Archaeo-Tech: The Port Royal Experiment - Daily Life in Civil War Refugee Settlements

Lesson Overview

This lesson plan covers the topic of Black refugee settlements (otherwise known as contraband camps) in the American Civil War. In this lesson, students will learn how hundreds of thousands of runaway enslaved people came to be considered “contrabands of war” by the United States military, a turning point in the North’s policy towards fugitive enslaved people that eventually led to the emancipation of all enslaved people in the Confederacy with the Emancipation Proclamation. Using written, photographic, and archaeological evidence, students will learn what life was like for formerly enslaved refugees living as free people for the first time in these camps. Special attention will be given to the Port Royal Experiment, a humanitarian program run by the U.S. military and Northern relief workers in the Sea Islands of South Carolina with the aim of preparing formerly enslaved people for life after emancipation. Students will also look at the Black refugee settlement of Mitchelville on Hilton Head Island, South Carolina.