Freedmen's Colony Of Roanoke Island
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The Freedmen's Colony of Roanoke Island, also known as the Roanoke Island Freedmen's Colony, or "Freedman's Colony", was founded in 1863 during the
Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...
after Union Major General
John G. Foster John Gray Foster (May 27, 1823 – September 2, 1874) was an American soldier. A career military officer in the United States Army and a Union Army, Union general during the American Civil War, he served in North Carolina, North and South Caroli ...
, Commander of the 18th Army Corps, captured the Confederate fortifications on
Roanoke Island Roanoke Island () is an island in Dare County, North Carolina, Dare County, bordered by the Outer Banks of North Carolina, United States. It was named after the historical Roanoke (tribe), Roanoke, a Carolina Algonquian people who inhabited the ar ...
off North Carolina in 1862. He classified the slaves living there as "
contraband Contraband (from Medieval French ''contrebande'' "smuggling") refers to any item that, relating to its nature, is illegal to be possessed or sold. It is used for goods that by their nature are considered too dangerous or offensive in the eyes o ...
", following the precedent of General
Benjamin Butler Benjamin Franklin Butler (November 5, 1818 – January 11, 1893) was an American major general of the Union Army, politician, lawyer, and businessman from Massachusetts. Born in New Hampshire and raised in Lowell, Massachusetts, Butler is best ...
at
Fort Monroe Fort Monroe, managed by partnership between the Fort Monroe Authority for the Commonwealth of Virginia, the National Park Service as the Fort Monroe National Monument, and the City of Hampton, is a former military installation in Hampton, Virgi ...
in 1861, and did not return them to Confederate slaveholders. In 1863, by the
Emancipation Proclamation The Emancipation Proclamation, officially Proclamation 95, was a presidential proclamation and executive order issued by United States President Abraham Lincoln on January 1, 1863, during the Civil War. The Proclamation changed the legal sta ...
, all slaves in Union-occupied territories were freed. The island colony started as one of what were 100 contraband camps by the war's end, but it became something more. The African Americans lived as
freedmen A freedman or freedwoman is a formerly enslaved person who has been released from slavery, usually by legal means. Historically, enslaved people were freed by manumission (granted freedom by their captor-owners), abolitionism, emancipation (gra ...
and civilians. They were joined by former slaves from the mainland, seeking refuge and freedom with the Union forces. They were paid for their work and sought education, along with their children. As commanding officer of the
Department of North Carolina The Department of Virginia and North Carolina was a United States Military department encompassing Union-occupied territory in the Confederate States during the Civil War. In 1863 it was formed by the merging of two previously existing departme ...
, in 1863 Foster appointed Horace James, a
Congregational Congregational churches (also Congregationalist churches or Congregationalism) are Protestant churches in the Calvinist tradition practising congregationalist church governance, in which each congregation independently and autonomously runs its ...
chaplain, as the "Superintendent of Negro Affairs in the North Carolina District", to supervise the contraband camps and administer to freedmen. James was based at
New Bern New Bern, formerly called Newbern, is a city in Craven County, North Carolina, United States. As of the 2010 census it had a population of 29,524, which had risen to an estimated 29,994 as of 2019. It is the county seat of Craven County and t ...
, where he managed the Trent River contraband camp. James believed the Roanoke Island Colony was an important experiment in black freedom and a potential model for other freedmen communities. Freedmen built churches and set up the first free school for black children here; and they were soon joined by Northern
missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Tho ...
teachers who came to the South to help the effort. There was a core group of about six teachers, but a total of 27 teachers served at the island.Click, Patricia C. "The Roanoke Island Freedmen's Colony"
, The Roanoke Island Freedmen's Colony Website, 2001, accessed 9 Nov. 2010
As the war went on, conditions became more difficult at the crowded colony, whose residents suffered
infectious diseases An infection is the invasion of tissues by pathogens, their multiplication, and the reaction of host tissues to the infectious agent and the toxins they produce. An infectious disease, also known as a transmissible disease or communicable dise ...
. In 1865 President
Andrew Johnson Andrew Johnson (December 29, 1808July 31, 1875) was the 17th president of the United States, serving from 1865 to 1869. He assumed the presidency as he was vice president at the time of the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. Johnson was a Dem ...
ordered the return of all property under his "Amnesty Proclamation", and the lands cultivated and occupied by contraband camps were returned to owners. The freedmen were not given rights to their holdings in the Colony, and most left the island. Its soil had proved too poor to support many subsistence farmers. In later 1865, the US Army directed the dismantling of the three forts on the island. By 1867, the colony was abandoned, but about 300 freedmen still lived there independently in 1870. Some of their descendants live there today.


History

Long used for fishing camps by varying cultures of
indigenous peoples Indigenous peoples are culturally distinct ethnic groups whose members are directly descended from the earliest known inhabitants of a particular geographic region and, to some extent, maintain the language and culture of those original people ...
, Roanoke Island was first colonized by an English explorer in 1584.
Sir Walter Raleigh Sir Walter Raleigh (; – 29 October 1618) was an English statesman, soldier, writer and explorer. One of the most notable figures of the Elizabethan era, he played a leading part in English colonisation of North America, suppressed rebellion ...
tried to settle people there, to found a colony on what is now American soil."History of Roanoke Island"
Manteo History, Roanoke Island, 11 Nov. 2010
Raleigh sent 100 men to Roanoke Island. The settlement was unsuccessful and abandoned within a year.Stick, David. ''Roanoke Island: The Beginnings of English America'', University of North Carolina Press, 1983 In 1587, another 110 colonists were planted on the island. Captain John White, named governor by Raleigh, returned to England in August that year for more supplies. Delayed by warfare, when he returned three years later, he found the island utterly abandoned. A popular regional myth tells that the colonists were absorbed by an Algonquian-speaking tribe, but historians say there is no evidence for it. They believe the colonists died by starvation and
Powhatan The Powhatan people (; also spelled Powatan) may refer to any of the indigenous Algonquian people that are traditionally from eastern Virginia. All of the Powhatan groups descend from the Powhatan Confederacy. In some instances, The Powhatan ...
Indian attack.Miller, Lee. ''Roanoke: Solving the Mystery of the Lost Colony'', New York: Arcade Pub., 2001 By the mid-1600s, English settlers colonized the island and established a permanent settlement. They gradually tried to develop
plantations A plantation is an agricultural estate, generally centered on a plantation house, meant for farming that specializes in cash crops, usually mainly planted with a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. The ...
, using imported
African African or Africans may refer to: * Anything from or pertaining to the continent of Africa: ** People who are native to Africa, descendants of natives of Africa, or individuals who trace their ancestry to indigenous inhabitants of Africa *** Ethn ...
slaves as labor, but the soil was rather poor. The island produced some commodity crops. When North Carolina seceded from the Union in 1861, the Confederacy made plans to fortify Roanoke Island to protect the bay and inland waterways. By that winter, the army had built three forts, although they were relatively weak and too small for the number of occupying troops. On February 8, 1862, the Union general
Ambrose E. Burnside Ambrose Everett Burnside (May 23, 1824 – September 13, 1881) was an American army officer and politician who became a senior Union general in the Civil War and three times Governor of Rhode Island, as well as being a successful inventor ...
easily captured Roanoke Island from Confederate general
Henry A. Wise Henry Alexander Wise (December 3, 1806 – September 12, 1876) was an American attorney, diplomat, politician and slave owner from Virginia. As the 33rd Governor of Virginia, Wise served as a significant figure on the path to the American Civil W ...
(former governor of the state of Virginia (1856–1860)). The Union maintained control of the island through the end of the war. As slaves learned of the Union victory, they migrated to the island for freedom with Union forces and protection from the Confederacy. They quickly began to form refugee camps. General Burnside declared the refugees "contraband" of war, in a policy initiated by General
Benjamin Butler Benjamin Franklin Butler (November 5, 1818 – January 11, 1893) was an American major general of the Union Army, politician, lawyer, and businessman from Massachusetts. Born in New Hampshire and raised in Lowell, Massachusetts, Butler is best ...
at
Fort Monroe Fort Monroe, managed by partnership between the Fort Monroe Authority for the Commonwealth of Virginia, the National Park Service as the Fort Monroe National Monument, and the City of Hampton, is a former military installation in Hampton, Virgi ...
in 1861, and granted the slaves freedom. The number of freedmen living on the island increased from 250 in the first few months, to more than 1,000 by the end of 1862. They formed a community, organizing the first free school for black children in North Carolina, and churches. The majority converted old Confederate barracks into their new homes, which became known as "Camp Foster" after one of the generals who had defeated the Confederates. Able-bodied freedmen worked for the Union, especially in construction, such as rebuilding the forts and adding to docks. The Army paid them for their work. In 1862 General
John G. Foster John Gray Foster (May 27, 1823 – September 2, 1874) was an American soldier. A career military officer in the United States Army and a Union Army, Union general during the American Civil War, he served in North Carolina, North and South Caroli ...
became commander of the Department of North Carolina. After the
Emancipation Proclamation The Emancipation Proclamation, officially Proclamation 95, was a presidential proclamation and executive order issued by United States President Abraham Lincoln on January 1, 1863, during the Civil War. The Proclamation changed the legal sta ...
, he appointed Horace James, a
Congregational Congregational churches (also Congregationalist churches or Congregationalism) are Protestant churches in the Calvinist tradition practising congregationalist church governance, in which each congregation independently and autonomously runs its ...
chaplain, as "Superintendent of Negro Affairs for the North Carolina District." James was to develop a self-sustaining colony on the island and manage other contraband camps in the state, such as one earlier established at his base of
New Bern New Bern, formerly called Newbern, is a city in Craven County, North Carolina, United States. As of the 2010 census it had a population of 29,524, which had risen to an estimated 29,994 as of 2019. It is the county seat of Craven County and t ...
, called the Trent River contraband camp. James was to settle the people, give them farming tools, and teach them to prepare for a free community. Based at New Bern, James took a special interest in the Roanoke Freedmen's Colony. He believed it could be an important model for resettlement of other freedmen after the war. President
Lincoln Lincoln most commonly refers to: * Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), the sixteenth president of the United States * Lincoln, England, cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England * Lincoln, Nebraska, the capital of Nebraska, U.S. * Lincol ...
's Emancipation Proclamation had freed slaves in Confederate areas occupied by Union troops. Many of them moved to Union camps for protection.


Life in the Colony


Enlistment of freedmen in the Union Army

The Roanoke Island Freedmen's Colony was a safe haven for slaves seeking refuge with the Union Army during the Civil War. Most freedmen on Roanoke Island assisted the Union Army: others joined the army as soldiers when the
United States Colored Troops The United States Colored Troops (USCT) were regiments in the United States Army composed primarily of African-American (colored) soldiers, although members of other minority groups also served within the units. They were first recruited during ...
were founded, and some men worked as spies, scouts and guides, since they knew the area and its waterways well. They completed dangerous and crucial missions for the Union cause."The Roanoke Island Freedmen's Colony"
, provided by National Park Service, at North Carolina Digital History: LEARN NC, accessed 11 November 2010
Freedmen recruited from Roanoke Island formed the "first company of the North Carolina Colored Volunteers".
''Carolina Country Magazine'', date?, accessed 10 November 2010
Major General
Rush Hawkins Rush Christopher Hawkins (September 14, 1831 – October 25, 1920) was a lawyer, Union colonel in the American Civil War, politician, book collector, and art patron. He was mustered out of the Union Army in 1863 but served in the New York Militia ...
, who succeeded Foster in 1863 at the command on the island, ordered the freedmen who enlisted in the army or worked for the military be paid "ten dollars a month plus one ration and a soldier's allowance of clothing."Click, Patricia C. ''Time Full of Trial: The Roanoke Island Freedman's Colony, 1862–1867'', Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina, 2001 According to an article by the
National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational propertie ...
, "of nearly 4,000 North Carolina enlistees, over 150 men were recruited from the Roanoke Island community alone." The Union Army allowed families of black soldiers to live at Roanoke Island as a place of refuge. Those men who were not recruited by the army served as woodcutters, teamsters, longshoremen, carpenters, blacksmiths, and workers in other trades. Many freedwomen worked as cooks and laundresses at the Union camp.


Self-sufficiency

Hawkins provided for payment for the labor of freedwomen and older boys, and allotting supplies to families:
Each woman and each boy aged twelve to sixteen were to be paid four dollars a month plus one ration; in addition, each woman was to receive money equal to a soldier's allowance of clothing, while each boy aged twelve to sixteen would receive a soldier's allowance of clothing. Each child under twelve would receive one ration and remain with his or her parents.
The Army allocated small plots of land to the households of the colony, and encouraged the freedmen to produce crops for
food supplement A dietary supplement is a manufactured product intended to supplement one's diet by taking a pill, capsule, tablet, powder, or liquid. A supplement can provide nutrients either extracted from food sources or that are synthetic in order ...
s. Under James' direction, they created fisheries as well, to make the island more self-sufficient. The creation of a sawmill and marketing of artisan goods helped the economy of the island. Many adults worked for the Union Army and were given wages and rations as payment for their services. The Commander on the island, Col. Rush Hawkins, also helped preserve the slave families who came to the island for refuge. Ownership of land, practice of a trade, and the ability to live with their families gave the freedmen a "taste of citizenship, family life, and hope".


Horace James

Reverend Horace James was an evangelical Congregational minister from
Worcester, Massachusetts Worcester ( , ) is a city and county seat of Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. Named after Worcester, England, the city's population was 206,518 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the second-List of cities i ...
. He was born to Galen James, a deacon, and his wife in the city of Medford. After studying at common schools, James attended
Yale College Yale College is the undergraduate college of Yale University. Founded in 1701, it is the original school of the university. Although other Yale schools were founded as early as 1810, all of Yale was officially known as Yale College until 1887, ...
, graduating in 1840. He went on to study theology, graduating from seminary school in 1843. He first served as the pastor at a church in
Wrentham, Massachusetts Wrentham ( ) is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 12,178 at the 2020 census. History In 1660, five men from Dedham were sent to explore the lakes near George Indian's wigwam and to report back to the ...
, beginning in November 1843.Blake, Mortimer. ''A Centurial History of the Mendon Association of Congregational Ministers'', Boston: Sewall Harding, 1853, p. 197 He married Helen Leavitt of
Walpole, New Hampshire Walpole is a town in Cheshire County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 3,633 at the 2020 census. The town's central village, where 573 people resided at the 2020 census, is defined as the Walpole census-designated place (CDP) and ...
. After the American Civil War started, James joined the Union Army as a
chaplain A chaplain is, traditionally, a cleric (such as a Minister (Christianity), minister, priest, pastor, rabbi, purohit, or imam), or a laity, lay representative of a religious tradition, attached to a secularity, secular institution (such as a hosp ...
, by then having had nearly 20 years experience as a pastor. By 1862, he was assigned to the forces that occupied North Carolina. In April 1863, the general appointed him as the "Superintendent of Negro Affairs for the District of North Carolina". He was to arrange for food, shelter, adequate clothing and medical care for the many blacks in the area, who had come to Union lines for freedom and refuge. James believed that a lumber industry would help the Roanoke colony grow and become economically self-sufficient. He had a sawmill built on the island, so that lumber could be processed and sold to the government. Other natural resources could be sold elsewhere. He hoped to show that "free labor and technology was always superior to the slave system." The sawmill had a seventy-horsepower engine, powerful for that time and venue. The mill was located at Pork Point near Union headquarters. A soldier stationed on the island described it in 1864 as "a first class affair, like most anything belonging to the Government." James intended to arrange for the freedmen to get some of the lumber, so they could build sturdier cabins than their traditional split-pine one-room structures:
Each house contains but one room, no rooms above. The boards used for building are made as follows. They cut down a pitch pine tree, then cut it in logs eight feet long, then with the ax and wedge, split into boards about inches in thickness, the grain being perfectly straight, but makes a very uneven surface. The wind blows through the crevices.
James advocated a "New Social Order in the South," to replace slavery with free institutions. The freedpeople had a variety of skills: many were artisans, who made baskets, shoes, barrels, shingles, and boats, which could be traded or sold. James intended to market both the natural resources and the freedmen's crops, such as cotton, corn, turpentine, resin, tar, timber, fish, oysters, wood, reeds, and grapes, to make the colony self-sufficient. While thinking freedmen should have the rights of citizens, he also held that "there was a natural stratification of society" and African Americans were near the bottom.


Missionary aid

Much of the aid, education, and social work on the island was planned and carried out by representatives of the
American Missionary Association The American Missionary Association (AMA) was a Protestant-based abolitionist group founded on in Albany, New York. The main purpose of the organization was abolition of slavery, education of African Americans, promotion of racial equality, and ...
, also known as AMA. The AMA worked to evangelize slaves and convert them to Christianity (if they were not already so). They sent missionaries to Roanoke Island to aid the colony through education, medicine, food, and religious services. They also preached the Gospel to the freedmen. Education classes were started. The state of medicine in the colony, as in society in general, was informal. Missionaries with little to no medical training administered medicine to the sick on the island. Gradually they learned the adequate dosages and which medicines applied to certain diseases. There were no
antibiotics An antibiotic is a type of antimicrobial substance active against bacteria. It is the most important type of antibacterial agent for fighting bacterial infections, and antibiotic medications are widely used in the treatment and prevention o ...
or
vaccines A vaccine is a biological preparation that provides active acquired immunity The adaptive immune system, also known as the acquired immune system, is a subsystem of the immune system that is composed of specialized, systemic cells and pro ...
, so medicine consisted of folk remedies, bloodletting and surgery. The freedwomen were knowledgeable of herbal remedies, which were often more effective than what trained doctors could offer at the time. Other organizations, such as the
National Freedman's Relief Association National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...
and the New England Freedmen's Aid Society of Boston, also sent representatives and aid to the colony. In contrast to the AMA, however, the National Freedman's Relief Association was not evangelical. It promoted abolition of slavery and encouraged the freedmen to "develop self-discipline, self-reliance, and self-support." Religious practices formed a core of activities during this time. Missionaries held Sunday schools each week, often taught by the same teachers who led reading and writing classes during the week. Monthly Sabbath school concerts featured students' singing hymns and reciting passages from the Bible. Sunday evening worship services were "well attended" by the freedmen.


Education

Education was viewed as the key to "prepare the freedpeople for citizenship". Under the supervision of the Union military, the freedmen built schools, churches, and about 600 cabins. The schools were simple log cabins. Both children and adults were eager to learn to read and write, as most of the slaves had not had any formal education in these skills.http://www.carolinacountry.com/storypages/ourstories/freedmen/freedmen.html "The Roanoke Island Freedmen's Colony," ''Carolina Country Magazine'', accessed 10 Nov. 2010 Missionaries, mostly unmarried women teachers from New England, were the prime teachers. There was a core group of about seven teachers, but altogether 27 teachers served at the island.


First teachers and schools

In October 1863, Elizabeth James arrived from the AMA. She was a cousin of the Reverend James, and had experience as a teacher and as the principal of a school in Milford. In February 1864, she founded the Lincoln School in Camp Foster. She noted the students had "an intense desire to learn." Ella Roper opened the Whipple School, which had a roster of 200 students. In March 1864 Samuel Nickerson started the Cypress Chapel School. Although the facilities and supplies were limited in each case, the freedmen's eagerness to learn kept each classroom filled "to its utmost capacity".


Decline of the Colony

As the number of freedmen grew to 3900, the colony had difficulty in providing housing. Sanitation suffered on the island as there were no systems to handle it.
Infectious diseases An infection is the invasion of tissues by pathogens, their multiplication, and the reaction of host tissues to the infectious agent and the toxins they produce. An infectious disease, also known as a transmissible disease or communicable dise ...
began to spread in the crowded conditions. When severe diseases such as
smallpox Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by variola virus (often called smallpox virus) which belongs to the genus Orthopoxvirus. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (WHO) c ...
,
cholera Cholera is an infection of the small intestine by some strains of the bacterium ''Vibrio cholerae''. Symptoms may range from none, to mild, to severe. The classic symptom is large amounts of watery diarrhea that lasts a few days. Vomiting and ...
, and
dysentery Dysentery (UK pronunciation: , US: ), historically known as the bloody flux, is a type of gastroenteritis that results in bloody diarrhea. Other symptoms may include fever, abdominal pain, and a feeling of incomplete defecation. Complications ...
arose, no one at the time understood how they were transmitted, and there were no treatments. The missionaries could do little more than the freedmen. The colony began the "downward slide from which twas unable to recover." The increase in the number of freedmen strained their relationship with the Union military. As more freedmen entered the Union Army, their families became more dependent on the government and military for aid because of the island's isolation. The Army pressed the refugees for more labor as the war dragged on. In one case in late 1864, military officers forced some freedmen who had been working for the Quartermaster's Department on Roanoke Island to leave and work on construction of the
Dutch Gap Dutch Gap Canal is located on the James River in Chesterfield County, Virginia just north of the lost 17th-century town of Henricus. The canal's construction was initiated by Union forces during the American Civil War to bypass a meander loop of ...
Canal to divert the
James River The James River is a river in the U.S. state of Virginia that begins in the Appalachian Mountains and flows U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map , accessed April 1, 2011 to Chesapea ...
in Virginia. The commanding officers, such as Colonel Rush Hawkins, had ordered subordinates to treat freedmen "with respect," but tensions arose. Bad harvest seasons caused the residents to suffer from lack of food. They had already found that the soil was too poor to support the needed level of cultivation for the population. Rations were reduced in the late stages of the war, which made the inhabitants more desperate. According to Elizabeth James, a teacher, the freedmen would "steal fearfully" from each other. She said, "they are hungry" so "they steal anything they can lay their hands on anywhere." When President Johnson issued his "Amnesty Proclamation" in 1865, he ordered all "property seized by the Union forces during the war be returned." The lands used for the contraband camps were returned to their former Confederate owners, and all the camps were dismantled. At the Roanoke Island Colony, the freedmen were told they had no rights to the plots they had cultivated for years. The US Army helped most freedmen return to the mainland, at their choice. Some returned to former plantations and became
sharecroppers Sharecropping is a legal arrangement with regard to agricultural land in which a landowner allows a tenant to use the land in return for a share of the crops produced on that land. Sharecropping has a long history and there are a wide range ...
, tenant farmers or laborers. After the war, numerous freedmen moved from rural areas to towns and cities to evade white supervision and gain more opportunities as craftsmen. In late 1865, the Army dismantled the forts on the island, which further disrupted the colony. By 1867, the colony was abandoned, although some freedmen continued to live on the island. The 1870 census recorded 300 blacks in 60 households.


Legacy

The Roanoke Island Freedmen's Colony was important for educating hundreds of freedmen in literacy, paying adults and older children for their work, helping them to establish churches and community, and helping preserve their families at a time of war.


Letters from Roanoke Island

Numerous transcribed letters by Horace James and the missionary teachers, as well as some of the freedmen, may be viewed at the website
"Documents"
Roanoke Island Freedmen's Colony. They express vividly the conditions of the freedmen and the colony.


Commemoration

*2001, the Dare County Heritage Trail committee erected a marble monument to the Roanoke Island Freedmen's Colony on the island at the
Fort Raleigh National Historic Site Fort Raleigh National Historic Site preserves the location of Roanoke Colony, the first English settlement in the present-day United States. The site was preserved for its national significance in relation to the founding of the first English s ...
, which commemorates the first English colony. *2004, the monument and island were added as sites to the National
Underground Railroad The Underground Railroad was a network of clandestine routes and safe houses established in the United States during the early- to mid-19th century. It was used by enslaved African Americans primarily to escape into free states and Canada. T ...
Network to Freedom, developed by the
National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational propertie ...
.


References

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External links


"The Roanoke Voyages"
Fort Raleigh National Historic Site, U.S. National Park Service, 6 December 2010 African-American history of North Carolina African-American historic places Religious organizations based in the United States African Americans in the American Civil War Social history of the American Civil War 1863 establishments in North Carolina Roanoke Island Populated places established by African Americans American freedmen