The US Congressman who Escaped Slavery | The Life & Times of Robert Smalls

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Robert Smalls was born in Beaufort South Carolina on April 5, 1839 and on April 5, 1839 he was taken and made some random dude’s property. Oh yeah, American chattel slavery episode, you know this one’s gonna be a downer. But lo, a message from the Union! Freedom for escaped slaves! Emancipation Proclamation wasn’t a thing yet, but there was one general nearby who was hoping to enlist black men into the union army, and part of that strategy involved recruiting from the South, even as messages from Washington came in telling him to knock it off. Smalls begins to conspire with the other men on board because he sees a way to get to that union general...
Music (in order of appearance):
Kevin Macleod - Frogs Legs Rag
Kevin Macleod - Hidden Past
Kevin Macleod - Danse of Questionable Tuning
Kevin Macleod - Eternal Terminal
Kevin Macleod - Western Streets
Kevin Macleod - Comparsa
Kevin Macleod - Look Busy
Kevin Macleod - Tango de Manzana

[@JackRackam]

Start building your ideal daily routine! The first 100 people who click on the link will get 25% OFF Fabulous Premium ➡️ thefab.co/jackrackam

[@arnijulian6241]

Democrats haven't changed much in their hypocrisy even century & a 1/2 later:) Mind as a Blighty limey I couldn't give a 5 finger shuffle. Amazing USA politics & courts are still as ridiculous as ever. Worse thing Britain ever did was listen to the continental's that listened to yank politics for a format. Though USA politics are the mess they are due to the continentals. History is always more contrived then what anyone could make up

[@JonManProductions]

Damn... we went for 144 years W I T H O U T election silliness of that level of craziness? Well it was good run that's for sure.

[@codekillerz5392]

8:44 I really want a source for this one, please!

[@Samm815]

Plz, tell me there's a US Navy ship named after him.

[@brokenbridge6316]

I loved your video Jack. Your the snarkiest history KZbinr I know. And I meant that as a compliment.

[@bamaboni]

Imagine unironically thinking that the South didn't secede over slavery

[@seelcudoom1]

like the confederacy themselves said "we are doing this because of slavery" it could not be more clear, also the whole "states rights" thing is extra dumb when you realize basically the only difference between the confederate and us constitution was it was illegal for any state to pass any law restricting slavery, the north literally had more states rights on the subject

[@MatthewChenault]

Imagine thinking they did secede purely over slavery?

[@MatthewChenault]

@@seelcudoom1, not really, no. If you actually read the documents in full, it has less to do with them trying to defend slavery and more to do with the North blatantly ignoring the law and applying double standards over their obsession over ending slavery. In other words, the south seceded because the north, in their view, was perverting and destroying the republic to get their own way - and only their way - on any political matter.

[@Noah_Levy]

@@MatthewChenault Nice, moving goalposts.

[@MatthewChenault]

@@Noah_Levy, no. Moving the goalposts would require for me to have already established one to begin with. Also, my view is that the entire perception of the conflict is based entirely on a selective reading of the primary texts while ignoring the bulk of what was being discussed that led to them seceding from the union. Namely, the south seceded because they felt that the north was abusing the Republic for their own interests while the south’s interests were being outright ignored.

[@toot9307]

the ending of the video though : *"it may be that the arc of the moral universe ultimately bends towards justice but that path is not made smooth by destiny, only by concerted will"* honestly a reminder that we all need! thank you!

[@Jimbo55151]

We need to remember that in the US at the time a majority in the country were against direct ending of slavery and the civil rights movement at first. You can’t just sit back and expect things to be good. You gotta fight for it and be willing to support those doing it.

[@nathanseper8738]

@@Jimbo55151 Progress is possible, but you have to fight tooth and nail!

[@RegaDega]

The US Navy cruiser USS Chancellorsville, named after a Confederate victory, just got renamed to the USS Robert Smalls. It may be bad luck to rename/rechristen your ship, but this one is pretty damn understandable and worthy imo

[@internetxxx_pl0r3r_xxx77]

And ya know what the real messed up part is? We never learned about this guy in schools in the U.S. Man freed slaves, sailed a ship through a hostile blockade, fought a whole bunch of land battles right after and was a repeatedly re-elected public official with a spotless record (as far as stuff that WASN'T just blatant slander from opponents). Didn't hear about him until I was like 20. From a youtuber. For all our talk of "progress" we still don't teach about him to my knowledge. Makes ya wonder how much has really changed at the highest levels.

[@CollinMcLean]

Dude, I was educated in North Carolina and a lot of this stuff was completely glossed over despite the fact I took every single history class my school offered in every grade. I didn't hear about Robert Smalls until he was mentioned in a John Oliver episode. We were the only state that had a successful coup where a black local government was violently overthrown by the KKK and it was never mentioned once.

[@stellviahohenheim]

Nothing has changed, the people on top still have the same genes as 100 years ago. The only difference is, they can't do it so openly like their predecessors

[@aidan1R]

Most american education is like this. Be it your slavery history, the part of ww1 and ww2 where countries other than the US fought for the allies, the part where you guys pardoned Nazis and Japanese Imperialist war criminal/scientists, etc

[@jaushuagrahamthefloridaman1124]

We learned about this guy in passing,just like any other figure in the same vein like alvin york or jesse owens. Its just that he wasnt really historically important enough for already rushed and underfunded classes to cover him

[@MatthewChenault]

Progress is a false god, an idol that people worship thinking it will bring them good things.

[@argus2389]

Slightly disappointed there’s no “you’re killing me smalls” joke but considering the subject matter it’s understandable

[@grubert3535]

Thankfully not. Anyone who says that is instantly annoying as hell

[@CollinMcLean]

Oh heck yeah! Robert Smalls is one of my favorite figures in Black History. Escaped to freedom, served in congress, fought the confederacy, and was the reason Lincoln decided to allow black people to serve in the Union military! Dude is incredible and yet for a lot of people he's probably completely unheard of. Like Clair Patterson Cecilia Payne or Bayard Rustin

[@ItsLunaRegina]

@bastiat So according to your reply, you would support doing away with black history month then, correct? Also, calling someone "centrist" in an attempt at insulting them is an odd choice as it is not even an insult to 99% of the population.

[@WomenCallYouMoid]

Robert Smalls isn't black history.

[@WomenCallYouMoid]

@@ItsLunaRegina "So you would support doing away with black history month?" Absolutely random attempt to politicize and strawman.

[@CollinMcLean]

@@WomenCallYouMoid He is a Black man... and he is history... a major part of history...

[@TransportSupremo]

​@@ItsLunaRegina Black history is American history.

[@msudave54]

EVERYONE NEEDS MORE ROBERT SMALLS CONTENT

[@warlordofbritannia]

Ngl, buying the estate of your former master is the ultimate CHAD power move

[@lrx001]

I am a TA in American History 100 at my college which covers 1500-1876. I will definitely be mentioning him in class this week as we cover notable figures from the Civil War period. Excellent video, I plan to show it as well!!

[@JackRackam]

Much appreciated!

[@TheCapefarewell]

WHY ISN'T THIS A MOVIE/MINI SERIES?! I NEED THIS TO BE ONE NOW.

[@eldorados_lost_searcher]

Same reason Danny Glover has been working for decades to get a biopic of Toussaint Louverteur made: studios don't think movies focused on black history can be profitable.

[@bilelmeskhi951]

That's better than having black vikings or Carthaginians

[@falconeshield]

​@@eldorados_lost_searcher They know they can skip to KZbin or Netflix right? I mean if Black Cleo can make it why not real history?

[@damonjacobs9051]

A company called Legion M is working to get one made. However, it's a start-up studio, so it may take some time

[@xanderlaroche676]

Im pretty sure that its been said before, but GIVE THIS GUY A FILM!

[@Barthaneous34]

No we have to wait to the woke generation of Hollywood die out. Unless you have Mel Gibson do it then I'm all for it. Everyone else will make it so ridiculously bad and make every single white person evil . It's boring and bad taste

[@ZillyWhale]

Staring Micheal B. Jordan

[@Barthaneous34]

@@ZillyWhale Absolutley not.. Michael B Jordan blowss

[@nathanseper8738]

One of the reasons I hate Lost Cause Revisionism is that it glorified people who defended slavery while erasing actual heroes like this man from the textbooks. Smalls, not Robert E. Lee, should get statues all across the South!

[@ItsLunaRegina]

Nah

[@gerald1495]

@@ItsLunaRegina all your comments on this channel are racist whinging lmao get a life

[@Toywins]

​@@ItsLunaRegina yeah.

[@ash12181987]

Why the shit hasn't someone made this into a movie, with loads of historically inaccurate gratuitous ship fights

[@thenewdarkmatter]

I am genuinely terrified of what Holywood would do to Smalls' history, even if I'm always down to a good ol' fashioned staged naval battle (guess I can relate to the romans in that particular subject)

[@StephensCrazyHour]

Impossible. The republicans would have to be the good guys.

[@jesusmora9379]

@@thenewdarkmatter they would hire leonardo dicaprio to play him

[@moonlight4665]

Don't forget lots of explosions and sexy actresses wearing push-up bra style corsets.

[@KitchenSinkSoup]

@@StephensCrazyHour So... The Union as this point would have to be the good guys?

[@Significantpower]

Reconstruction is such a depressing subject. The Americans really did let off the traitorous slavers too lightly.

[@theotherohlourdespadua1131]

The original plan for reconstruction is being lenient to the South while affirming the 13th Amendment. Lincoln said it best in his Second Inaugural Address: With malice towards none, with charity to all we will bind the wounds of this nation. The reason why Reconstruction goes bad is that after Lincoln's death, the Radical Republicans - led by Thaddeus Stevens - enacted a more repressive form of Reconstruction, namely denying every state that joined the Confederacy the rights under the Constitution unless they agree to drop their racism; should they refuse, the Federal Army is to force them to drop the racism. This naturally is unacceptable to the Southerners. Terrorist groups like the KKK were born to spread terror and death in the occupied states. In Washington, giving the freedman their due is stymied by Andrew Johnson - a Democrat who opposed Lincoln's policies - who until his death thinks that it's not Washington's job to help them and vetoed every bill aimed at that. Along with a breakdown of order in the occupied states and political standstill in Washington, Reconstruction is a bitter memory for everyone involved...

[@bluexephosfan970]

I remember back in high school I cried after doing the assigned reading on Reconstruction

[@marloyorkrodriguez9975]

And its a rather frustrating subject that some people seem to think that after the civil war came civil rights movement and everyone are already sunshines and rainbows, which is a poor teaching of history on the US' part

[@jaushuagrahamthefloridaman1124]

"Too lightly" The north put half of my people under martial law for a decade for the actions of an aristocratic elite they created,All this after they burned our homes to the ground in a war The other half were put on a reservation and driven to extinction for daring to fight for freedom from American (mostly Northern) expansion into their lands It left scars on our society that are still in living memory. Things like bushwars against the klan and panthers in the 70s and 80s or our suspicious nature towards the government are all examples Dont think for a second the north was "Too Light" they failed to unite a nation, they failed to forcibly unite 2 peoples and now they are failing where we in Dixie have finally succeeded. The most segregated states are in _the north_ , the most racially motivated crimes are in _the north_ .

[@achyuthansanal]

​@@jaushuagrahamthefloridaman1124 The "north" has higher punishments for hate crimes, higher incarceration rates, higher reporting rates, and a higher population overall.

[@puppyqueen5688]

Nothing better than a jack rackam video hot off the press

[@anniel6479]

Wow, I had heard about his escape by boat I had no idea what he got up to later. I also had no idea how terrifyingly undemocratic Hayes' election was. Wild stuff.

[@JackRackam]

Rutherford B Hayes is one of those forgotten presidents who turns out to have been less forgettable once you actually learn about him, even if only for his role in ending reconstruction

[@anniel6479]

@@JackRackam Yeah, I'm definitely not going to forget about him now.

[@wildfire9280]

@@JackRackam The ironic part is, Hayes is probably more recognized in Paraguay than his own country.

[@JackRackam]

@@wildfire9280 oh that's right he was the Paraguay guy too!

[@wildfire9280]

@@JackRackam He was, in fact, the *Paraguy.*

[@thenewmase]

Very few people talk about what happened after he bought his house after the war. They prefer to tie it up as a nice little story about a slave gaining freedom. It's harsh but people need to hear the injustice he suffered after the civil war

[@luanfonseca5179]

2:17 the fact that you added a yellow bar to know when the Ad ends. makes me respect each time more

[@ShiroNoOokami]

It is a CRIME that this is the first time I've heard of him. Where are the statues of this legend!?

[@samwill7259]

We have to keep going. We may not be sailing over literal mines in dark waters but we still have to chart our path with will, care and passion if we're ever going to truly make up for the injustice this man and millions like him suffered. Because we can never repay them and their descendants for the system we have made for them. We just have to keep pushing. Hell or high water I will die in a less racist world than I was born into.

[@zongdong266]

🫥

[@prestonjones1653]

What if we settle for just being racist against the right targets this time? I mean Eastern Europeans have earned it.

[@stehfreejesseah7893]

Excellent comment, just replace we with they.

[@samwill7259]

@@stehfreejesseah7893 No. WE. WE have to keep going. Globally, as a society, every single last one of us has to fight for a better tommorrow.

[@stehfreejesseah7893]

@@samwill7259 sure we do now, be we were not involved then.

[@TransportSupremo]

Robert Smalls, what an absolute legend. One of America's greats

[@Artur_M.]

The ending remarks were some of your best lines ever! And I love that sneaky Münster reference. 😏 PS didn't History House Productions make a video about this guy? Darn, I miss that channel.

[@warlordofbritannia]

This makes me wonder: have we got a video on Benjamin “Spoons” Butler yet? Because, if you know anything about Benjamin “The Beast” Butler, his story would fit right in with Jack’s catalogue lmao

[@MatthewChenault]

Benjamin Butler was pretty tyrannical.

[@warlordofbritannia]

@@MatthewChenault On paper, sure In practice, his military governorship of New Orleans wasn’t that exceptional (for good or ill)

[@MatthewChenault]

@@warlordofbritannia, nah, he was a dick. 0/10 Prefer Ulysses S. Grant.

[@lucykwiatek5159]

Benjamin "Badass" Butler. Benjamin "Stopping Yellow Fever" Butler.

[@warlordofbritannia]

@@lucykwiatek5159 Benjamin “If slaves really are property, they’re now my contraband-y” Butler

[@exceedcharge1]

“101% of voters were accounted that year” Pardon?

[@warlordofbritannia]

Clearly too many former slaves doing a voter fraud! -Unreconstructed Southerners, prob

[@FelixGraye]

It wouldn't be a pre Voting Rights Act southern election if it wasn't filled with obvious domestic terrorism, voter intimidation, and fraud.

[@prestonjones1653]

Nobody bothered checking back then, and nobody cared who they were voting for. You could go to a bar and buy a round for anybody who votes for X candidate and they'd do it five times over. Now we have larger populations so while you could theoretically do that, the potential voter would be sobered up by the time they reached the front of the line a second time, rendering the exercise pointless.

[@warlordofbritannia]

@@prestonjones1653 If anything, voter fraud is less prevalent and more difficult to pull off these days than in the past

[@jairoukagiri2488]

​@@warlordofbritannia Kinda hard to prove that and the proof otherwise, says otherwise. Dick Gregory said as much.

[@overwhelminglydecayingasta3540]

I'm definitely going to steal (and adequately source) that last sentence, truly poignant!

[@hakageryu307]

People who don't know about American Political History are going to get a culture shock when they learn the difference between "Political Parties" and "Political Ideology" and how many people in the US still don't know it to this day considering which party was Conservative/Right Wing and which was Liberal/Progressive/Left Wing back in the Civil War

[@stehfreejesseah7893]

He is gonna have to do a video on the party switch for context.

[@thenewdarkmatter]

In the interest of further educating people on history, as I think a lot of people in this channel might be interested in, might I add that something called "the party switch" happened. And Knowing Better, a channel cited in this very video, has a video about it: kzbin.info/www/bejne/g6jYd3yAob5qnLc&ab_channel=KnowingBetter

[@douglaszelazny1094]

Well yeah, the political flip flop of the 1920s isn’t talked about for a reason. Because it makes both parties look bad.

[@pudding_pot_pie9523]

@@stehfreejesseah7893 The party switch is the biggest turd I have ever heard

[@ChevyChase301]

@@pudding_pot_pie9523 doesn’t matter regional voting patterns follow demographics which clearly flipped

[@cooldude333]

Why this guy doesn’t have 5 different movies about him already fricking ASTOUNDS ME!

[@nomisbman1826]

You might want to look into a dutch admiral named Michiel de Ruyter, as he had an interesting live including weird acts like covering his ship in butter to make pirates slip aand raiding a british port and stealing a part of a ship for a museum.

[@MLaserHistory]

First!

[@JackRackam]

Commendable, sir!

[@orgluzman561Peace_IL_PS]

finally the full episode and story of this guy also Robert Smalls to the confederates while escaping with their ship: So long suckers!

[@MatthewChenault]

The Confederate forces: “Okay, Ni- “

[@major_kukri2430]

@@MatthewChenault Smalls: *steals entire ship and gives it to the union* "ok lost causers"

[@MatthewChenault]

@@major_kukri2430 John Mosby: *Steals a Union general.* “Lol, okay yankee.”

[@MatthewChenault]

@@major_kukri2430, his exploits didn’t change the course of the war much, since the union army was defeated at Secessionsville, forcing them to fight an absolutely long, painful campaign to try to take Charleston.

[@major_kukri2430]

@@MatthewChenault I don't care if it didn't change the course of the war. I don't even think smalls was looking to change the course of the war. All he wanted was freedom. He got it and became a greater man than any of the sub human slavers. Also I don't care if the union lost a small battle. They won the war and forced unconditional surrender unto the traitors. As for you, I've seen you posting around. I know you're a lost causer. Just know that decent people do not feel sympathy to the traitors. They deserved what happened to them.

[@Dunno1999]

Jack, could you do James Brooke? He was a white, english-descent sailor but later becoming the Raja Putih (White King) of Sarawak in Borneo island. Since you not covered Southeast Asia yet, I think it would be good for your next video

[@AbdullahQecibegCH]

Yeah,it would be interesting

[@mylesjude233]

Sounds like a awesome video topic

[@sherlocksmuuug6692]

I remember the "Behind the Bastards" podcast did a two-parter on him. That man was *WILD*, the type of con-artist for whom somehow everything happens at the right place at the right time to make him come out on top. And in his case, "coming out on top" meant ending up in control of an entire country.

[@thisasiankidistrashfordram374]

Do you realize it would be messed up if the first time Jack covers Southeast Asia, its not about one of our(Southeast Asians) indigenous rulers but a White, English dude? Asia hated European Colonials as much as Africa did, ya know.

[@user-tk2lf1dv3s]

thank you for adding the yellow line, best solution I have seen yet

[@jmanj3917]

6:50, That's awesome that he was able to witness the return of Ft. Sumner to the USA.

[@elizahill7408]

I have lived in Beaufort my entire life basically and only knew about him from a few road names for the longest time. I am 22 and only found out about who he really was like a couple of years ago.

[@Archpope]

Jordan Peele needs to make a movie about him.

[@thesquattinduck2205]

Almost like we don’t learn from the past we are doomed to repeat it. Time is circles.

[@marloyorkrodriguez9975]

Looking at this and then after watching Cypher’s take on Good Lord Bird, now I want Jack to talk about John Brown

[@Theover4000]

I still want a movie about this guy :(

[@jtgd]

They should make a movie about this

[@Barthaneous34]

Only Mel Gibson can direct it and write it though. Everyone else will make it woke and LGBT friendly 🙄

[@KitchenSinkSoup]

@@Barthaneous34 Yes, Mel Gibson. Well known for his very historically accurate masterpieces Braveheart, Apocalypto and Hacksaw Ridge.

[@Barthaneous34]

@@KitchenSinkSoup Better acting, better writing, better visuals than anything any woke director would do. There is no movie thats 100% accurate but to say the left who have made movies in the last 10 years are worthy is an insult.

[@KitchenSinkSoup]

@@Barthaneous34 So it isn't about historical accuracy its about ideological content? Very Soviet of you comrade.

[@DaniG._.German]

I first learnt about Robert Smalls not through school, but through a show called Drunk History. Thank God for Jack Rackam and Drunk History.

[@thebasileus4793]

You know those projects you have to do where you write an essay or something like that about a famous African American, I am doing one on this guy because he is awesome. The literal definition of an underdog.

[@blauth]

Amazing episode, thanks!

[@sebresludolf9611]

*Please make a video on Berke Khan, the mongol ruler of the Golden Horde.*

[@tomhahnl1927]

OK I am not American, still amazed how I hear about Robert Smalls for the first time 😮.

[@TurtleSquirrles]

Never clicked on a video so fast!

[@AquaStockYT]

Why isn't there a movie about this guy

[@erraticonteuse]

Yay, he got a full episode!!

[@JarpinPersMulkku]

Man. This needs to be one of the Age of Empires 3 Historical Battles!

[@lascaux176]

that closing line though

[@MindsetHalo]

I’m from beaufort South Carolina lol I’ve heard this story hundreds of times

[@SylviaRustyFae]

Somehow youtube not only waited a day to recommend this vid to me... It also nvr even mentioned your last vid you uploaded >.> Gods i detest youtubes recommended sometimes; just let me watch more new stuff from the same ppl and stop hidin it from me.

[@JackRackam]

For some reason KZbin wants to spread the news of Robert Smalls far and wide in short form, but not in a full video 😄

[@nickzardiashvili624]

Voynich Manuscript was a nice touch :D

[@alielkhoumsi4376]

Awsome video I didn’t know about that at all

[@nowhereman6019]

You are now obligated to do a video on John Brown.

[@juan-ij1le]

Why

[@MatthewChenault]

John Brown? That’s an odd way of spelling “cringe,” but okay. Also, his best contribution to society was being executed, since he was better off dead than being alive and murdering innocent people.

[@major_kukri2430]

@@juan-ij1le because he's a certified madlad and relevant to the topic of slavery in the USA.

[@gerardjagroo]

This is outrageous!

[@edmgclone]

2 miniutes in? Time for an Intro!

[@canevazzi932]

You should make a video about João Cândido, the black admiral

[@AudieHolland]

Thank you.

[@akramgimmini8165]

Great you cover him! When John Paul Jones?

[@peris_arts_film9699]

We NEED a movie about this man.

[@jurriendevries3673]

Great stuff, about one of the most interesting people to have ever lived.

[@MatthewCaunsfield]

Great piece of history

[@silenthunteruk]

Can you do Sir Robert Carey? The man who did a crazy-long ride from London to Edinburgh so he could be the first to tell James VI of Scotland of the death of Elizabeth I of England.

[@CivilWarWeekByWeek]

He is this weird combination of maverick brilliance and controlled studying

[@stanisawzokiewski707]

You should do a video on the French composer, Erik Satie. He would be right up your alley.

[@christianholzschuh6853]

10:23 Do I remember that guy from Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter?

[@coleasbury8634]

If you ever visit the Low Country, go to the National Park dedicated to him in Beaufort

[@Enward834]

This was very well made

[@kennyhagan5781]

Jack, I would like to ask, have you read EMPHYRIO? The author, Jack Vance was something of a character.

[@stevenmichaelhachey4483]

11:53 Pretty funky (not just in this video but many places) that my district is literally the symbol for gerrymandering I live inside of that dragon

[@williammobley2110]

Solid end quote

[@sunsorcerer]

Loved this dive into Smalls, loved the olde timey Matt Murdock cameo. Nicely done.

[@knotzed]

Auto like for jack rackman!!!

[@billyyank2198]

God save the Union!

[@nojustno.justno]

Weird fact my home town was the home town to the confederate general who was in charge of Charleston Harbor. We are both from Ohio.

[@warlordofbritannia]

Bushrod Johnson?

[@nojustno.justno]

@@warlordofbritannia Roswell Ripley

[@MatthewChenault]

Ohio, the land of incompetency in war.

[@Significantpower]

@@MatthewChenault Sherman was from Ohio, wasn't he?

[@MatthewChenault]

@@Significantpower, the war criminal? Yes, the war criminals was from Ohio.

[@NobleWolf]

You should do more videos on black congressmen, or some more on the times between the civil war and civil rights in the USA. Would open a lot more eyes to that history

[@chesthoIe]

Amazing video as always. What is your source for that switch to Lincoln's head from them dastardly democrats? It isn't even in the threadbare 1876 United States presidential election in South Carolina wikipedia article.

[@Rhaenyssupporter]

make a video on basil II

[@Penaldo_The_Ghost]

I'm doing a project on Robert Smalls, not sure why he isn't more famous.

[@_robustus_]

15 is a spinster in south carolina.

[@maxfinazzo2443]

9:02 well that's just unprecedented.

[@mathy1799]

8:50 made me laugh out load. But damn, this period is messed up.

[@ShadowOfCicero]

Who else is here after the missile cruiser USS Chancellorsville was renamed the USS Robert Smalls?

[@Argos-xb8ek]

As someone who grew up in the Low Country of SC this episode was a real treat you have no idea how many time I'd do a report of Robert Smalls

[@commandert5]

I did my first ever history project on Smalls in 3rd grade

[@major_kukri2430]

Based 3rd grader.

[@southern_femboy]

Im pretty sure the general recruiting in the south recruited one of my family bc he was apart of the unions Alabama unit, the 1st Calvary I think

[@theprussianfemboy165]

Still waiting jack

[@paulalexandredumasseauvan2357]

THIS video convinced me to finally become a subscriber! ...and that is without laughing even once.

[@NathanDudani]

Starts at 3:47

[@thedukeofswellington1827]

Its always amazed me how the confederate sympathizers/southern romanticists always forget the harem of slave women and then the slave/slave master are forced to work the fields...sick.stuff

[@dshock85]

How different the US would be if reconstruction remained enforced

[@ML3180]

With the amount of hatred that whites possess for non-whites plus the economic imbalances in the nation, a second Civil War would have surely broken out

[@kingding-a-ling9794]

Idk if it's mentioned in the video (I always read comments too early) Notorious B.I.G. other name was Biggie Smalls and it was after this man Robert Smalls

[@impatientsamurai6202]

Hell yeah

[@jamcdonald120]

8:20 the beard got a vote

[@CorvoFG]

Some of that sounded very familiar…

[@AirQuotes]

What a badass

[@warlordofbritannia]

11:52 Um, isn’t that a bunch Massachusetts towns?

[@JackRackam]

Yup, it's a political cartoon from the time when the term gerrymander was coined

[@warlordofbritannia]

@@JackRackam Ah Probably would have made more sense to put the electoral map of South Carolina, but I get the idea 😂

[@ProducerYousiff]

YES, FINALLY A VIDEO ON THIS MAN

[@zach7193]

Heard of this from Slavery and the Making of America and another special by PBS.