Abolition Movement

Paying wages to the formerly enslaved people served two purposes for the government officials developing the Port Royal Experiment. It helped to provide a solution of where people should live. Wages also began to put cash into the hands of people who had toiled this land for generations. Many sought to use that cash to secure that land for themselves.

A few weeks after the Battle of Port Royal, US soldiers and sailors came ashore around Beaufort and found thousands of now formerly enslaved people in control of the region. The military had no real plan yet for what to do with these people or even their legal status.

In the fall of 1861 after the Battle of Port Royal, the US military came ashore around Beaufort and found thousands of now formerly enslaved people in control of the region. The military had no real plan yet for what to do with these people or even their legal status. Newly freed Black South Carolinians were active participants. They demanded access to programs to support labor reforms, land redistribution, quality education, and military service.

Education is important for understanding the goals of the Port Royal Experiment, both for the missionaries who established them and for the formerly enslaved people enrolling as students.

Learn how the Confiscation Act and Revenue Acts of 1861 set the stage for land reform in the Sea Islands of South Carolina. Land reform that would allow formerly enslaved people to purchase land that generations would cherish.

In February 1835, a contributing writer to the abolitionist monthly publication "The Anti-Slavery Record," visited the Pennsylvania State House and looked closely at the State House Bell. This is a summary of their thoughts on the visit.

Fort Scott is the only NPS site directly involved in the "Bleeding Kansas” era. The division between pro and anti-slavery forces is reflected by the fact that a former officers' quarters served as the Fort Scott, or "Free State" Hotel while directly across the parade ground an old infantry barracks had become the Western or "Pro Slavery" Hotel.

25 Cornhill Street served as a location of William Lloyd Garrison's abolitionist paper, The Liberator.

The Smith Court Residences provide a window into the family life, occupations, and activism of African Americans in 19th century Boston.

Abolitionist Francis Jackson served as Treasurer of the final Boston Vigilance Committee, and he opened his home on Hollis Street to freedom seekers.