{"product_id":"2940170823833","title":"Be Free or Die: The Amazing Story of Robert Smalls' Escape from Slavery to Union Hero","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eFacing death rather than enslavementamp;mdash;a story of one man's triumphant choice and ultimate rise to national hero.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIt 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.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAfter 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.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Tantor Audio","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47117472202992,"sku":"2940170823833","price":16.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/2940170823833_p0.jpg?v=1763718744","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940170823833","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}