Rehearsal for Reconstruction
The most famous "rehearsal for Reconstruction" took place on the Sea Islands just off the coast of South Carolina.
When the Union navy occupied the area in November 1861, the white population fled, leaving behind a community of some 10,000 slaves, who believed freedom meant access to land and the ability to direct their own labor.
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Their
aspirations soon brought them into conflict with new arrivals from the
North -- Treasury agents hoping to restore cotton production, investors
seeking to acquire Sea Island land, and a group of young reformers, known
as Gideon's Band, who sought to assist the freedpeople by providing education
and preparing them for the competitive world of free labor.
Copyright
2003