Host James Howell talks to Kaley Crawford, park ranger at the Reconstruction Era National Park in Beaufort, SC. Kaley tells the incredible story of Robert Smalls, who was born under bondage in Beaufort, but managed to free himself by commandeering a Confederate transport ship and sailing it to Union territory. He would become be a key figure in convincing Abraham Lincoln to enlist African-Americans in the military. Smalls would eventually go back to Beaufort, purchase his former slave owner's home, and make a successful bid for Congress.

James and Kaley also speak about the Emancipation Proclamation, its original reading in Beaufort, SC, and why experiencing history on the soil where happened will always beat what you learn in a textbook.