Primary Sources: Reconstruction Era (After U.S. Civil War)

"During the Civil War, Union-occupied Roanoke Island, which lies between the North Carolina mainland and the barrier islands known as the Outer Banks, became home to thousands of former slaves. Initially these refugees settled near the Union headquarters, creating a community that included churches and a school. In the spring of 1863, this camp evolved into a government-sanctioned colony. Major General John G. Foster, Commander of the 18th Army Corps, ordered Horace James, a Congregational minister from New England who was serving as a chaplain in the Union army, to establish a colony of former slaves on the island. " The site provides a variety of resources - both primary and secondary about the colony.

Held in the City of Raleigh,
on the 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th of October, 1866
from Documenting the American South

Atlantic Monthly 87 (1901): 354-365

Placed in the context of the Civil War and Reconstruction with the aid of original essays, the documents uncovered by the project's editors are presented in Freedom: A Documentary History of Emancipation, 1861–1867.
A selection of documents from Freedom is available on this web site.