Robert Smalls
Robert Smalls\xa0(April 5, 1839 \u2013 February 23, 1915) was an enslaved African American who escaped to freedom and became a ship's pilot, sea captain, and politician.
He freed himself, his crew and their families from slavery during the\xa0American Civil War\xa0by commandeering a Confederate transport ship,\xa0CSS\xa0Planter, in Charleston harbor, on May 13, 1862, and sailing it from Confederate-controlled waters to the U.S. blockade. His example and persuasion helped convince President\xa0Abraham Lincoln\xa0to accept African-American soldiers into the\xa0Union Armyand the\xa0Navy.
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