements here,
- 00:14:33.230 --> 00:14:36.190
- gun emplacements.
- 00:14:36.190 --> 00:14:37.270
- And they tried to protect that here
- 00:14:37.270 --> 00:14:39.010
- because particularly the Planter,
- 00:14:39.010 --> 00:14:40.150
- which was the ship that Robert Smalls was piloting,
- 00:14:40.150 --> 00:14:42.150
- it had a really small draft,
- 00:14:42.150 --> 00:14:44.000
- which means it could go in really shallow waters.
- 00:14:44.000 --> 00:14:45.280
- And so it would move up and back,
- 00:14:45.280 --> 00:14:47.160
- and it would try to keep Confederate ships from coming out
- 00:14:47.160 --> 00:14:49.150
- and keep troops messed up.
- 00:14:49.150 --> 00:14:51.030
- And as it was going by here at one point the battery here
- 00:14:51.030 --> 00:14:54.220
- at Secessionville just opened up
- 00:14:54.220 --> 00:14:56.100
- and just almost point blank at the Planter.
- 00:14:56.100 --> 00:14:59.060
- And at that point Robert Smalls is the pilot of the Planter.
- 00:14:59.060 --> 00:15:03.060
- And the captain was a white guy named Captain Nickerson.
- 00:15:03.060 --> 00:15:06.200
- And when all of this barrage comes at him
- 00:15:06.200 --> 00:15:10.070
- and he's just getting pounded, he goes below deck,
- 00:15:10.070 --> 00:15:13.060
- he gets in the coal bunker and he says,
- 00:15:13.060 --> 00:15:14.270
- "Surrender, surrender, surrender."
- 00:15:14.270 --> 00:15:17.200
- And Robert Smalls says,
- 00:15:17.200 --> 00:15:18.260
- "No, no, no, no, we're not surrendering.
- 00:15:18.260 --> 00:15:20.140
- "This is the Confederacy."
- 00:15:20.140 --> 00:15:22.030
- And in the Confederacy they had a standing policy
- 00:15:22.030 --> 00:15:24.100
- on the Confederate side
- 00:15:24.100 --> 00:15:25.180
- that you do not take black prisoners of war.
- 00:15:25.180 --> 00:15:27.270
- If you get a black prisoner of war you kill them
- 00:15:27.270 --> 00:15:30.030
- and you execute them on the spot.
- 00:15:30.030 --> 00:15:31.170
- That was the famous incident at Fort Pillow
- 00:15:31.170 --> 00:15:33.180
- where Nathan Bedford Forrest
- 00:15:33.180 --> 00:15:35.000
- after Union black soldiers had surrendered,
- 00:15:35.000 --> 00:15:36.280
- he went through and, I mean, just what he did to them,
- 00:15:36.280 --> 00:15:39.110
- the skinning them, the burning them, the drowning them,
- 00:15:39.110 --> 00:15:42.070
- the stuff he did to them was just atrocities.
- 00:15:42.070 --> 00:15:45.040
- And so Robert Smalls knows that if he surrenders
- 00:15:45.040 --> 00:15:47.210
- he and his crew, they are done.
- 00:15:47.210 --> 00:15:50.080
- And so at that point with the captain below deck
- 00:15:50.080 --> 00:15:53.000
- and cowering in fear, Robert Smalls takes control of it,
- 00:15:53.000 --> 00:15:56.120
- he actually does well in the battle,
- 00:15:56.120 --> 00:15:58.180
- gets the ship out of there.
- 00:15:58.180 --> 00:15:59.280
- (dramatic music)
- 00:15:59.280 --> 00:16:02.220
- And so when the commander of the Union forces,
- 00:16:06.110 --> 00:16:08.040
- Quincy Adams Gillmore hears what's happened here,
- 00:16:08.040 --> 00:16:11.010
- and by the way, Quincy Adams Gillmore.
- 00:16:11.010 --> 00:16:13.240
- - Yeah, that sounds a little familiar, right?
- 00:16:13.240 --> 00:16:15.110
- If you remember John Adams had a son, John Quincy Adams.
- 00:16:15.110 --> 00:16:18.060
- And the Civil War is really kind of in the era
- 00:16:18.060 --> 00:16:21.230
- of John Quincy Adams.
- 00:16:21.230 --> 00:16:23.070
- And John Quincy Adams died shortly before the Civil War.
- 00:16:23.070 --> 00:16:25.070
- But those who were active in the Civil War
- 00:16:25.070 --> 00:16:27.030
- woulda certainly known the Adams family,
- 00:16:27.030 --> 00:16:29.030
- at least John Quincy Adams.
- 00:16:29.030 --> 00:16:30.180
- And he actually, the name was because of John Quincy Adams
- 00:16:30.180 --> 00:16:34.030
- who had been the sixth president.
- 00:16:34.030 --> 00:16:35.100
- Was a son of a signer of the Declaration.
- 00:16:35.100 --> 00:16:37.150
- And so there was some level of respect for the Adams family.
- 00:16:37.150 --> 00:16:40.140
- - Well, especially since John Quincy Adams
- 00:16:40.140 --> 00:16:42.100
- is such an ardent abolitionist.
- 00:16:42.100 --> 00:16:43.280
- I mean, he's called the Hellhound of Abolition.
- 00:16:43.280 --> 00:16:45.220
- From the Union side you can say, "Hey, this is our guy."
- 00:16:45.220 --> 00:16:48.220
- And so Quincy Adams Gillmore,
- 00:16:48.220 --> 00:16:50.070
- when he hears what happens here with Robert Small,
- 00:16:50.070 --> 00:16:52.040
- how he took command of the vessel
- 00:16:52.040 --> 00:16:53.200
- and got through the battle with great honors,
- 00:16:53.200 --> 00:16:56.180
- he says, "I'm gonna remove this other guy
- 00:16:56.180 --> 00:16:59.100
- "who is the white captain.
- 00:16:59.100 --> 00:17:00.180
- "You're now the new captain of the Planter."
- 00:17:00.180 --> 00:17:02.250
- And so Robert Smalls becomes the first black captain
- 00:17:02.250 --> 00:17:05.210
- of a naval vessel, really in the Civil War for sure,
- 00:17:05.210 --> 00:17:08.260
- and probably in American history.
- 00:17:08.260 --> 00:17:10.040
- - And it does speak to something
- 00:17:10.040 --> 00:17:11.170
- that you have a commanding officer recognizing
- 00:17:11.170 --> 00:17:13.290
- that what we need to win is not a certain color of skin.
- 00:17:13.290 --> 00:17:17.100
- But we need someone who's got the courage, right,
- 00:17:17.100 --> 00:17:18.280
- who's got the fortitude to say,
- 00:17:18.280 --> 00:17:20.040
- "Hey, just 'cause we're getting shot at
- 00:17:20.040 --> 00:17:21.100
- "doesn't mean we need to turn and run."
- 00:17:21.100 --> 00:17:23.210
- And that's ultimately what this white commander had done.
- 00:17:23.210 --> 00:17:26.000
- And so they recognized, wow, Robert Smalls,
- 00:17:26.000 --> 00:17:28.040
- you had the courage to fight through this thing.
- 00:17:28.040 --> 00:17:30.090
- You need to be the leader on this.
- 00:17:30.090 --> 00:17:32.050
- And so really it even goes to this notion
- 00:17:32.050 --> 00:17:34.220
- that people in the North,
- 00:17:34.220 --> 00:17:36.160
- there were some who recognized the content
- 00:17:36.160 --> 00:17:39.090
- and the quality of individuals
- 00:17:39.090 --> 00:17:40.140
- was more important than the color of skin,
- 00:17:40.140 --> 00:17:42.120
- which was even part of what this war was about.
- 00:17:42.120 --> 00:17:44.160
- - It was part of what this war was about.
- 00:17:44.160 --> 00:17:46.150
- And from here Robert Smalls,
- 00:17:46.150 --> 00:17:47.290
- when he takes command of that vessel,
- 00:17:47.290 --> 00:17:49.180
- he gets engaged in all sorts, there's 17 engagements
- 00:17:49.180 --> 00:17:52.260
- that Robert Smalls is involved with
- 00:17:52.260 --> 00:17:54.170
- all around Charleston Harbor.
- 00:17:54.170 --> 00:17:56.040
- Charleston Harbor's surrounded with a number of forts.
- 00:17:56.040 --> 00:17:58.110
- There's a lot of active battles that happened here.
- 00:17:58.110 --> 00:18:00.260
- Fort Wagner did not happen far from here.
- 00:18:00.260 --> 00:18:02.260
- And Fort Wagner, if you've ever seen the movie "Glory,"
- 00:18:02.260 --> 00:18:04.290
- that is here at Charleston Harbor.
- 00:18:04.290 --> 00:18:07.030
- Actually Fort Wagner is where William Carney
- 00:18:07.030 --> 00:18:09.030
- receives the Medal of Honor.
- 00:18:09.030 --> 00:18:10.250
- That's the earliest engagement in the Civil War
- 00:18:10.250 --> 00:18:13.150
- for which a black is awarded the Medal of Honor.
- 00:18:13.150 --> 00:18:16.050
- And by the way, even at Fort Wagner it was interesting
- 00:18:16.050 --> 00:18:19.140
- that after Robert Smalls had turned the ship Planter over
- 00:18:19.140 --> 00:18:22.280
- to the Union, he went to Washington, D.C.,
- 00:18:22.280 --> 00:18:25.190
- met with Abraham Lincoln and started talking to him
- 00:18:25.190 --> 00:18:28.070
- about we need some black regiments.
- 00:18:28.070 --> 00:18:29.260
- We need black soldiers fighting on the Union side.
- 00:18:29.260 --> 00:18:32.180
- And so early on Robert Smalls is one of the earliest voices
- 00:18:32.180 --> 00:18:35.250
- to say we need black soldiers fighting.
- 00:18:35.250 --> 00:18:37.240
- And then a year or so later we have Fort Wagner
- 00:18:37.240 --> 00:18:40.120
- where that William Carney receives the Medal of Honor.
- 00:18:40.120 --> 00:18:42.200
- So Robert Smalls is actually engaged
- 00:18:42.200 --> 00:18:44.180
- in a whole lot of stuff.
- 00:18:44.180 --> 00:18:45.250
- This is where he spent so much of his life.
- 00:18:45.250 --> 00:18:47.210
- But right out here is where he became
- 00:18:47.210 --> 00:18:49.130
- the first black captain in naval history.
- 00:18:49.130 --> 00:18:52.060
- (bright jazz music)
- 00:18:52.060 --> 00:18:55.060
- - Well, while the Bartons are on the road
- 00:19:02.000 --> 00:19:03.110
- they've asked me to come down into the collection
- 00:19:03.110 --> 00:19:05.120
- and see what we have about Robert Smalls.
- 00:19:05.120 --> 00:19:08.000
- So as you can see, in this right here is a poster
- 00:19:08.000 --> 00:19:11.120
- with some of the main national black heroes
- 00:19:11.120 --> 00:19:14.110
- during the late 1800s right after the Civil War period.
- 00:19:14.110 --> 00:19:16.280
- And right up top we've got our guy, Robert Smalls.
- 00:19:16.280 --> 00:19:19.200
- But also look at the people that are around him.
- 00:19:19.200 --> 00:19:21.080
- You've got Frederick Douglass.
- 00:19:21.080 --> 00:19:22.140
- You've got Booker T. Washington.
- 00:19:22.140 --> 00:19:24.080
- All of these guys were national heroes.
- 00:19:24.080 --> 00:19:26.180
- And, you know, well-known names, household names,
- 00:19:26.180 --> 00:19:29.270
- men with incredible stories that did incredible things
- 00:19:29.270 --> 00:19:32.260
- to really move the country in the correct direction.
- 00:19:32.260 --> 00:19:35.060
- People who we don't really know a lot about today.
- 00:19:35.060 --> 00:19:37.260
- But I was also able to find this.
- 00:19:37.260 --> 00:19:40.170
- This is a giant newspaper out of New York City, New York.
- 00:19:40.170 --> 00:19:44.290
- This is October 7th, 1862.
- 00:19:44.290 --> 00:19:48.050
- And if we bring it around and look at it, on the front page,
- 00:19:48.050 --> 00:19:50.220
- right, it's got stories
- 00:19:50.220 --> 00:19:51.290
- about what's happening in the war, right?
- 00:19:51.290 --> 00:19:53.160
- 1862, you're still in the middle of the Civil War.
- 00:19:53.160 --> 00:19:56.030
- It's got stories about Abraham Lincoln
- 00:19:56.030 --> 00:19:58.240
- signing the Emancipation Proclamation
- 00:19:58.240 --> 00:20:00.200
- just about two weeks before this paper is published.
- 00:20:00.200 --> 00:20:03.140
- But also on the front page
- 00:20:03.140 --> 00:20:05.000
- we have the story of Robert Smalls.
- 00:20:05.000 --> 00:20:07.020
- In fact, if we come in and look at it, it says,
- 00:20:07.020 --> 00:20:09.050
- "City Intelligence.
- 00:20:09.050 --> 00:20:10.190
- "The black hero of the Planter among his people.
- 00:20:10.190 --> 00:20:13.010
- "Public reception of Robert Smalls,
- 00:20:13.010 --> 00:20:15.040
- "interesting ceremonies at the Shiloh Church."
- 00:20:15.040 --> 00:20:17.210
- Now the Shiloh Church was a really important place
- 00:20:17.210 --> 00:20:20.090
- for kind of the black civil rights movement at the time
- 00:20:20.090 --> 00:20:23.210
- because its pastor was Reverend Henry Highland Garnet.
- 00:20:23.210 --> 00:20:26.200
- He was actually the first black man to preach
- 00:20:26.200 --> 00:20:28.270
- and to speak in Congress.
- 00:20:28.270 --> 00:20:30.210
- But as we go through it goes through the ceremony
- 00:20:30.210 --> 00:20:32.160
- and people presenting, it's telling the story to the crowd.
- 00:20:32.160 --> 00:20:35.210
- And then it says that a gold medal was presented
- 00:20:35.210 --> 00:20:38.090
- to Robert Smalls on behalf of the people of the city.
- 00:20:38.090 --> 00:20:41.160
- So it's a gold medal presented to him.
- 00:20:41.160 --> 00:20:43.000
- And it actually goes into a little bit more detail about it.
- 00:20:43.000 --> 00:20:45.140
- It says, "The medal is of gold,
- 00:20:45.140 --> 00:20:47.010
- "and bears a representation of the steamer Planter
- 00:20:47.010 --> 00:20:50.030
- "leaving Charleston Harbor."
- 00:20:50.030 --> 00:20:52.030
- So it goes through the story, it's this really big thing.
- 00:20:52.030 --> 00:20:54.220
- A lot of the civil leaders in the city come out to see it.
- 00:20:54.220 --> 00:20:58.110
- And what's incredible to me
- 00:20:58.110 --> 00:20:59.270
- is that we have in New York, New York,
- 00:20:59.270 --> 00:21:01.280
- one of the biggest cities in the world at the time,
- 00:21:01.280 --> 00:21:03.290
- on the front page of the newspaper
- 00:21:03.290 --> 00:21:05.240
- a story about this national hero,
- 00:21:05.240 --> 00:21:07.240
- but somebody who today is a hidden hero.
- 00:21:07.240 --> 00:21:10.010
- (dramatic music)
- 00:21:10.010 --> 00:21:12.200
- (dramatic music) (electronic beeping)
- 00:21:15.290 --> 00:21:20.290
- (electronic beeping)
- 00:21:53.110 --> 00:21:56.130
- - So Robert Smalls had really a remarkable career.
- 00:22:09.050 --> 00:22:11.140
- He's a war hero.
- 00:22:11.140 --> 00:22:12.210
- He's the first black captain the U.S. Navy.
- 00:22:12.210 --> 00:22:15.170
- He was at Fort Sumter
- 00:22:15.170 --> 00:22:16.240
- when they lowered the Confederate flag,
- 00:22:16.240 --> 00:22:19.070
- raised the American flag.
- 00:22:19.070 --> 00:22:20.190
- He got to be there for that.
- 00:22:20.190 --> 00:22:21.260
- He was here all the way through the Civil War.
- 00:22:21.260 --> 00:22:23.220
- But it didn't stop there.
- 00:22:23.220 --> 00:22:25.210
- He got elected to the state House of Representatives.
- 00:22:25.210 --> 00:22:28.180
- He got elected to the state Senate.
- 00:22:28.180 --> 00:22:30.080
- He became a U.S. congressman from South Carolina.
- 00:22:30.080 --> 00:22:33.110
- As a matter of fact,
- 00:22:33.110 --> 00:22:34.220
- he's the second-longest-serving black congressman
- 00:22:34.220 --> 00:22:37.230
- in the Reconstruction Era.
- 00:22:37.230 --> 00:22:39.080
- He was first a colonel in the South Carolina militia.
- 00:22:39.080 --> 00:22:41.240
- Then they made him a general.
- 00:22:41.240 --> 00:22:43.100
- Then he's a major general in the South Carolina militia.
- 00:22:43.100 --> 00:22:45.270
- He's involved in a number of business endeavors here,
- 00:22:45.270 --> 00:22:49.030
- including some trolley cars and other things.
- 00:22:49.030 --> 00:22:51.030
- Very successfully involved.
- 00:22:51.030 --> 00:22:52.260
- He was a strong Christian man.
- 00:22:52.260 --> 00:22:54.060
- You can tell by the prayer he prayed
- 00:22:54.060 --> 00:22:55.200
- even as they were going past the fort.
- 00:22:55.200 --> 00:22:57.010
- But very active in Baptist church here.
- 00:22:57.010 --> 00:22:59.180
- So Robert Smalls is quite a remarkable hero
- 00:22:59.180 --> 00:23:03.010
- in so many categories.
- 00:23:03.010 --> 00:23:04.170
- Robert Smalls was another one of the hidden heroes
- 00:23:04.170 --> 00:23:07.070
- in America's hidden history.
- 00:23:07.070 --> 00:23:09.100
- (gentle music)
- 00:23:09.100 --> 00:23:11.240
- Telling the story of Robert Smalls
- 00:23:23.000 --> 00:23:24.180
- is a story I really enjoy telling.
- 00:23:24.180 --> 00:23:27.000
- I was recently speaking to a really large black audience
- 00:23:27.000 --> 00:23:29.210
- up in Detroit, and I was talking about
- 00:23:29.210 --> 00:23:32.130
- the first black military general.
- 00:23:32.130 --> 00:23:35.000
- And so I googled it, pulled it up,
- 00:23:35.000 --> 00:23:36.200
- and it came up General Vernon Robinson.
- 00:23:36.200 --> 00:23:38.190
- - Oh, yeah.
- 00:23:38.190 --> 00:23:40.030
- - And there he is in Vietnam, and they go, "Way to go."
- 00:23:40.030 --> 00:23:41.190
- Except let's back up more than a hundred years
- 00:23:41.190 --> 00:23:44.110
- to Major General Robert Smalls.
- 00:23:44.110 --> 00:23:46.160
- And I heard (gasping rapidly).
- 00:23:46.160 --> 00:23:47.140
- And it was just audible gasp.
- 00:23:47.140 --> 00:23:49.010
- And so when you start telling the story
- 00:23:49.010 --> 00:23:50.280
- of folks like Robert Smalls,
- 00:23:50.280 --> 00:23:53.220
- there is so much they did
- 00:23:53.220 --> 00:23:55.200
- that was really breakthrough kind of stuff.
- 00:23:55.200 --> 00:23:58.120
- But then I think about his character as well.
- 00:23:58.120 --> 00:24:00.280
- Because, I mean, at the time
- 00:24:00.280 --> 00:24:03.030
- that that white captain went under the ship and said,
- 00:24:03.030 --> 00:24:05.220
- "Get me outta here and surrender,"
- 00:24:05.220 --> 00:24:07.050
- and Robert Smalls says, "There's no way I'm surrendering."
- 00:24:07.050 --> 00:24:09.260
- I mean, just the leadership under fire that he did.
- 00:24:09.260 --> 00:24:12.270
- And then even as he was escaping from Charleston
- 00:24:12.270 --> 00:24:15.280
- and his crew said, "Oh, man, this is too dangerous,
- 00:24:15.280 --> 00:24:18.130
- "let's go back."
- 00:24:18.130 --> 00:24:19.200
- He said, "No, guys, we're not going back."
- 00:24:19.200 --> 00:24:20.290
- And I just think of the immense courage he had,
- 00:24:20.290 --> 00:24:23.200
- and what he had to face
- 00:24:23.200 --> 00:24:25.030
- even in the way of the discrimination
- 00:24:25.030 --> 00:24:26.140
- and the civil rights back then.
- 00:24:26.140 --> 00:24:27.280
- Being a slave, then going through Reconstruction
- 00:24:27.280 --> 00:24:30.180
- as a congressman
- 00:24:30.180 --> 00:24:32.030
- when there is still so much of the nation targeting blacks.
- 00:24:32.030 --> 00:24:34.200
- I mean, he just, he's just an incredible guy.
- 00:24:34.200 --> 00:24:37.180
- - Well, and especially thinking about the disenfranchisement
- 00:24:37.180 --> 00:24:40.190
- that different populations of America feel
- 00:24:40.190 --> 00:24:43.090
- because we teach history
- 00:24:43.090 --> 00:24:44.220
- as if it were white people doing white things.
- 00:24:44.220 --> 00:24:46.180
- And although historically we were a conglomerate.
- 00:24:46.180 --> 00:24:51.090
- You know, even in the American Revolution, we--
- 00:24:51.090 --> 00:24:52.210
- - And actually, I mean,
- 00:24:52.210 --> 00:24:54.070
- that is what we're trying to help people understand here
- 00:24:54.070 --> 00:24:56.240
- is you do have these guys,
- 00:24:56.240 --> 00:24:58.090
- there were Indians and there were whites
- 00:24:58.090 --> 00:24:59.290
- and there were blacks and men and women from all eras.
- 00:24:59.290 --> 00:25:03.020
- And so, yeah, you're right.
- 00:25:03.020 --> 00:25:04.170
- We teach too much of history today like it's all white,
- 00:25:04.170 --> 00:25:06.140
- and it's not.
- 00:25:06.140 --> 00:25:07.290
- - Well, and so going back to the American Revolution,
- 00:25:07.290 --> 00:25:09.140
- we had generals from 20 different nations, right?
- 00:25:09.140 --> 00:25:10.250
- I mean, we were absolutely a melting pot.
- 00:25:10.250 --> 00:25:13.240
- And so even though historically we can look back,
- 00:25:13.240 --> 00:25:16.100
- and I think the reason that so many black Americans
- 00:25:16.100 --> 00:25:19.020
- feel disenfranchised is because they think
- 00:25:19.020 --> 00:25:20.290
- their legacy is slavery.
- 00:25:20.290 --> 00:25:22.130
- And even though slavery is part of the legacy of America,
- 00:25:22.130 --> 00:25:24.290
- although arguably it's the legacy of every nation
- 00:25:24.290 --> 00:25:27.200
- in the history of the world on some level, right?
- 00:25:27.200 --> 00:25:30.140
- I think one of the challenges is that people don't recognize
- 00:25:30.140 --> 00:25:34.060
- how many heroes there were
- 00:25:34.060 --> 00:25:36.070
- who were flat out American heroes, right?
- 00:25:36.070 --> 00:25:38.120
- It's not because of the color of somebody's skin.
- 00:25:38.120 --> 00:25:40.070
- It's not because of their gender, nope.
- 00:25:40.070 --> 00:25:42.030
- This is just someone who was courageous
- 00:25:42.030 --> 00:25:44.200
- and stood up and was a leader and did something.
- 00:25:44.200 --> 00:25:47.150
- And Robert Smalls, I mean, the story itself was amazing.
- 00:25:47.150 --> 00:25:50.090
- This ought to be a Hollywood movie.
- 00:25:50.090 --> 00:25:52.050
- At some point maybe it will be.
- 00:25:52.050 --> 00:25:53.210
- And I can't wait to watch this movie, it's gonna be awesome.
- 00:25:53.210 --> 00:25:57.040
- But Robert Smalls is that guy who
- 00:25:57.040 --> 00:25:58.270
- when you start looking through history
- 00:25:58.270 --> 00:26:00.070
- I think not just his story is incredible,
- 00:26:00.070 --> 00:26:02.260
- but he gives you a glimpse that maybe there is more
- 00:26:02.260 --> 00:26:04.290
- to the story than we've heard, right?
- 00:26:04.290 --> 00:26:06.180
- Maybe it's bigger than just white people doing white things.
- 00:26:06.180 --> 00:26:10.260
- Maybe there were people of other colors,
- 00:26:10.260 --> 00:26:13.170
- of other shapes and sizes and different genders.
- 00:26:13.170 --> 00:26:15.260
- And I think Robert Smalls is not only inspiring
- 00:26:15.260 --> 00:26:17.280
- as a personal story, but inspiring
- 00:26:17.280 --> 00:26:20.150
- because he reveals there's more to the story
- 00:26:20.150 --> 00:26:22.120
- than we've heard.
- 00:26:22.120 --> 00:26:23.170
- (dramatic music)
- 00:26:23.170 --> 00:26:26.090
- (electronic beeping)
- 00:26:28.120 --> 00:26:30.070
- (dramatic music)
- 00:26:30.070 --> 00:26:31.210
- - [Narrator] We hope you're enjoying TBN's exclusive series
- 00:26:31.210 --> 00:26:33.010
- America's Hidden History.
- 00:26:33.010 --> 00:26:34.150
- Thrilling stories of ordinary and unsung Americans
- 00:26:34.150 --> 00:26:37.170
- whom God used in extraordinary ways to shape our nation.
- 00:26:37.170 --> 00:26:40.290
- Right now we want to send you the entire first season
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- of America's Hidden History as our way of saying thank you
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- for your gift of support
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- you will learn how the Scriptures played
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- such a foundational role in the formation
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- of the United States and discover a wealth of information
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- to share with others.
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