From the swelling ranks of freedmen, African Baptist churches are now forming in Union-controlled areas of coastal South Carolina. This month freed slaves form the First African Baptist Church of Bluffton, a community just across the inland waterway from Hilton Head Island. The new congregation is the first Baptist church formed in the community. The…
On the eve of the war, the South had more millionaires than did the North, all of whom (in the South) were large slave owners. Reflecting this reality, in 1860 the twelve wealthiest counties in the United States were all in the South. Southern elites — large to mid-size slave owners and their families —…
Northern missionaries, some Baptists, are operating the first school for former slaves on the Union-controlled South Carolina island of St. Helena. The school is part of the United States’ Port Royal experiment of educating and training freed slaves for autonomous living. Began on the Oak Plantation in June, the school quickly grows and this month…