The Backstory: From slave to congressman

College football is officially back, and Clay Travis is breaking down the biggest storylines from Week Zero. Clay reacts to Bill Belichick and North Carolina pulling off a huge win over TCU, explains why USC’s attendance problems could signal trouble for Lincoln Riley, and reveal ...  عرض المزيد

Mary Katharine Ham and Karol Markowicz break down the growing controversy surrounding Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed and left-wing streamer Hasan Piker. As El-Sayed attempts to distance himself from Piker, his past appearances and campaign events with the controversial ...  عرض المزيد

On May 13, 1862, in Charleston, South Carolina, a man named Robert Smalls took command of a Confederate ship called The Planter and liberated himself and his family from enslavement. As they passed the Confederate-held Fort Sumter, Robert Smalls was said to have saluted it with a ...  عرض المزيد

On May 13, 1862, in Charleston, South Carolina, a man named Robert Smalls took command of a Confederate ship called The Planter and liberated himself and his family from slavery. As they passed the Confederate-held Fort Sumter, Robert Smalls was said to have saluted it with a whi ...  عرض المزيد

Robert Smalls was born into slavery in Beaufort, South Carolina in 1839. He escaped from enslavement during the U.S. Civil War, in a particularly dramatic fashion.

Born into slavery, Robert Smalls dreamed of freedom for not just himself and his family, but all oppressed people. As the US became consumed in the Civil War, he hatched a daredevil plan to make this dream a reality -- by stealing a Confederate ship and sailing straight past t ...