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Harvesting Freedom African American Agrarianism in Civil War Era South Carolina
Akiko Ochiai
ISBN: 0-275-97935-0
ISBN-13: 978-0-275-97935-5
312 pages
Praeger Publishers
Publication: 3/30/2004
List Price: $71.95 (UK Sterling Price: £49.95)
Availability: Print on demand
Media Type: Hardcover
Trim Size: 6 1/8 x 9 1/4
Subjects:
Description: From early in the Civil War, the Sea Islands of South Carolina set the stage for an exciting experiment in freedpeople's independence. Lowcountry South Carolina is particularly significant, not only for its aristocratic planters and its high profile in the secession, but for the degree of autonomy that the slaves acquired during seasons of absentee proprietorship. No place ever came closer to realizing the dream of Forty Acres and a Mule than this region, and consequently no place saw more vigorous struggles over land possession. Proving to the world their abilities to purchase lands, to organize cooperatives, and to participate in political parties, the African Americans of the lowcountry forged and fought for their own agrarian dreams.

A highlight of Sea Island history was the Port Royal Experiment, when northern volunteer missionaries provided education to freedpeople, and General Rufus Saxton actively initiated Sherman's Field Orders commandeering the coast for African American homesteaders. When freedom gave them the chance, this group embraced education and democratic self-rule with abilities that even their supporters underestimated. This is the true story of their triumphs and failures in the struggle to claim the lands on which their forefathers toiled and died.
Table of Contents:
  • Preface
    Abbreviations
    Introduction
    Historical Growth of a Black Region
    The Port Royal Experiment
    "Free Labor" and Land Sale
    The AFIC, Preemption Reversal, and Second Land Sales
    The Promise of Sherman Reservation
    African American Politicization
    An African American Yeoman Community--The Case of St. Helena Island--
    Conclusion
    Selected Bibliography
    Index
About the Author: AKIKO OCHIAI is Associate Professor of American History at Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan, specializing in African-American history and culture. A graduate of Tsuda College, she received an MA from the University of Iowa and a Ph.D. in American History from Tsukuba University. In addition to numerous articles in Japanese, her English articles appear in the New England Quarterly, Soundings, The Griot, and The Journal of American and Canadian Studies.
LCC Class: 975
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