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This story is the retelling of Robert Smalls' escape from slavery with his entire family in tow. With a plan "as dangerous as it was brilliant," Smalls commandeers a Confederate ship and successfully navigates it out of Charleston's blockaded port and into the hands of the Union army.

This brief newspaper article represents the commonplace practice of selling land, animals and goods while including enslaved people in the same listing in the United States before emancipation. Serving as primary source evidence of a pending sale, the article simplifies the transactions as purely economic.