Rehearsal for Reconstruction: The Port Royal Experiment

by Willie Lee Rose, C. Vann Woodward (Introduction)

Just seven months into the Civil War, a Union fleet sailed into South Carolina’s Port Royal Sound, landed a ground force, and then made its way upriver to Beaufort. Planters and farmers fled before the invaders, allowing virtually all their possessions, including ten thousand slaves, to fall into Union hands. Rehearsal for Reconstruction, winner of the Allan Nevins Prize, the Francis Parkman Prize, and the Charles S. Sydnor Prize, is historian Willie Lee Rose’s chronicle of change in the Sea Island region from its capture in 1861 through Reconstruction. With epic sweep, Rose demonstrates how Port Royal constituted a stage upon which a dress rehearsal for the South’s postwar era was acted out.

Genres: History, Civil War, Nonfiction, American History, 19th Century, Race, Historical

464 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1964

About the author

A historian of slavery and the Civil War era, Willie Lee Rose was a professor of history at Johns Hopkins university from 1973 until her retirement in 1992. A graduate of Mary Washington College, she earned her Ph.D. from Johns Hopkins University in 1962, where she studied under C. Vann Woodward.

Reviews

[Frank Stein · Rating 5 out of 5]

An amazing book that chronicles the South Carolina Sea Islands and what became known as the "Port Royal Experiment" during the Civil War.

When the islands were captured early in the war, abolitionists both in and outside government saw it as a perfect opportunity to prove to the world that ex-slaves could be made into productive free-laboring citizens.

In this small area, in just these 4 years, one can already make out many of the tensions and battle lines over black rights and government assistance to blacks that would define American politics for the next 150 years. Here we see the desire to give charity and assistance along with concerns over dependency, complaints and even military orders concerning the instability of the black family, racial tensions between resurgent black leaders and the paternalistic whites who hoped to maintain control, even cheap housing for newly freed slaves to be given on their new 40 acres (this is where the idea of 40 acres and a mule originated, through a terse order from General Sherman).

Not surprisingly, many of the charity-minded whites succumbed to the "Planation Bitters" when they discovered blacks would not act like New England farm hands, and many resorted to mendacious and avaricious tactics to maintain the profit margins on the plantations they worked as supervisors for the government. The conflicts of interest were legion, but few at the time seemed to recognize them. The result was often disaster and disappointment for blacks who received broken promises time and time again. They were rounded up like dogs to serve in the army, they were threatened with pistols to keep them at work on the farm, and many had their promised land title taken out from under them and returned to the Southern planters after President Johnson came to power.

I heard about this book from people in Beaufort, South Carolina when I went to draw some of the buildings for my architectural research job (including the building of the black US Congressman Robert Smalls, who bought his former masters house at tax auction and is a prominent player in this book). It was hearitly recommended, and I see why.

[Patrick Gabridge · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not something you'd read just for fun--it's not the type of historical book based on following a few compelling figures in a novelistic sense, over a period of history. But I'm deep into research for a novel that takes place in and around Port Royal during the Civil War, and it's hard to find a better source than this one.

However, more than just a reference book, this gives an unusual insight into elements of the Civil War, slavery, and its aftermath that are often ignored--what happened to freed blacks on plantations during the war (in this case, in Union occupied South Carolina), and what happened during this remarkable "experiment" with black freedom. This book shows the complexities of the abolitionist movement, and how they finally met up with the practicalities of freedom for black slaves. It didn't always go well. The patterns seen in this time and place end up have a deep relevance to the rest of reconstruction and beyond, both in terms of race relations (including numerous betrayals of the black freedmen by their government and also the people who claimed they were trying to help them), philanthropy, racial politics, even the white Southern relationship to government and taxation.

The book is meticulously researched, and introduces characters (and the resources needed to research them) that could lead to a hundred biographies, novels and films. If you're interested in understanding the Civil War beyond the battlefield, this is a great book to explore.

[Jelli · Rating 3 out of 5]

"And is not my country myself? Slavery is written upon the shore, the trees, the sky, the air..."

I read this book for a work project, and it is a history book very much of its time (1964) in terms of terminology, but it provides a thorough examination of the circumstances in the Sea Islands off the coast of South Carolina during the Civil War.

For those who may be unaware, the Union Army occupied the Sea Islands just seven months after the start of the war. The Army's arrival freed 10,000 enslaved people as their enslavers abandoned their plantations and fled. Eventually, some of this land was divided and sold to the newly freed individuals in what was dubbed the Port Royal Experiment. It was touted as an example of what Reconstruction could be, with assistance from the federal government and Northern anti-slavery aid organizations.

By 1861, nearly 83 percent of the island's population comprised of enslaved people. Most could not read or write. Many had the markings of whips on their backs. When their enslavers fled, they were thrust into a new world with new white people who promised education and pay. It's no wonder trust was difficult to earn.

The book is dense and includes tons of citations for how aid organizations became involved, how the government and Tax Commission conducted the experiment, the history of slavery in the region and beyond, and quoted sentiments from Northerners and Southerners. But it is a pretty decent history.

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the well-written and aptly-named story of early attempts at transforming former slaves into their own self-sufficient community. It's also a great example of what happens when we go looking for things historical in our local areas. As significant as this was, it's not something widely shared in the context of the bigger Civil War picture. In November 1861, the Union Navy sailed into the Port Royal Sound in the South Carolina Lowcountry and secured the surrounding Sea Islands down to Savannah. Following them was a contingent of Northern missionaries, primarily from New York and Boston, who came to educated and reorganize the labor force among the newly-liberated slaves. The book chronicles the realities and challenges of such an ambition project, as well as the differing views of what freedom meant in terms of education, labor, politics, and social norms. The seeds planted here would become what the title implies - a rehearsal of sorts for later Reconstruction policies enacted after the official end of the war. From 1861 until Reconstruction began, the Sea Island freedmen enjoyed a relatively brief period of considerable autonomy compared to their former situation, one which wasn't shared by fellow slaves still under immediate Confederate control. One of the most intriguing things to me was the fact this pocket of freedom was occuring within a few miles of Confederate-held Charleston not far away, which is where many of the white landowners fled as the Union Navy approached. Eventually, though, the Sea Island freedmen suffered the same fate as other freedmen after Reconstruction was abandoned beginning in the mid-1870s. It's a fascinating story, and one that should be more-widely known.

[Maria · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the best book about the Port Royal Experiment. My personal interest in it is the account of Gen. Rufus Saxton, our son's namesake, and a great-great-great uncle of Scott's.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is excellent historical research and writing, but because it was originally a dissertation and definitely has scholars as its main audience it is a bit slow reading. I was definitely engaged in thinking about all the issues surrounding the status of enslaved people in South Carolina in particular, as the first group to be liberated, in 1861. The Union military and the U.S. government was not ready to call them free people or citizens at that point! Even our beloved President Lincoln dragged his feet. But a group of northern abolitionists traveled south and took up residence in order to have some impact on the transition the war was bringing about. Their diaries, letters, and news articles are some of the many primary sources the author quotes.

[Edward Bellis · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great story, the writing styke took a bit time to understand. Once I was beyond it, the book flowed well. The only thing I would add that would have helped was to create an org chart of Boston, NY, and Philadelphia and the original Gideonites. As I was reading, I was reminded about the old story that asks the question about the dog who catches the car. Now what? "What happens when the slaves become free?" was a huge undertaking, and trying to Northernize a people was an ambitious undertaking. I am so glad to share my support for this work. I learned a lot.

[Rebecca · Rating 5 out of 5]

Readable, in-depth chronicle of the "Port Royal Experiment." I recognized some of the characters - such as Laura Towne. This filled in the gaps after visiting Savannah, Charleston, Beaufort, and St. Helena Island, including the Reconstruction Era National Historical Park, site of the Penn Center school where Laura Towne taught.

[Cynthia · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best history books ever written. Willie Lee Rose was a genius.

[Maddie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read for comps

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

The section by Lee Rose discussing how in post Civil War southern america, getting and arranging private purchase of land by northerners from former slaves' owners of Sea Island, Georgia, to start private enterprises to get freed men to working for wages was an art in carving and a science of pure politics. The experiment of Sea Island's contours has me thinking about how mind0blowing is the argument that slavery died out mainly because wage labor was forcefully more profitable. But getting from there to here, now that is some kind of test and fortitude on that li'l Georgia sun-patch..

[Mirza Sultan-Galiev · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very interesting and well written account of the beginnings of Reconstruction in South Carolina.

[Julie Satterfield-Price]

Great book for research on the Sea Islands and the Union occupation during the Civil War. Rose gives a balanced overview of all the main groups in this endeavor called the Port Royal Experiment.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

American history