Series: The Port Royal Experiment

In the fall of 1861 after the Battle of Port Royal, the US military came ashore around Beaufort and found thousands of now formerly enslaved people in control of the region. The military had no real plan yet for what to do with these people or even their legal status. Newly freed Black South Carolinians were active participants. They demanded access to programs to support labor reforms, land redistribution, quality education, and military service.

  • Reconstruction Era National Historical Park

    Article 1: The Port Royal Experiment

    A boat with men standing on a makeshift dock over ruins of a fort in the foreground.

    A few weeks after the Battle of Port Royal, US soldiers and sailors came ashore around Beaufort and found thousands of now formerly enslaved people in control of the region. The military had no real plan yet for what to do with these people or even their legal status. Read more

  • Reconstruction Era National Historical Park

    Article 2: Labor Reforms of the Port Royal Experiment

    A group of people sit on a pile of cotton.

    Paying wages to the formerly enslaved people served two purposes for the government officials developing the Port Royal Experiment. It helped to provide a solution of where people should live. Wages also began to put cash into the hands of people who had toiled this land for generations. Many sought to use that cash to secure that land for themselves. Read more

  • Reconstruction Era National Historical Park

    Article 3: Land Ownership: An Effect of the Port Royal Experiment

    A row of small houses on a plot of land.

    Learn how the Confiscation Act and Revenue Acts of 1861 set the stage for land reform in the Sea Islands of South Carolina. Land reform that would allow formerly enslaved people to purchase land that generations would cherish. Read more

  • Reconstruction Era National Historical Park

    Article 4: Education During the Port Royal Experiment

    A schoolhouse surrounded by trees with a group of students standing in front.

    Education is important for understanding the goals of the Port Royal Experiment, both for the missionaries who established them and for the formerly enslaved people enrolling as students. Read more

  • Reconstruction Era National Historical Park

    Article 5: Military Service and the Port Royal Experiment

    Two civil war era Black soldiers pose, one sits and one stands.

    Military service was an important component of the Port Royal Experiment. The success of the 1st South Carolina Volunteers led to Black military service becoming a core foundation of the arguments in favor of extending citizenship and voting rights to formerly enslaved people. Read more

  • Reconstruction Era National Historical Park

    Article 6: The Legacy of the Port Royal Experiment

    A group of children sit under a live oak tree.

    The Port Royal Experiment was not intended to be a re-envisioning of America, but it evolved as a model for how to transition away from slavery during Reconstruction. Historian Willie Lee Rose termed it a “Rehearsal for Reconstruction.” Read more

Tags: reconstruction era reconstruction era national historic network reconstruction era national historical park reconstruction port royal experiment big gun shoot south carolina 1st south carolina volunteers beaufort african american heritage african american history education labor reform military service usct abolitionists civil war