Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
4/5
Audiobook8 hours
Be Free or Die: The Amazing Story of Robert Smalls' Escape from Slavery to Union Hero
Written by Cate Lineberry
Narrated by JD Jackson
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
4/5
()
About this audiobook
Facing death rather than enslavement-a story of one man's triumphant choice and ultimate rise to national hero.
It was a mild May morning in Charleston, South Carolina, in 1862, the second year of the Civil War, when a twenty-three-year-old slave named Robert Smalls did the unthinkable and boldly seized a Confederate steamer. With his wife and two young children hidden on board, Smalls and a small crew ran a gauntlet of heavily armed fortifications in Charleston Harbor and delivered the valuable vessel and the massive guns it carried to nearby Union forces. To be unsuccessful was a death sentence for all. Smalls' courageous and ingenious act freed him and his family from slavery and immediately made him a Union hero while simultaneously challenging much of the country's view of what African Americans were willing to do to gain their freedom.
After his escape, Smalls served in numerous naval campaigns off Charleston as a civilian boat pilot and eventually became the first black captain of an Army ship. In a particularly poignant moment Smalls even bought the home that he and his mother had once served in as house slaves.
It was a mild May morning in Charleston, South Carolina, in 1862, the second year of the Civil War, when a twenty-three-year-old slave named Robert Smalls did the unthinkable and boldly seized a Confederate steamer. With his wife and two young children hidden on board, Smalls and a small crew ran a gauntlet of heavily armed fortifications in Charleston Harbor and delivered the valuable vessel and the massive guns it carried to nearby Union forces. To be unsuccessful was a death sentence for all. Smalls' courageous and ingenious act freed him and his family from slavery and immediately made him a Union hero while simultaneously challenging much of the country's view of what African Americans were willing to do to gain their freedom.
After his escape, Smalls served in numerous naval campaigns off Charleston as a civilian boat pilot and eventually became the first black captain of an Army ship. In a particularly poignant moment Smalls even bought the home that he and his mother had once served in as house slaves.
Related to Be Free or Die
Related audiobooks
The Harlem Hellfighters: When Pride Met Courage Midnight Rising: John Brown and the Raid That Sparked the Civil War Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Amistad Rebellion: An Atlantic Odyssey of Slavery and Freedom Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Gateway to Freedom: The Hidden History of the Underground Railroad Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dark Sky Rising: Reconstruction and the Dawn of Jim Crow (Scholastic Focus) Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Thunder at the Gates: The Black Civil War Regiments that Redeemed America Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Lincoln on the Verge: Thirteen Days to Washington Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Last Outlaws: The Lives and Legends of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The African American Soldier: A Two-Hundred Year History of African Americans in the U.S. Military Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDreams of Africa in Alabama: The Slave Ship Clotilda and the Story of the Last Africans Brought to America Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5After Lincoln: How the North Won the Civil War and Lost the Peace Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5River of Dark Dreams: Slavery and Empire in the Cotton Kingdom Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings38 Nooses: Lincoln, Little Crow, and the Beginning of the Frontier's End Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Earth is Weeping: The Epic Story of the Indian Wars for the American West Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Five for Freedom: The African American Soldiers in John Brown's Army Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5American Uprising: The Untold Story of America's Largest Slave Revolt Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Slave Ship: A Human History Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Denmark Vesey's Garden: Slavery and Memory in the Cradle of the Confederacy Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Patriotic Treason: John Brown and the Soul of America Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Eyes of Willie McGee: A Tragedy of Race, Sex, and Secrets in the Jim Crow South Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Other Madisons: The Lost History of a President's Black Family Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Stolen: Five Free Boys Kidnapped into Slavery and Their Astonishing Odyssey Home Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Burning: The Tulsa Race Massacre of 1921 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5All Blood Runs Red: The Legendary Life of Eugene Bullard-Boxer, Pilot, Soldier, Spy Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5White Lies: The Double Life of Walter F. White and America's Darkest Secret Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Never Caught Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Black Ghost of Empire: The Long Death of Slavery and the Failure of Emancipation Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Fires of Jubilee: Nat Turner's Fierce Rebellion Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Accident of Color: A Story of Race in Reconstruction Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Black Gun, Silver Star: The Life and Legend of Frontier Marshal Bass Reeves Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Social Science For You
Come As You Are: Revised and Updated: The Surprising New Science That Will Transform Your Sex Life Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Song of Achilles: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Radiolab: Journey Through The Human Body Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Demon Copperhead: A Novel Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Guns, Germs and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Own It All: How to Stop Waiting for Change and Start Creating It. Because Your Life Belongs to You. Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Road Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America's Shining Women Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Name of the Wind Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Small Mercies: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Year of Magical Thinking Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Left Hand of Darkness Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5You're Cute When You're Mad: Simple Steps for Confronting Sexism Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Overstory Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Razorblade Tears: A Novel Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Attention Span: A Groundbreaking Way to Restore Balance, Happiness and Productivity Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Waking Up: A Guide to Spirituality Without Religion Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Kindred Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5An Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Factfulness: Ten Reasons We're Wrong About the World--and Why Things Are Better Than You Think Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Parable of the Sower Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Kingdom, the Power, and the Glory: American Evangelicals in an Age of Extremism Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Hate U Give Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Radiolab: Mixtape: How The Cassette Changed The World Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Related podcast episodes
75: Reconstruction (Part 3): The Rise of the KKK and the First Black Men in Government 0% found this document usefulGhettoside: A True Story of Murder in America 100% found this document usefulDr. Allyson Hobbs of Stanford, on Racial Passing: Allyson Hobbs, an Assistant Professor in the Depa… 0% found this document usefulLies My Teacher Told Me 100% found this document usefulEpisode 8: Searching for Justice 0% found this document usefulICYMI - Salima Koroma on "Dreamland" 0% found this document usefulThe First Women to Report Jeffrey Epstein 0% found this document usefulIntroducing ‘1619,’ a New York Times Audio Series 100% found this document usefulICYMI - Heather McGhee on "The Sum of Us" 100% found this document usefulAll the White Friends I Couldn't Keep w/ Andre Henry 0% found this document usefulIbram X. Kendi - "Four Hundred Souls" 0% found this document usefulThe History of Juneteenth 100% found this document usefulCarol Anderson on White Rage and Donald Trump 0% found this document useful"Dr. Umar Johnson Interview LIVE": "Dr. Umar Johnson Interview LIVE" 0% found this document usefulSide Effects of One Drop (with Dr. Yaba Blay) 0% found this document usefulBacon’s Rebellion, Part 1 0% found this document useful‘1619,’ Episode 5: The Land of Our Fathers, Part 1 0% found this document useful
Related articles
'How The Word Is Passed' Teaches The Importance Of Reckoning With History NPRArticle
'How The Word Is Passed' Teaches The Importance Of Reckoning With History
Jun 2, 2021
6 min read1776, not 1619 Manhattan InstituteArticle
1776, not 1619
Oct 29, 2019
5 min readThe Enslaved Man Who Escaped George Washington—Twice Literary HubArticle
The Enslaved Man Who Escaped George Washington—Twice
Oct 24, 2017
2 min readIn 'Four Hundred Souls,' 90 Writers Tell Their Stories Of 4 Centuries Of African America NPRArticle
In 'Four Hundred Souls,' 90 Writers Tell Their Stories Of 4 Centuries Of African America
Feb 18, 2021
8 min readCode Switch Book Club, Summer 2019 NPRArticle
Code Switch Book Club, Summer 2019
Jun 20, 2019
8 min readMeet The Last Surviving Witness To The Tulsa Race Riot Of 1921 NPRArticle
Meet The Last Surviving Witness To The Tulsa Race Riot Of 1921
May 31, 2018
3 min readNat Turner’s Divine Violence Literary HubArticle
Nat Turner’s Divine Violence
Aug 24, 2017
7 min read‘I Hear The Screams’: 107-year-old Survivor Of 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre Testifies To Congress In Call For Justice The IndependentArticle
‘I Hear The Screams’: 107-year-old Survivor Of 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre Testifies To Congress In Call For Justice
May 20, 2021
Moments after falling asleep on 31 May, 1921, seven-year-old Viola Fletcher was awakened by her family and told to leave her home in the Greenwood neighbourhood of Tulsa, Oklahoma. Outside, a white mob drove thousands of Black residents from their ho
3 min readOprah Stars in 'The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks' NewsweekArticle
Oprah Stars in 'The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks'
Apr 21, 2017
6 min readA Reading List for Ralph Northam The AtlanticArticle
A Reading List for Ralph Northam
Feb 12, 2019
4 min read'The Whiteness Of Wealth' Probes Why Black Americans Pay Higher Taxes NPRArticle
'The Whiteness Of Wealth' Probes Why Black Americans Pay Higher Taxes
May 17, 2021
7 min readThe Slave Who Stole A Ship And Sailed To Freedom History RevealedArticle
The Slave Who Stole A Ship And Sailed To Freedom
Aug 4, 2022
7 min readFrom Slave to Congressman Cricket Magazine Fiction and Non-Fiction Stories for Children and Young TeensArticle
From Slave to Congressman
Feb 1, 2020
7 min readDelayed Honor America's Civil WarArticle
Delayed Honor
Jun 1, 2021
5 min readTrouble in Zion Wild WestArticle
Trouble in Zion
Nov 8, 2022
11 min readRoosevelt’s Riders History of WarArticle
Roosevelt’s Riders
Oct 26, 2023
11 min readHarriet Tubman History of WarArticle
Harriet Tubman
Oct 28, 2021
2 min readFrom the History Books SailArticle
From the History Books
Dec 14, 2021
4 min readWherever The Sword Might Fall Wild WestArticle
Wherever The Sword Might Fall
Sep 24, 2019
9 min readThe Little Army That Won Big MHQ: The Quarterly Journal of Military HistoryArticle
The Little Army That Won Big
Aug 7, 2018
14 min readExplosion Of The Monster Torpedo MHQ: The Quarterly Journal of Military HistoryArticle
Explosion Of The Monster Torpedo
Oct 6, 2020
Thomas Morris Chester was born in 1834 in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, where his parents operated a restaurant that became known as a gathering place for abolitionists. (His mother was born into slavery but had escaped at age 19.) They were successful e
12 min readA Breed Apart America's Civil WarArticle
A Breed Apart
Oct 23, 2018
11 min readUnion Troopers With A Southern Twang Civil War TimesArticle
Union Troopers With A Southern Twang
May 4, 2021
10 min readHunting Big Bear Wild WestArticle
Hunting Big Bear
Nov 26, 2019
10 min readFire-eater’s Fantasy Civil War TimesArticle
Fire-eater’s Fantasy
Jan 22, 2019
11 min readKings Mountain History of WarArticle
Kings Mountain
Nov 29, 2018
5 min readWired Words MHQ: The Quarterly Journal of Military HistoryArticle
Wired Words
Feb 23, 2018
3 min readSwindling Sociopath America's Civil WarArticle
Swindling Sociopath
Feb 26, 2019
10 min readHome Front Heroes America's Civil WarArticle
Home Front Heroes
Sep 21, 2021
Understandably, much attention in a war’s aftermath is devoted to the officers and soldiers who bore arms during the conflict. Scrutiny also tends to go to the armies’ supporting casts, the men who served in positions such as engineer or quartermaste
14 min readFor The Cause America's Civil WarArticle
For The Cause
Feb 25, 2020
8 min read
Reviews for Be Free or Die
Rating: 4.018518518518518 out of 5 stars
4/5
27 ratings1 review
- Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5The life of Robert Smalls might make an interesting book (or maybe magazine article) but this book tried to cover a lot more than that. Smalls was barely in the book after the two beginning chapters. I wasn't looking for a general book about the Civil War and I gave up at around the 25% point.