During Reconstruction (1865-1877), Americans faced the daunting task of restoring order in the South, reunifying a war-torn nation, and extending equality to African Americans. The federal government passed a series of constitutional amendments aimed to extend rights and citizenship to emancipated slaves—the 13th Amendment (1865) outlawed slavery, the 14th Amendment (1868) extended citizenship to all persons born in the United States and reaffirmed equal protection of the laws to all citizens, and the 15th Amendment (1870) protected the suffrage of citizens regardless of race.
Although African Americans and their allies had made great strides in the years during which federal armies occupied the South, many of these accomplishments were reversed during the years after Reconstruction. The fate of African Americans was gradually turned over to individual states, many of which adopted restrictive 'Jim Crow' laws that enforced segregation based on race and imposed measures aimed at keeping African Americans from voting booths. White supremacist groups such as the Ku Klux Klan—who often had the cooperation of the courts and the police— used violence and terror to strip African Americans of their rights and dignity.
Explore these articles on the Reconstruction Era to learn more. For a complete exploration of this topic, visit the NPS Reconstruction Era website.
Although African Americans and their allies had made great strides in the years during which federal armies occupied the South, many of these accomplishments were reversed during the years after Reconstruction. The fate of African Americans was gradually turned over to individual states, many of which adopted restrictive 'Jim Crow' laws that enforced segregation based on race and imposed measures aimed at keeping African Americans from voting booths. White supremacist groups such as the Ku Klux Klan—who often had the cooperation of the courts and the police— used violence and terror to strip African Americans of their rights and dignity.
Explore these articles on the Reconstruction Era to learn more. For a complete exploration of this topic, visit the NPS Reconstruction Era website.
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- Reconstruction Era National Historical Park
Labor Reforms of the Port Royal Experiment
- Type: Article
- Locations: Reconstruction Era National Historical Park
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.
- Reconstruction Era National Historical Park
The Port Royal Experiment
- Type: Article
- Locations: Reconstruction Era National Historical Park
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.
- Reconstruction Era National Historical Park
Series: The Port Royal Experiment
- Type: Article
- Locations: Reconstruction Era National Historical Park
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.
- Reconstruction Era National Historical Park
The Legacy of the Port Royal Experiment
- Type: Article
- Locations: Reconstruction Era National Historical Park
The Port Royal Experiment was not intended to be a re-envisioning of America, but it evolved as a model for how to transition away from slavery during Reconstruction. Historian Willie Lee Rose termed it a “Rehearsal for Reconstruction.”
- Reconstruction Era National Historical Park
Military Service and the Port Royal Experiment
- Type: Article
- Locations: Reconstruction Era National Historical Park
Military service was an important component of the Port Royal Experiment. The success of the 1st South Carolina Volunteers led to Black military service becoming a core foundation of the arguments in favor of extending citizenship and voting rights to formerly enslaved people.
- Reconstruction Era National Historical Park
Education During the Port Royal Experiment
- Type: Article
- Locations: Reconstruction Era National Historical Park
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.
- Reconstruction Era National Historical Park
Pioneer Fire Company
- Type: Article
- Locations: Reconstruction Era National Historical Park
Learn about the nearly hundred-year history of the Pioneer Fire Company, a Black Volunteer Fire Company from the Reconstruction era in Beaufort, South Carolina.
- Reconstruction Era National Historical Park
Land Ownership: An Effect of the Port Royal Experiment
- Type: Article
- Locations: Reconstruction Era National Historical Park
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.
- Type: Person
- Locations: Fort Sumter and Fort Moultrie National Historical Park, Reconstruction Era National Historical Park
Susan Small was a seventeen-year-old wife and mother when she escaped to freedom with her infant son Philip aboard the Confederate steamer the "Planter."
- Type: Person
- Locations: Fort Sumter and Fort Moultrie National Historical Park, Reconstruction Era National Historical Park
John Small freed himself, his wife Susan, and their infant son Phillip during a dangerous escape aboard the Confederate steamer, Planter. As the ship’s engineer, John was instrumental in the success of the mission in which he and pilot Robert Smalls brought a total of sixteen men, women and children out of slavery and into freedom.
Last updated: August 17, 2018