stations. forward to have a stronger blockade. you have to have seizing harbors along the coast line. and on november # 7th, 1861, with 17 vessels, the largest fleet ever organized by the united states up to this time will seize port royal sound. they will drive away the confederate army and the vast majority of the land owners and the planters within the sea islands. they will come ashore and control 8,000 slaves. though not initially prepared to

deal with the slaves, the united states will establish a program designed to recruit into the army the region's former slaves. more individuals are going to be termed the port royal experiment. some of these individuals will play an important role in the robert smalls story. another important individual will be mansfield french. he will be a key player in the robert smalls story. the 51-year-old french had been among the founders of the experiment.

another major player was david hunter. he was in command of the army forces that occupied the sea islands and in march of 1862, he received a directive from the war dreepartment and he found tt a lot of the former slaves weren't that interested and thought that he needed to give them something to fight for. we do not believe that smalls may have heard of it.

both slaves and free blacks are caught between two fires. they worked for the south. still onboard, slaves served as team steers and carried ammunition and supplies. they were defending the large coast line. they could come in behind these islands, cut off and capture the islands.

taking part of the batteries, bringing the goods back to charleston. one of these forfications that is being abandoned is a confederate fort on coles island at the mouth of the river. smalls and planter will be going out there nearly daily bringing supplies back to charleston from the works on coles island. at the same time because there were federal forces on charleston there were a number escaping in boats going out. smalls carries out his mission on the plan ter. the crew of the general in

commands command of charleston turned himself over to the fleet. it made it even tougher because the confederate is watching more closely what is going on. they had reckoned the determination of robert smalls. he is going to make his plan. but on the night of may 12th. while the vessels went ashore for the night. they went to work. the boiler stoked, the crew, that went along with smalls, not all of the screw did, it could be five to 7 members, slipped the borings to a neighboring wharf daughter and wife and

sister and a slave sailor and another lady and a child. while wearing the captain's coat and straw hat he blew the vessel's steam whistle and was allowed to pass. he hoisted a white flag, toll, sheets that his wife had brought along. in the morning mist came alongside of the vessel onward. the onward was preparing for action. readying the guns and the captain reported that passengers emerged on deck dancing, singing, whistling and some faced fort sumpter and uttered

cour curses. some union soul jguided her tow buford. she is brought up alongside of t the wabash. he always called him robert. said he was always pleasant looking and well dressed. fitting him very well. i asked him a few questions and checked the nair rrative and hed been thinking about it for a week or two. general ripley's house and office are, a steamer was on

each side of him and the crew wanted to try it. steam got up at 4:00 they let go and stood down quietly when he came up with the fort he blew the whistles. this was not only cute but intelligent in trying to sneak by. they chosely bonded. the former slave robert smalls. besides bringing out a valuable steamer. most important was the news that the confederates were eevacuating the mouth of the river. this was important that the british followed during the revolution. he ordered the commander to

investigate confirmed what smalls reported and a week after small's escape the union vessels entered the river. the move into the river will result ain an event al attack by u.s. army forces. they will be defeated. the army will evacuate but the navy will keep up a presence throughout the war. in the meantime, besides the military, actions that are going on, there is going to be this sort of start of reconstruction. i'm not going to go into a great deal of this. but part of this will be taking

smalls to the north. to help raise public knowledge. slaves could be part of this military force. smalls is the perfect example of this. dupont was weary of this. he said if you are going to do this, you might as well turn robert over to bartam and let him put him on display. the frepnch wanted a moral impression. at the same time dupont could not spare him.

he also thanks to dupont, smalls and the male members of the vessel coming out will receive prize money. prize money is something that would be taken to a prize court. then the value of the ship, smalls and the other dupont bro the secretary of the navy suggested that the others make the prize money available to them. he eventually purchased the home of his former master.

another key player will arrive in buford at this time. this is going to be general rue fu rufus saxton. he will work closely with fansfield french with others to carry out a rehearsal for reconstruction and the raising of black troops at port royal. >> they return with a directive to begin raising 5,000 black soldiers in the region's former

slaves. the planter was a wood burning vessel. and the navy primarily used coal french was escorting he and his family to new york. dupont was very worried about this. and he wrote this wife, i took for granted that robert smalls wa wanted to go. but he came to know if he was going to lose this place here as pilot for my vessels. and i came to think you are the most superior negro that i have ever met. i told him you need not go to the north unless you wish it. i told him if you return in a

month i would take him on again as a pilot. he said he would again go with mr. french. unless he promised to have him back in three weeks he would not go. robert. you would see how the navy officers have treated you. giving you work and are kind in your feelings. they will always be your friends. the reply was sprtriking. it is because i know this that i have come to see you today. my best friends are in the navy and aboard the ship. he did return one of dupont's top assistants and ask eed him. has your head been turned.

it was turned but one way all the time that i was in the north. toward port royal. he will join the nav al expedition. she looked like a monitor. she was likely armored. she had the lightest draft so her captain directed smalls to take her as close as possible to fort sumpter. for 30 minutes she was struck 90 times. 119 pound boat crashed into her pilot house. this is where robert smalls would have been. that night thee was in sinking

condition. the defeat made smalls dried to think so near to give up the fight. the next day the kiokuk will sink. the loser of the battle will be replaced and smalls will be tra trans ferred over to the army to serve onboard the army's vessels. the largest vessels in the world were operated by the army. 7,000 vessels. they are going to be part of the movement that will be prepared to launch the attack against charleston in july of 1863. the planter smalls serving on boards the planter as her pilot will carry troops, supplies back and forth between port royal.

after the campaign, they were operating near the mouth of the river when lieutenant colonel elwell directed the captain of the planter to go to an area where she could come under enemy fire. he ordered his removal and stated sir, you will please place robert smalls in charge of the united states transport planter as captain. he brought her out of charleston harbor more than a year ago r running under the defenses of that strong hold. he is an excellent pilot and worthy of the position. this is due him of the proper recognition of his heroism and

services. the kurpt captain is a coward though a white man. general gilmore the department commander immediately approved the order and added luster to small's clear. from this point on until the end of the war small will serve as captain of the planter working for what would be $150 a month that would be $3,000 to $4,000 a month. very good pay then. he will be part of the movement into florida in june of 1864. he will have this first taste in politics at a meeting in buford. he was selected by the union people of south carolina. the coalition of republicans and democrats who backed the lincoln government.

however, he will not attend the conference. the army will defend him to take the army to philadelphia so he will not actually go to baltimore to be at the convention, but the other delegates did and some considered them to be the first integrate integrate ed delegation. they will not be allowed to vote. but it gets a little bit of a forewarning of political events in the low country. when work was finished on the plan ter smalls and the vessel returned to port royal. he will be there when general william's forces reach savannah and help refit sherman's army and help transport half of the forces to the town of buford.

they will be smalls will be part of moving people up to the city of charleston after charleston is captured. he will be there when the flags are again risen are again risen over ft. sumter. and i just sort of want to end with this little comment. this is a description of robert smalls when they raised the flags over ft. sumter on april 14th, 1865, smalls and the planter are in the harbor, and this is a participant wrote about this, that he saw the planter, he saw robert smalls. the paddle wheeler was crowded almost to suffocation upon her three decks with freed men who hung over the gunnells mounted on the post, peering through the gangways, darkening the wheel house upon the top of which robert smalls, a prince among them, self-possessed, prompt and

proud, giving his orders to the helmsman in ringing tones of command. robert smalls and the planter will be part of the freedman brew's work along the coast. he will take the planter to baltimore where she is sold, and eventually smalls and the planter will return to south carolina. the planter will continue on as a transport along the coast, and robert smalls will then you might say start the next phase of his career. [ applause ] >> okay. i guess that's my cue. robert smalls obviously had a tremendous career, made a very significant impact on this country, and left us a large legacy. i can just sort of recite some of the things that he did. but even that wouldn't even

touch in any way the fullness and the breadth of his impact on late 19th century america. again, most of us know he served five terms in congress. he served in the south carolina senate. he served in the south carolina house. and, of course, he was the collector of customs for the port of buford. but beyond those things, he provides us with sort of an understanding and a way of reinterpreting reconstruction, a way of reinterpreting the civil rights movement. now -- so he sort of brings together those two fields. you heard dr. powers allude to his being sort of the precursor to the second reconstruction because of what he did in the 19th century. well, let me start this way by talking about reconstruction and robert smalls' a role in it.

you'll see how these two things come together in terms of how he has influenced american historiography. in 1909, w.e.b. dubois spoke before the american historical association in new york city. he did a presentation called "reconstruction and its benefits." and this essay or this presentation was actually published a year later in 1910 in the american historical review. in it, he offered one of the first revisionist interpretations of reconstruction. now, the general consensus in 1909, early 20th century, in fact, almost up to the 1960s was that reconstruction was one of the worst periods in the history of this country, that reconstruction was characterized by corrupt carpetbaggers and scalawags and a ignorant negros

who misruled the south, who stole money, who lined their pockets and basically misgoverned the south. the idea was as one historian put it was that by allowing african-americans like robert smalls to participate in government, barbarism had been put in place over civilization. well, dubois countered that interpretation, in fact challenged it thoroughly. he outlined that the so-called ignorant negroes who had served in the governments in the south during this period had made three very important contributions. they had brought about the first democratic governments in the south. they had established the first republic schools, and they had passed new social legislation. and as many of you know, robert smalls did all three of those things. and of course as one of those so-called ignorant negroes, he,

for example, proposed the legislation to create south carolina's public schools. he proposed several civil rights bills, and i'll go through those with you. and indeed, he tried to bring about democracy in south carolina for the first time in the history of this state. robert smalls was especially interested in dealing with civil rights in south carolina. now, you heard my colleague steve talk about his big in philadelphia in july of 1864. we had an interesting incident occur to him in philadelphia as he was taking -- as he was taking the planter to the philadelphia shipyard to be repaired. he tried to catch the streetcar to the shipyard, and he and a

white sailor were actually ejected from the streetcar, that is they did not allow african-americans in philadelphia to ride the streetcars in 1864. this had a tremendous impact on smalls. in addition, it had a tremendous impact on the city of philadelphia. african-americans had been trying for several years to gain access to riding the streetcars in philadelphia. but it took smalls and his notoriety, his fame to actually make it happen. that is, the word spread and hit the newspapers that here is a civil war hero who cannot ride the streetcars in philadelphia. so it prompted a boycott of the streetcars by even some whites in philadelphia, which then eventually led to african-americans gaining the right to ride the streetcars in philadelphia in 1867.

smalls, as you know, was part of the constitutional convention that took place in south carolina in 1868. and as i said, he proposed the legislation to create the state's free public school system. then he also helped to pass a law that brought south carolina in line with the civil rights bill that the u.s. government had passed in 1866. of course, the civil rights act of 1866 was a measure to get rid of the black codes and basically to enforce the 13th amendment. while also serving in the state legislature, smalls in 1869 and 1870 proposed the state's first civil rights legislation. and this was a measure to ensure that african-american citizens could use public accommodations

in the states without being discriminated against. and this measure actually stayed in the state constitution until 1889 when it was repealed. then 1876, he did something else very interesting. when the army a -- a bill to reorganize the army was being considered by the house, he added an amendment which said that if -- that the army could not discriminate against anyone on the basis of race, and also that race should not be considered when people of course join the army. now smalls was definitely ahead of his time, because as we know, the army in the u.s. military didn't desegregate until 1949. but here in 1876, as i said, smalls was trying to force the army to desegregate.

but unfortunately, the amendment a was voted down. in 1884, he proposed another amendment. this was an amendment to license liquor dealers in washington, d.c. -- excuse me, a law to license liquor dealers in washington, d.c. and smalls added the amendment that those who sold liquor in washington, d.c. could not discriminate in the establishments. they had to sell it to everybody. and of course his purpose for doing that was to open up restaurants and taverns to african-americans so that they could go and use any public accommodations that they wanted. this also, of course, was taken out of the law. now one of the things that smalls was concerned with was the right to vote. in 1890, he wrote an article in