The crew of the Planter, a transport steamboat, were enslaved during the American Civil War. Their forced labor unfortunately supported the Confederacy by delivering supplies throughout the coastal waters of North Carolina. Eventually the crew could no longer willingly be servants to their own enslavement and began hatching a plan for their escape. Led by Robert Smalls, a skilled boat pilot, they would steal the ship, pick up their families, and make a break for freedom. Other Confederate ships and forts stood in their way. Making it to the free territory was just as dangerous as Union ships would see them as a threat.  This illustrated zine narrates the crew’s bold mission to risk their lives for freedom.