Saturday, January 3, 2026

Be Free or Die: The Amazing Story of Robert Smalls' Escape from Slavery to Union Hero

 


Book: Be Free or Die: The Amazing Story of Robert Smalls' Escape from Slavery to Union Hero

Basic Information : Synopsis : Characters : Expectations : Thoughts : Evaluation : Book Group : Book References : Good Quotes : Table of Contents : References

Basic Information:

Author: Cate Lineberry

Edition: epub on Libby from Mountain View Public Library

Publisher: St. Martin's Press

ISBN: 9781250101860 (ISBN10: 1250101867)

Start Date: December 19, 2025

Read Date: January 3, 2026

288 pages

Genre:  History, Biography, Book Group, Civil War

Language Warning:  None

Rated Overall: 3  out of 5


History: 4 out of 5



Synopsis:

Biography of Robert Smalls, a slave in Charleston, South Carolina. There is a chapter about his upbringing and a chapter about his life after the Civil War. Most of the book concentrates on the Civil War, particularly with his taking of a steamer, along with several over slaves and delivering it to the Union. Most of the book chronicles his time during the Civil War, as he gained the confidence of powerful men in the Union military in the islands along the coast of South Carolina. Also as he became a national figure he spent time in the North raising money for an African-American freed enclave in those islands.



Cast of Characters:

See Lineberry’s list of characters in the Key Participants section of her book. Very useful as it also contains a description of who they are.




Expectations:
  • Recommendation: Jessie from Book Group
  • When: February 13, 2025
  • Date Became Aware of Book: February 13, 2025
  • Why do I want to read this book: First, it is a Book group book. Also I had been hearing about Robert Smalls for the past couple of years and so I knew a bit of the basics about him. I just wanted something more.
  • What do I think I will get out of it? A biography of Smalls from the time he was a slave through his time as a member of the House of Representatives.

Thoughts:


As I was reading this, I was thinking of a book I read about a year ago called The Demon of Unrest by Eric Larson. This book gave a good background to the fall of Fort Sumter. Also we read a fictional book about the Grimke sisters which took place in the era called The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd.


Lineberry is an editor for the Smithsonian. She wrote an article called The Thrilling Tale of How Robert Smalls Seized a Confederate Ship and Sailed it to Freedom in June 2017 which serves as a starting point for the book.



Prologue

A two page summary of what this book is about: the stealing of a ship, the heroism of a former slave and the prejudice in both the South and North about African-American accomplishments.



1: The Escape

Talks about how Robert Smalls, his family and several other slaves escape on the steam ship Planter. The planning and thought which went into it. Also the dangers of going out of the harbor of the heavily fortified city of Charleston, South Carolina. The motivation: The only way Smalls could ensure that his family would stay together was to escape slavery. Lineberry goes over how slave families could be broken up and never see each other-man, woman and children.


Smalls was a slave, 23 years old, on board the Planter. His station was as a wheelman, which gave him certain privileges of access. This ship was used by the commander of the Charleston harbor as his own vessel and he would dispatch messages using it. The Planter was a private ship contracted by the Confederates.


Goes through the risks: officers who were usually on board, guards on wharf, navigating through a maze of Confederate forts, and the Union Navy stationed outside of the harbor set to sink Confederate ships. Part of Smalls’ plan was to impersonate the white captain in the early dawn light as there was a certain resemblance from afar between the two. Sometimes all of the white officers would leave the ship at night in the hands of the slaves on board


If the plan failed, they would all jump overboard and kill themselves rather than risk capture , tortured before being put to death. There were 16 people escaping.


Like all plans, things do not go according to how they wanted it to go. A number of things could have gone wrong. A couple of men backed out. Smoke from the boiler was heavy and threatened to give them away. They were seen by guards, but the guards assumed they were doing their normal duties. They passed by two forts and one patrol boat without an alarm being raised. As the Planter passed by Fort Sumter, the real captain of the Planter discovered it was missing, but did not immediately raise an alarm. Then would the Union ships which the Planter was aiming for recognize their flag of surrender?


But they made it safely with Smalls saying I’ve brought you some of the old United States guns, sir! -- they were for Fort Sumter, sir!


There are times Lineberry speculates about what impulses Smalls had. Such as did Smalls want to taunt the Confederates when he passed by Fort Sumter?



2: South Carolina's Son

Gives a biography of Robert Smalls. Born in Beaufort which is on Port Royal Island in South Carolina. At 12 years old, Smalls was sent to Charleston, separated from his mother. Elements of the city were beautiful, but the ugliness of slavery was always apparent. Talks about what Angelina Grimké saw as a resident of the city. Talks about what Smalls did in Charleston. First a waiter, then a gas streetlight lighter. Then a dock worker, and finally as a sailor. He seemed to be pretty much valued by his employers, even though he was still owned by McKee. He married a woman about 12 years older than him, Hannah Jones, who was also a slave. I wonder if this was an attempt to have a mother figure in his life.


In1850, there were 19,500 slaves in Charleston out of a population of 43,000. There were about 3,400 free African-Americans.


Goes through both a history of slavery in South Carolina as well as slave rebellions which preceded the Civil War. Slaves were used to grow, harvest and process a particular kind of cotton grown there which was highly valuable. These rebellions included Denmark Vesey’s uprising.


Henry McKee was Smalls owner as well as his mother’s owner. McKee was known as an owner who treated his slaves well, still an owner. Describes life as a slave.


Gullah a type of English based Creole. Used in the South Carolina Sea Islands.



3: In the Service of the Confederacy

Now that Smalls had a wife and daughter, he knew that he did not have the power to keep his family together if Hannah’s owner decided to sell her. Much was happening in the country, and significant changes seemed inevitable. Perhaps one of these changes would give Smalls the key to freedom for himself and his family. He would be watching and waiting, ready to take action when the time came.


Talks about the election of 1860 and what it meant to Southerners Talks about South Carolina being the first to decide to leave the Union. .


Samuel Francis Du Pont-important person in Smalls’ life once he got on the Union side


Talks about the capture of Port Royal on the Sea Islands of South Carolina. It was a strategic area where the Union could now stage blockades in the deep South. The whites of Port Royal fled, leaving behind the African-American slaves. There were 10,000 former slaves and now the Union had to figure out how to care for them. They tried to have the whites return, but none did. The whites would spend years after the war trying to reclaim their homes and property. Despite their best attempts, they would never again hold the power and prestige they had claimed before the war.


Former slaves were now listed as contraband. Not quite free, but no longer slaves. The local military administrator declared them free, but Lincoln countermanded that proclamation. Also the local administrator tried to make them an armed unit, but was rebuffed at that as well.



4: Union Hero

Lineberry goes through the turning over the Planter to the Union and what the Union gained and the Confederate lost. The South awoke the next morning to discover the ship missing and the concerns they had. The Planter made for Port Royal. There Smalls met Commodore DuPont who would be Smalls mentor and benefactor. DuPont wanted Smalls and his crew to have any prize money for bringing the ship, if there was any.


Also talked about the reaction in Charleston, particularly against the three white officers who had temporarily deserted the ship to go home for the evening. The officers were found guilty-neglect of duty, leaving the ship without permission and disregard of orders. Two of them were to serve time and be fined. The commander for Charleston overturned their punishment on the grounds that they were not military, but civilian contractors. All of this seemed to please the North. Some of the slave owners put in a claim for reimbursement.


Talks about the reaction in the North. There were calls for African-American regiments in the US Army as Smalls had shown they could be skillful and tactful. But there were also overtones of surprise that a African-American could carry off something like what Smalls did.


Smalls and those who escaped with him were still considered contraband rather than emancipated. But they were awarded a bounty for the ship they brought out from the Confederacy, even though it was much smaller than what the ship was worth.



5: Our Country Calls

Once safe, Smalls’ party was split up. Women and children went to Beaufort, while the men were put to work. Smalls was made a civilian pilot of a boat, making more in one month than he would have made in 3 years as a slave. Unlike the Army, which had barred African-American men from serving since the Militia Act in 1792, the Navy had never forbidden their service. Free African-Americans would enlist in the Navy to help the cause when the war initially broke out.


What to do with the area around Port Royal. Taking care of the cotton was an easier job than that of the now contraband African-Americans. Salmon Chase took over responsibility-he was Secretary of the Treasury. A Boston attorney, Edward Pierce was tapped to figure out what to do with the African-Americans. The thought was to transition them from being slaves to freed people. This included paying them wages, but having almost parental oversight on them.


Smalls was a commodity of value. First to the Navy. But also as a symbol of what a African-American could do. People wanted him up North to speak. Smalls had given key information about the defenses of Charleston. The superior general had wanted to get more Union men in position, but an inferior one went ahead and attacked, and was defeated. The chance to take Charleston was gone.


Smalls as the pilot of the Planter, was active in the various Union activities in the area, coming under fire at times.


The Second Confiscation Act freed Smalls, but possibly not his family.


DuPont agreed to let Smalls go North and speak to raise support for African-Americans. He was concerned that fame would change Smalls. Smalls would be trying to raise funds for the Port Royal experiment. Also would be talking to the military headquarters about allowing African-Americans to fight as well as making Port Royal succeed.


Smalls was to deliver a letter personally to the Secretary of Defense. The letter was to inform him that the commander of the islands around Port Royal was going to have to withdraw from there since his white soldiers had been reassigned and the Army had said that African-Americans could not be used as soldiers.



6: North and South

Smalls meets with Lincoln and the Secretary of Defense. Not much is known about the actual conversation he had with Lincoln. Lineberry speculates on that. Stanton’s response was to allow African-Americans to enlist into the Army. This preceded the Emancipation Proclamation.


Lineberry talks about how African-Americans were not very accepted in the North-1 out of 3 showed kindness. Lincoln himself did not think African-Americans and whites could co-exist free in the same nation. He asked African-Americans to voluntarily be deported to Panama. An unfounded rumor had Smalls volunteering to go.


Smalls and his wife go to New York to raise funds for Port Royal. They were gone seven weeks, almost a month longer than DuPont thought they would be gone. While in New York, Lincoln issued the Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation which would go into effect on Jan 1, 1863. Then on to Philadelphia. Both New York and Philadelphia were cities which were divided between abolitionists and those with ties to the South.

 

Officers who were friendly and wanted the best were concerned about Smalls and his new fame. They were concerned that he would come back with thoughts of self-importance more than he should. Lineberry calls these concerns patronizing. Was it because he was a African-American? Or more as father figures? Or why did she consider it patronizing?


The first regiment of African-American soldiers was formed. Smalls wanted to enlist as a private. DuPont wanted him as a pilot and that is where Smalls remained.



7: The Keokuk

The Emancipation Proclamation was issued Jan 1, 1863. African-Americans and abolitionists celebrated it. This freed those who were slaves to those who revolted against the union. This was celebrated in Port Royal as well. The African-Americans were now able to sing My Country T’is of Thee complete with the phrase sweet land of liberty. The white regiment leader of the African-Americans wrote: I never saw anything so electric; it made all other words cheap. … think of it!—the first day they had ever had a country, the first flag they had ever seen which promised anything to their people.


But the road forward was not straight. The Union lost a battle for Charleston which Smalls was part of. Also, Smalls son died.


DuPont was given almost all of the ironclad ships the Union had to attack Charleston. But DuPont thought these were the wrong type of vessels to do the attack. His concerns were borne out as Smalls wanted to be part of the army attacking Charleston as he thought the African-Americans of the city would rally around him and disrupt things from the inside.. Instead he was given to piloting one of the ships.


Describes the naval battle for Charleston and the series of ill-events which were part of it. Smalls ship, the Keokuk, was hit 90 times. There were no plans for a land assault-both the Secretary of War and Lincoln wanted it that way.


Lineberry does some speculation. Such as trying to imagine what Smalls thinks/feels when DuPont and Hunter left Port Royal. Or thinking that Smalls’ mother probably moved in with him.


Robert Gould Shaw was killed on an assault of Charleston after the first one. This time it was by land. Shaw was from Boston and led a regiment of African-American infantry soldiers. Talked about the bravery of the African-American soldiers and how they were treated when captured.



8: Captain Smalls

Smalls exhibited coolness under fire. He was made captain of the Planter. He was the first African-American captain of a US Army vessel. He was still a civilian. A news report erroneously stated he had been captured.


Talks about the seeds of what made Reconstruction so bad.


Smalls buys the house which he was raised up in as a slave. He and his family moved in. Later on he shows a great deal of magnanimity to his former owner. Explains the process and mechanism which Smalls does this. Later on Smalls gets sued by the former house owner, DeTreville to regain the house. DeTreville and his father, who served as his lawyer, would take the case to the U.S. Supreme Court in 1878, but Smalls would prevail and, in so doing, he would help many other families remain in their homes. Most of the lands in Beaufort remained under Union control, but about a third of the houses were bought by the same process by both African-Americans and whites.


Talked about General Truman Seymour. He led a couple attacks where African-Americans were in the forefront of a losing battle. He was blasted as being proslavery and had a demeaning view of African-Americans. He met Smalls once and referred to him as “boy”. Smalls wrote in defense of Seymour. One of the two battles was in Florida’s Olustee Forest. There wounded or captured African-Americans were killed by the Confederates as being inferior. Olustee was not the only time African-American soldiers were murdered rather than taken prisoner after a battle ended.




9: The City of Brotherly Love

Another trip up north. This time to get the Planter repaired in Philadelphia for a seven month stay, leaving his family in Beaufort. Philadelphia was still generally hostile towards African-Americans. During his absence, Smalls had been voted to be sent as a delegate to the Republican convention as one of four African-American and twelve delegates. The Republican Party had taken the temporary name National Union to appeal more to War Democrats. The delegates from South Carolina were not seated-unknown if it was because they were from an occupied state or because the delegation was integrated.


While in Philadelphia, he was asked to speak . While speaking to a African-American church, he said: Although born a slave I always felt that I was a man and ought to be free, and I would be free or die. The title of the book. Included was National Hall.


While speaking at one of the places, he met Octavius Catto who taught him how to read and write. His tutor would be shot and killed in 1871 while trying to vote.


The African-Americans had fraternal aid societies.


African-Americans were either segregated or denied rides on Philadelphia street cars. Smalls was the victim of this as well. He was told he could not be seated, but had to ride with the conductor. He questioned why and what law said this. None was given, so he walked to the shipyard. One of the white people under him was with him and left with his Captain. This ignited a debate in Philadelphia about this type of discrimination.


When Smalls’ name and accomplishments were mentioned, it brought immediate applause. Something about Smalls captured people’s attention and hearts and went far beyond his seizing of a Confederate vessel


Smalls and the Planter returned to Port Royal.


Sherman’s march to the Sea freed many African-American slaves. But it also made so many of them without any means of getting food or shelter. Many found their way to Port Royal. There was already a delicate balance between what it could provide to its freed population. Now there were thousands more on their way.


Secretary of War Stanton talked with Sherman about the state of African-Americans. Sherman arranged with the African-Americans of the area about their needs. Stanton issued an order saying that each African-American man should be given up to 40 acres and a mule of their own land to farm. This was momentous.


Sherman’s army came north, through South Carolina. They stopped in Port Royal, but did not do the destruction in Port Royal which they did in Georgia or the rest of South Carolina. The description was of men who were very used to rough ways and had destroyed very many things and were pretty much inured to what they were doing or the effect it had on those around them.



10: Triumph and Tragedy

Sherman went after Columbia, South Carolina rather than Charleston. But Charleston had become a ghost town and was easily taken by a small group of African-American Union soldiers.


Lincoln’s second inaugural address was towards reconciliation rather than malice and triumph.


Smalls visited Charleston. He was very welcomed by the African-Americans of the city. Also a couple of whites who built the Planter. But Ferguson, the original owner of the Planter, did not look happy to see Smalls.


On the day when the South surrendered, Major Anderson who had surrendered Fort Sumter was called to raise the American flag over the Fort again. All other buildings and forts had American flags flying. This is the only one remaining.


Then Lincoln’s assassination.



11: Retaliation and Reward

Walked through how Andrew Johnson became president. Then the actions Johnson took as president. His proclamations allowed those in the South to rejoin the Union and then control the South with all of their property, except for their former slaves. This included having North Carolina voting with only those who were eligible to vote before the succession. This effectively eliminated any African-Americans from voting. This became the model for other states.


As the Union soldiers left Port Royal, there were more confrontations between the former white owners and the current African-American property owners. Some African-Americans offered to help their former owners resettle. In all likelihood, their reasoning was a complicated mix of factors that also depended on the treatment individuals had received while enslaved. This included Smalls who showed kindness to the McKee’s, even allowing them to stay in their old house with them.


Johnson’s proclamation returned property which African-Americans now had, except for those which were sold for taxes like Smalls. This restoration would disenfranchise African-Americans and have repercussions to this day.


DuPont died to Smalls’ great lose.


Both Ferguson and McKee applied for and received amnesty.


Talks about South Carolina’s re-entry into the Union. The convention held to ratify it was full of words which sounded good, but which did not nullify the succession-it repealed the succession proclamation; it did not disavow the debt to the Confederacy, and importantly it left very ambiguous the states of the former African-American slaves. This would lead the state and the South into a hundred years where African-Americans were considered inferior citizens. The Black Codes would be developed creating separate laws for whites and African-Americans. The Union had won the war but, to the horror of many, South Carolina and other Southern states were doing their best to reinstate slavery.


At the end of 1865 Johnson declared Reconstruction complete. But the South was working on reconstituting slavery again. Congress went back into session and disagreed and rejected Johnson’s claim. Several bills went through congress being rejected, including the Civil Rights Bill of 1866. Congress overrode Johnson’s veto. Frederick Douglass had said prophetically in the spring of 1865, “Slavery is not abolished until the black man has the ballot. While the Legislatures of the South retain the right to pass laws making any discrimination between African-American and white, slavery still lives there. It was 1870 when the 15th amendment was passed giving African-Americans the right to vote.


Ferguson searched for ways to reclaim the Planter. There was an incident which a ship owned by Ferguson tried to take out Smalls and the people whom he was ferrying-a couple of generals. Smalls responded in a way which negated the attempt and the captain of the other ship was arrested.


The Planter was sold at auction after the war. It probably was a straw man sale as Ferguson ended up with the boat.



Epilogue.

Smalls continued to welcome whatever opportunities came his way and to fight for his family, the country, and African Americans. Smalls went into business with a man named Gleeves. Gleaves would become the lieutenant governor of South Carolina, the highest office ever held by a black man in the state’s history.


Smalls made sure that his children got educated. This led them to being pretty successful in their own right. He also continued his education which he started in Philadelphia. He saw that there was a need for schooling in Beaufort and opened a school for African-Americans.


He involved himself in politics as well. Smalls’ political success ultimately led to his election as one of the first African American members of Congress. He served five terms. He fought for equal rights. Even so, twice he was forced out of a hotel due to his color: once in South Carolina and once in Boston. Also his life was in danger in South Carolina because of his prominence. He was framed for bribery. He appealed but his appeal was turned down but never heard in the Supreme Court. He went on to serve in Congress.


Also he got a pension as a Captain as well as full compensation for turning over the Planter.


In 1886 he made an impassioned speech in the House of Representatives for an increased pension for the widow of Gen. David Hunter, a man who made sure he got opportunity during the War..


Smalls was sued to have his house in Port Royal turned over to the original owner. It was a test case affecting many properties in the South, and it went to the U.S. Supreme Court. Finally, in 1878 the court upheld Smalls’ title in a ruling that helped many others keep their homes.


In 1915 Smalls died from diabetes complications. Talks about his funeral and how by the time of his death he was mostly forgotten. His funeral was a mostly local one which he was remembered as being the glue which held it together.


Since that time, he has mostly been forgotten. I did remember reading about him someplace and I want to say it was at the African-American Smithsonian Museum in 2022. He is also featured in the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C., and two historic markers in Charleston now honor him.


This is true: “My race needs no special defense, for the past history of them in this country proves them to be equal of any people anywhere. All they need is an equal chance in the battle of life.”


It does seem ironic that this is the ending sentence given what is happening in our country with the removal of remembrances of contributions of minorities : As the country finally begins to fully honor the stories and contributions of African Americans, Smalls deserves to be celebrated as not just a Union hero but as an American hero.



Evaluation:

 Be Free or Die is the story of Robert Smalls mostly during the Civil War, an African-American slave who stole a Confederate steamer, along with 15 other slaves and turned it over to the Union. That alone would mark Smalls as an exceptional man. Most of the book talks about Smalls contribution to the Union’s war effort, including piloting ships while under attack, fund raising for African-Americans who were being freed, and being a leading citizen of a community of Port Royal, South Carolina. The author briefly talks about his upbringing before the War and then his activities after, including being one of the first African-American Representatives in Congress.


Lineberry first wrote about Smalls for an article in the Smithsonian. Much of the book does read like an extended Smithsonian article with a good enough accounting of Smalls’ actions. To me, Lineberry gave me a good feel for the man’s history, but maybe not so much the man I do not think I really understood the man, besides the motivation for keeping his family together.


Smalls’ story is well worth reading. Lineberry's rendering of his story provides the reader with the actions which makes you want to know more about him. Enjoy this man’s story.



 
Notes from my book group:

When did you first hear about Robert Smalls? How did this book add to your knowledge of him?


Do you think Lineberry’s writing tells a powerful story or is it that Smalls is a compelling figure which makes a story powerful or there is a combination?


It sounded like the North went into the Civil War without considering what to do with slaves which were no longer part of the South. What did the North decide on the slave’s status? What options did that have and why did they take the option they did instead of the others?


How did Port Royal come about as an enclave for freed African-Americans? Was this a purposeful situation? What issues were there which both the Union and African-Americans had to face?


Whites came from the North to Port Royal. What kinds of people came? Do you think all of the whites had the benefits of African-Americans in mind? What reasons did the missionaries have for coming?


Later on DuPont was concerned about letting Smalls go North to speak and fund raise for the African-Americans of Port Royal. His concern was that Smalls’ character would be corrupted by an inflated sense of worth. Were these valid fears? Was there any way in which DuPont could safeguard Smalls from being manipulated or corrupted? Were DuPont’s concerns patronizing?


Lineberry notes that the motivation for the taking of the Planter is that the only way Smalls could ensure that his family would stay together was to escape slavery. Do you think this would be sufficient motivation for Smalls? What part do you think being separated from his mother at 12 played into this? Would you risk the torture or death of a loved one to stay together? To taste freedom?


What risks did Smalls and his crew face when taking the Planter? How would you calculate the risk-reward in his situation? Would you have taken that risk?


On January 1, 1863, Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation. There was general celebration among African-American’s and abolitionists. Describe the emotions which you think were present when it was heard both in the North and the South. What were the results of the Proclamation? What were its limitations? Why do you think Lincoln made those limitations?


There is a section which shows that Smalls and others were able to buy from the Union houses of delinquent owners. How fair do you think this process was? (chp 8)


General Truman Seymour led African-American troops in a series of losing battles. Northern papers wrote about him being pro-slavery and demeaning towards them. In a contact with Smalls, Seymour constantly referred to Smalls as “boy”. Yet Smalls wrote a defense of Seymour. Why would Smalls do that? Lineberry does not really talk about their relationship besides this.


Sherman’s men were briefly in Beaufort. Describe what they were like. How do you think Sherman’s soldiers' march to the sea affected them? Their character and standards?


Lineberry notes that Smalls being able to take the Planter not only surprised those in the South, but also the North. It was thought that African-Americans could not accomplish something like that as they lacked the ability and ambition to perform such a deed. Do you think this thinking is still prevalent today?


Smalls made trips up North. What kind of reception did he get? Was the sometimes hostility he got in places like New York and Philadelphia a surprise to you? Where do you meet prejudice unexpectedly?


Why do you think the Navy accepted African-Americans into their ranks while the Army did not?


Given these aptitudes by both the South and the North, why do you think DuPont took Smalls under his wing and nurtured Smalls’ talents? Was DuPont taking a risk?


How do you think meeting Smalls affected Lincoln? Do you think that Lincoln would have issued the Emancipation Proclamation without this meeting?


One of the things which the South and the Lost Cause states is that the succeeding from the Union was never about slavery, but about the rights of the States. How does Lineberry address this issue? How does the tension between the jurisdiction between States and Federal affect our current politics?


Lineberry talks about the process the South tried to reinstate their old ways. What does she say about what the South did? How was Smalls part of this history? How did the South’s processing of the Civil War affect their growth into the 20th century?


What characteristics does Lineberry say Smalls possessed? How does Lineberry show these attributes of Smalls? Would you have wanted to be friends with him? What do you think he would be like in person? Does Lineberry talk about any faults he had?


Smalls said: My race needs no special defense, for the past history of them in this country proves them to be equal of any people anywhere. All they need is an equal chance in the battle of life. What do you think he would say today?


What is stealing? Is this what Smalls did with the Planter? If not, how is Smalls’ action different from stealing? If so, how is it justified that Smalls did steal? Are these reasons why immoral actions can be justified?



How do you want your life to change because you read this book?


Many of these questions are either from or adapted from LitLovers.

Why the title of Be Free or Die?

Does this story work as a biography?

Did the ending seem fitting? Satisfying? Predictable?

Which character did you identify with?

Which one did you dislike?

Every story has a world view. Were you able to identify this story’s world view? What was it? How did it affect the story?

In what context was religion talked about in this book?

Was there anybody you would consider religious?

How did they show it?

Was the book overtly religious?

How did it affect the book's story?

Why do you think the author wrote this book?

What would you ask the author if you had a chance?

What “takeaways” did you have from this book?

Describe the culture talked about in the book.

How is the culture described in this book different from where we live?

What economic or political situations are described?

How did this book affect your view of the world?

Of how God is viewed?

What questions did you ask yourself after reading this book?

Talk about specific passages that struck you as significant—or interesting, profound, amusing, illuminating, disturbing, sad...?

What was memorable?



Book References:
  • Men of Color, to Arms! Speech by Fredrick Douglas

Good Quotes:
  • First Line: On a mild May evening in Charleston, South Carolina,in 1862, the second year of the Civil War, vessels in service of the Confederacy, rocked at the moorings in the harbour, ready to transport soldiers and supplies to fortifications in and around Charleston the following day.
  • Last Line: As the country finally begins to fully honor the stories and contributions of African Americans, Smalls deserves to be celebrated as not just a Union hero but as an American hero.
 
Table of Contents:
  • Prologue
  • 1: The Escape
  • 2: South Carolina's Son
  • 3: In the Service of the Confederacy
  • 4: Union Hero
  • 5: Our Country Calls
  • 6: North and South
  • 7: The Keokuk
  • 8: Captain Smalls
  • 9: The City of Brotherly Love
  • 10: Triumph and Tragedy
  • 11: Retaliation and Reward
  • Epilogue.


References:
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