Rebellion, Reconstruction, and Redemption, 1861-1893, Volume 2

"The authors of this volume and its predecessor have lifted Beaufort County out of the parochial realm of local history and produced a landmark that stands alone as a tour-de-force of concept and execution. Events in Beaufort County in the 1860s had a national impact in the Civil War and Reconstruction, and so should this series make its mark on the historiography of the era."—William C. Davis, professor of history and director, Virginia Center for Civil War Studies, Virginia Tech

"This is local history at its best, an insightful and original account of the Civil War, Reconstruction, and its aftermath in a county where all the questions arising from the end of slavery—access to land, civil rights, political power, race relations, and the promise and betrayal of freedom—were played out. Essential reading for anyone interested in that turbulent era"—Eric Foner, DeWitt Clinton Professor of History, Columbia University

"Unique in South Carolina, Beaufort County was the locale of the famous Port Royal Experiment during the Civil War and the center of black political leadership during Reconstruction and after. This detailed account of those years unravels the complex military, social, political, and economic history of a region that remains today a focus of African-American culture."—James M. McPherson, George Henry Davis 1886 Professor of American History, Emeritus, Princeton University

"I have waited almost two decades for this second volume of a trilogy on Beaufort County, South Carolina. And, it was well worth the wait! In this magisterial work, Larry Rowland and Steve Wise have continued the saga of one of the state's most fascinating locales. From the 'Day of the big Gun Shoot' on November 7, 1861, through the Port Royal Experiment and Reconstruction, to the election of 1892 and the high point of inter-racial fusion politics, this is a riveting story of a place and its people."—Walter Edgar

"Specialists will rejoice that Beaufort County has a new standard volume for this period, and Low Country enthusiasts will enjoy this exhaustive treatment of the county's history an extraordinary contribution to the scholarship of the region. Wise and Rowland conclusively prove how the war "forever changed Beaufort County"."—The Journal of American History

"Wise and Rowland succeed in combining their easy familiarity with the South Carolina low country's human and geographical terrain with a keen sense of how local circumstances shaped, and were profoundly transformed by, the wider upheaval inaugurated by war and the disintegration of slavery... this exemplary volume will stand as both an indispensable reference source and a pioneering and perceptive study of one of the most strategically situated southern communities during and after the Civil War."—The South Carolina Historical Magazine