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America's Hidden History | Robert Smalls

America's Hidden History

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)
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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,
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they have celebrations for him in New York City.
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They do a gold coin with the Planter on it
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and showing him on the other side.
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So significant stuff happening.
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Then he comes back and is in the Union Navy.
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And they used him as a pilot in the Union Navy.
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Now, they want Sumter out of the way.
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If they can get Sumter and get past Sumter
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then they can control the harbor.
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So the Union several times tries to attack Fort Sumter.
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And every time they're unsuccessful.
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And on one of those occasions
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there was a bunch of ironclad ships,
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really the armored ships of the Union,
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attacking the fort thinking that's how we can do it.
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And Robert Smalls was piloting one of those ironclad ships.
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And he did a great job.
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But his ship got hit 96 times in that battle.
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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)
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(bright jazz music)
00:11:59.020 --> 00:12:02.040
(bright dinging)
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(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.
00:12:22.150 --> 00:12:23.290
Thrilling stories of ordinary and unsung Americans
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whom God used in extraordinary ways to shape our nation.
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(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)
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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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And if you're able to support TBN's mission
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Filled with thousands of illuminating notes,
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you will learn how the Scriptures played
00:27:02.240 --> 00:27:04.240
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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For a short time you can receive all seven episodes
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America's Hidden History | Robert Smalls

America's Hidden History | Robert Smalls

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America's Hidden History | Robert Smalls

America's Hidden History | Robert Smalls

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