Making Another Massachusetts of South Carolina: Reconstruction in the Sea Islands

After Union forces captured the Sea Islands of South Carolina at the end of 1862, well-educated Northerners from wealthy families journeyed to South Carolina, charged by the federal government with the task of educating liberated slaves and employing them as free laborers as part of the so-called Port Royal Experiment.  Many viewed their task as, in the words of one newspaper editor, “to make another Massachusetts of South Carolina.” This work evaluates the achievements and disappointments of a unique, integrated community centered around Beaufort, South Carolina, in the years 1863-1880 through the intertwined stories of three Massachusetts men and one former slave.