Robert Smalls Stole a Confederate Ship and Sailed His Family to Freedom
Our American Stories
iHeartPodcasts
4.6 • 817 Ratings
🗓️ 16 April 2026
⏱️ 10 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
On this episode of Our American Stories, in May 1862, Robert Smalls carried out a daring escape from slavery in Charleston Harbor. Forced to work aboard the Confederate ship Planter, he learned its routes and the signals required to pass the harbor’s defenses. When the officers left the ship one night, Smalls stepped into their place and guided the vessel past Confederate guns toward the Union blockade.
The History Guy shares how Robert Smalls escaped slavery and secured freedom for his family.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | This is an I-Heart podcast. |
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| 0:19.4 | including lots of stories |
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| 0:49.2 | Our next story comes to us for a man who's simply known as the history guy. |
| 0:53.1 | His videos are watched by hundreds of thousands of people of all ages on YouTube, |
| 0:58.8 | and he's been telling stories regularly here on our American Stories. |
| 1:03.4 | Here's the History Guy with the tale of an escaped slave-turned-turned-legion named Robert Smalls. |
| 1:09.8 | Music turned legend named Robert Smalls. Robert Smalls was born into slavery in 1839 in Beaufort, South Carolina. |
| 1:20.6 | His mother was a slave and his father's not known, although it may well have been his owner, Henry McKee. |
| 1:26.6 | As a youth, McKee rented Robert out |
| 1:29.4 | as a laborer, with McKee receiving the pay. Robert was fond of the sea, and so started taking |
| 1:34.8 | work at the Charleston docks, first as a stevedore unloading ships and working the docks, |
| 1:39.7 | and then on boats as a sailor or sailmaker or fisherman. Eventually, he came to know the waters of the Carolina Coast well |
| 1:46.2 | and was a skilled boat pilot, even though slaves were not given that title. |
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