The Lessons of the Great Beaufort Skedaddle
"It is estimated 8-10,000 slaves were left behind in the Sea Islands when
the white population fled. They were soon joined by thousands of others
who escaped to the region once they realized that Northern occupation
meant freedom. They all needed food and shelter, and since the
Emancipation Proclamation had yet to happen, their legal status, beyond
being “contraband,” was unclear. The Army asked for help and received it
in the form of the Port Royal Experiment. Financed and organized by
Northern abolitionist charities, the Experiment worked as a test case to
create self-sufficiency among the former slaves. Its success points to
what Reconstruction might have been if less corruption and more
competence had been at its helm. Northern missionaries and teachers
flocked to the Sea Islands to create schools and aid societies. Former
slaves were allowed to farm the confiscated plantations and were paid $1
per 400 lbs of cotton they were able to harvest. The Penn School on
St. Helena Island was one of the earliest schools established for freed
slaves and can be visited as part of the Penn Center today."
