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Section 2: Building the Black Community: The Family Section 2: Building the Black Community: The Church Section 2: Building the Black Community: The School Section 2: Quest for Economic Autonomy and Equal Rights Section 2:  Memory and Mourning Section 2: Violence

Excavated materials from Mitchelville, c. 1862-1867.

Excavated materials from Mitchelville,
c. 1862-1867.
(Coastal Discovery Museum)

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Household items and personal belongings from Mitchelville suggest the nature of community life on the Sea Islands after the Civil War.

Employed by the military as plantation laborers, blacks entered into a cash economy, and purchased merchandise at local stores. They also acquired goods from the army and northern missionaries.
Copyright 2003
A New Birth of Freedom: Reconstruction During the Civil War The Meaning of Freedom: Black and White Responses to Slavery From Free Labor to Slave Labor Rights and Power: The Politics of Reconstruction Introduction The Ending of Reconstruction Epilogue Additional Resources Credits for this Exhibit