After the civil war, Smalls continued his fight for freedom in politics as well as education and continued his mission until near the end of his life. Robert became a major general in the South Carolina militia around the time of the civil war. He began to see that his community and family needed his leadership to create a better union. During the civil war, he went to Washington D.C. and met with the Secretary of War to push for the use of black troops and raising of black troops from the area. The region had been abandoned and the Planters had left behind plantations and almost 10,000 slaves. Smalls wanted to be part of an educational, economical, and political reconstruction that would go on in the area. From 1868 to 1874 Robert served in both houses of the Carolina State Legislature. He created the 1st public schools for blacks and whites together in South Carolina. It was the first public schools in the nation. He didn't receive a formal education, so he hired tutors to teach him the basics of reading and writing. He understood that education was one of the things that separated black folks and white folks when he was growing up. Education was also one of the things essential to U.S. citizenship for freedom. Although he was a national official congressman, Smalls still faced hostility repeatedly because of his race, but he never backed down or use violence. His calm and kind demeanor was one of his best assets as a politician. Robert continued to fight for other slave's freedom, even after the civil war had ended.