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| Gov. Henry McMaster signs Robert Smalls legislation (S.C. governor's office) |
The
African-American, born a slave, in March 1862 commandeered a Confederate ship in Charleston Harbor, sailed
people to freedom and became a hero to the Union cause. In the 50 years
following, he accomplished even more by helping to advance civil rights.
Now the state
that was the first to secede from the United States, and was ruled for
generations by white supremacists, will place its first monument to a single
African-American individual on the Capitol grounds. Gov. Henry McMaster signed a bill setting up a commission that will come up with a design, location and private funding for the Smalls memorial.
“A monument to honor Robert Smalls would
represent the remarkable contributions, achievements, and accomplishments of
this forgotten son of South Carolina and would serve as an overdue tribute to
the many slaves who sacrificed alongside him,” asserts the legislation.
Smalls’
contributions to the Palmetto State are incalculable.
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| A Harper's Weekly article on Smalls' daring escape in Charleston (Library of Congress) |
Smalls met with President Abraham Lincoln and lobbied him to recruit black men to serve in the Union army. The former slave served as a pilot on the ship USS Crusader.
Smalls returned to his hometown Beaufort and bought his
former master’s home. After the war, he served in South Carolina’s Legislature,
was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives and served several terms.
The congressman fought against the
disenfranchisement of black voters across the South,
according to the American Battlefield Trust. He also fought against segregation
within the military, advocated for compulsory education in South Carolina,
opened a school for black children and published a newspaper, among other
accomplishments.
“My race needs no special defense for the past history of
them and this country,” Smalls said. “It proves them to be equal of any people
anywhere. All they need is an equal chance in the battle of life.”
After serving as collector of customs duties, he died in his Beaufort home at age 75 in 1915.
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| Smalls purchased this Beaufort home that belonged to his enslaver (NPS) |
As the Post and Courier newspaper pointed out, the monument
will be on a 22-acre property in Columbia dominated by Confederate memorials.
“A towering
obelisk to veterans of the Confederate army sits directly in front of the
Statehouse steps. J. Marion Sims, a pioneer of gynecology who experimented on
enslaved women without anesthesia, has a statue in a quiet corner of the
grounds,” said the newspaper.
“Confederate
Gen. Wade Hampton, who enslaved people, has a statue, as does Benjamin Tillman,
the former governor and white supremacist whose brother George used violence
and intimidation to rob Smalls of his seat in Congress before his colleagues
eventually removed him from office.”
Speakers at Thursday’s ceremony talked about how South
Carolina has changed, through racial reconciliation and, in the case of the
Small bills, bipartisanship. State Sen. Gerald Malloy said the effort showed
progress by citizens “building a more just and equitable
society.”
Smalls has gained national stature in recent years, with
buildings and a US Army vessel named for him.
State Sen. Chip Campsen said Smalls fought in three different arenas as
a slave, pilot and statesman.
“His life was best described as a fight for freedom. And he knew that his freedom would only endure through law,” Campsen said, according to The State newspaper.
