Cate Lineberry > Quotes

“With his extraordinary act of courage, Smalls, shown here in an engraving soon after he captured the Planter, challenged the North’s and South’s perceptions of what African Americans were willing to do for their country. U.S. Naval Historical Center”
― Cate Lineberry, Be Free or Die: The Amazing Story of Robert Smalls' Escape from Slavery to Union Hero

“It was a celebratory time in the North as people sensed the war would soon end, but many knew that the country would face a monumental challenge in reuniting when the fighting was finally over. Lincoln certainly knew and was already trying to prepare the nation. On March 4, 1865, he gave his second inaugural address at the Capitol to forty thousand onlookers. Rather than giving a victory speech or admonishing the South for its role in starting the war, Lincoln encouraged reconciliation. In the short time he spoke, just six or seven minutes, he named the institution of slavery as the cause of the war and described slavery as a national debt created by the “bondsmen’s 250 years of unrequited toil.”
― Cate Lineberry, Be Free or Die: The Amazing Story of Robert Smalls' Escape from Slavery to Union Hero

“On July 30 Lincoln issued General Orders, No. 252, which said prisoners of war were entitled to equal protection, regardless of color. For every Union soldier killed “in violation of the laws of war,” the Union would execute a Confederate soldier, and for every Union soldier “enslaved by the enemy or sold into slavery,” a Confederate soldier would be forced to do hard labor until the other was free.30 But the order was nearly impossible to enforce.”
― Cate Lineberry, Be Free or Die: The Amazing Story of Robert Smalls' Escape from Slavery to Union Hero

“In the Sea Islands he was so revered that he was the punch line to a popular joke: “That’s true; Smalls ain’t God, but Smalls’ young yet.”1”
― Cate Lineberry, Be Free or Die: The Amazing Story of Robert Smalls' Escape from Slavery to Union Hero

“Less than two years after he had escaped from Charleston, he bought the large white house on Prince Street in Beaufort where he and his mother had once served as house slaves.21”
― Cate Lineberry, Be Free or Die: The Amazing Story of Robert Smalls' Escape from Slavery to Union Hero

“Sgt. William Carney of the 54th would become the first African American awarded the Medal of Honor (in May 1900) for his gallantry that day. After the color bearer was shot, Carney had grabbed the flag and carried it to the parapet, where he planted it. When Union troops pulled back under heavy fire, he retrieved the flag and was shot twice but managed to carry the flag, under continuing fire, to the rear”
― Cate Lineberry, Be Free or Die: The Amazing Story of Robert Smalls' Escape from Slavery to Union Hero

“Today, 155 years after Smalls stunned the nation with his heroic act, Smalls is still relatively unknown. He has received occasional honors, including having a U.S. Army support vessel named for him in 2007, the Major General Robert Smalls, the first Army vessel named for an African American.32 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.33 But most Americans still do not recognize his name.”
― Cate Lineberry, Be Free or Die: The Amazing Story of Robert Smalls' Escape from Slavery to Union Hero

“I thank Robert Smalls’ family, including Dr. Helen Boulware Moore, Robert Smalls’ great-granddaughter; and her children, Michael Boulware Moore, the president and CEO of Charleston’s International African American Museum and Robin Moore Jenkins, for sharing their family stories and supporting this project.”
― Cate Lineberry, Be Free or Die: The Amazing Story of Robert Smalls' Escape from Slavery to Union Hero

“In 1862, publications, like Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper, celebrated Smalls (pictured at top) along with other enslaved men on board the Planter, but Smalls was singled out as a Union hero for masterminding the plan. Library of Congress”
― Cate Lineberry, Be Free or Die: The Amazing Story of Robert Smalls' Escape from Slavery to Union Hero

“Despite African Americans’ protests, the South Carolina legislature enacted the Black Codes in December.25 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.”
― Cate Lineberry, Be Free or Die: The Amazing Story of Robert Smalls' Escape from Slavery to Union Hero

“Mother Bethel, the mother church of the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) denomination”
― Cate Lineberry, Be Free or Die: The Amazing Story of Robert Smalls' Escape from Slavery to Union Hero

“How can I expect to keep my freedom unless I fight for it?”
― Cate Lineberry, Be Free or Die: The Amazing Story of Robert Smalls' Escape from Slavery to Union Hero

“Smalls, shown here in middle age, continued his extraordinary journey after the war; he served five terms in Washington as a U.S. representative from South Carolina. Library of Congress”
― Cate Lineberry, Be Free or Die: The Amazing Story of Robert Smalls' Escape from Slavery to Union Hero

“Although the historic edict officially freed all enslaved people in the rebellious states, with few exceptions most in the South remained in servitude until the Union could enforce the proclamation in the areas where they lived. It did not include freeing the slaves in the four border states of Delaware, Kentucky, Maryland, and Missouri, which remained in the Union.2”
― Cate Lineberry, Be Free or Die: The Amazing Story of Robert Smalls' Escape from Slavery to Union Hero

“With prize money from the Planter and his captain’s salary, Smalls was able to purchase this large white house in Beaufort, South Carolina, where he and his mother had once been enslaved.”
― Cate Lineberry, Be Free or Die: The Amazing Story of Robert Smalls' Escape from Slavery to Union Hero

“The bombardment, which had heavily damaged the lower portion of the city, the only part the shells could reach, would last 567 days, the longest siege in American history.”
― Cate Lineberry, Be Free or Die: The Amazing Story of Robert Smalls' Escape from Slavery to Union Hero

“Even after African Americans were allowed to fight for the Union in 1863, they were still forbidden to ride the streetcars in Philadelphia and other cities.”
― Cate Lineberry, Be Free or Die: The Amazing Story of Robert Smalls' Escape from Slavery to Union Hero

“When Smalls told his wife, Hannah, his plan to escape, she said, “It is a risk, dear, but you and I, and our little ones must be free. I will go, for where you die, I will die.”
― Cate Lineberry, Be Free or Die: The Amazing Story of Robert Smalls' Escape from Slavery to Union Hero