Tag Archives: sea islands

Civil War Podcast, Episode 77

REHEARSAL FOR RECONSTRUCTION (Part the First)

Former slaves of Confederate Brigadier General Thomas Drayton
photographed on Hilton Head Island, May 1862.


In which we set the stage for a discussion of the Port Royal Experiment, which took place on South Carolina’s Sea Islands and which many people view as a “rehearsal for reconstruction.”


Our book recommendation for this episode is Freedom National: The Destruction of Slavery in America, 1861-1865 by James Oakes.

“Was Lincoln really a ‘Reluctant Emancipator’?  Freedom National answers that question eloquently and fully.  Oakes argues that Lincoln, from the moment of his inauguration, began using every political and military means at his disposal to wipe out slavery forever.” ~ Howell Raines, Washington Post

Listen to Episode 77: PortRoyalExperiment