250 to 250:118. Robert Smalls, Narrated by Victoria A. Smalls

Heather Cox Richardson and 250 to 250: Robert Smalls, Narrated by Victoria A. Smalls

Victoria A. Smalls is a Gullah native of South Carolina, award-winning Gullah Geechee cultural preservationist, artist and curator, specializing in Reconstruction Era history, and Founder/Principal Consultant of Smalls Cultural Resources. Here, she tells how Robert Smalls escaped slavery by commandeering a Confederate ship and rose to become a Union captain and U.S. congressman.

Robert Smalls was born enslaved in South Carolina.

• He worked on ships.
• During the Civil War, he took control of a Confederate ship.
• He sailed the ship to the Union Navy.
• Smalls and other people on the ship gained their freedom.
• Smalls later helped the Union during the war.

After the war, he became a political leader.

• He served in the U.S. House of Representatives.
• Smalls worked for equal rights for Black Americans.

POP Interview and Civics Quiz: 

• USCIS N-400 Part 9:31. Do you support the Constitution and the form of Government of the United States?
• USCIS 100:23. / 128:29.   Name your U.S. representative. 
• USCIS 100:74.  Name one problem that led to the Civil War.
• USCIS 128:96. What U.S. war ended slavery?
• Read: What does Congress do?
• Write: Congress makes laws.  |  Congress meets in Washington, D.C. to make laws. 

Family Fun:

• Essential Civil War Curriculum: Robert Smalls
• Hagley: Robert Smalls: Slave and Civil War Hero
• House: Representative Robert Smalls of South Carolina
• Late Show with Steven Colbert: Rep. Clyburn On Robert Smalls, A Giant Of South Carolina's Political History
• LOC: Robert Smalls: A Resource Guide
• NPS: Reconstruction Era National Historical Park | Robert Smalls 
• Origins OSU: The Remarkable Life of Robert Smalls
• PBS News Hour: How Robert Smalls sailed his crew and family to freedom during the Civil War
• SC Law: “All for Civil Rights”: Robert Smalls (1839–1915)
• TEDx: The Audacity of Robert Smalls | Michael B. Moore | TEDxStMarksSchool
• The American Story: The Escaped Civil War Slave Who Impersonated A Confederate Captain
• The Big Story: Robert Smalls: How a Slave Became an American Hero
• Unbossed: US Navy Honors Freedom Fighter Robert Smalls
• uscitizenpod: Robert Smalls coloring page
• Zinn Education Project: Nov. 3, 1874: Robert Smalls Elected