now his mother persuaded hun henry mckey suggested this was a way that she was looking out for him. than had he been sent out to work on one of mr. mckey's plantations. and so this was a transformative experience that shaped his adult fortunes. with an 1850 population of almost 43000, charleston was really the big city. in addition to the atmosphere of the city and life in a major urban area, the other characteristics proved to be equally significant. this city like the state had a black majority. and in 1860, one third of all of the states entire free back population resided in charleston. so the experience of sees large numbers of people who looks like robert smalls must have heightened his aspirations of freedom. he had a highly developed organization al life. with schools societies and organizations for improvement. now domestic service was an important employment sector in charleston. which ensure d that free blacks and slaves would be employed in free back occupations. free black men were concentrationed in the building trades. in 1888 charleston slaves were involved in at leas