Kevin Dougherty
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- January 2016
- ISBN:
- 9781628461534
- eISBN:
- 9781626740822
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University Press of Mississippi
- DOI:
- 10.14325/mississippi/9781628461534.003.0003
- Subject:
- History, American History: Civil War
The United States did not have a plan to deal with the post-combat situation it inherited after its victory at Port Royal. Ultimately Edward Pierce developed a system that combined superintendents to ...
More
The United States did not have a plan to deal with the post-combat situation it inherited after its victory at Port Royal. Ultimately Edward Pierce developed a system that combined superintendents to be appointed for the plantations to control the labor force and bring in the valuable cotton crop and missionary-teachers to address the population’s educational and humanitarian needs. These Gideonites filled a dangerous void, but the lack of prior planning resulted in an ad hoc and largely uncoordinated effort. Similar failures to plan subsequent phases to military operations, act quickly, and ensure unity of effort among participants continued to plague recent US efforts in Iraq, Kosovo, and Somalia, and the Port Royal Experiment serves as a cautionary tale for those planning such transitions from combat operations to nation-building activities.Less
The United States did not have a plan to deal with the post-combat situation it inherited after its victory at Port Royal. Ultimately Edward Pierce developed a system that combined superintendents to be appointed for the plantations to control the labor force and bring in the valuable cotton crop and missionary-teachers to address the population’s educational and humanitarian needs. These Gideonites filled a dangerous void, but the lack of prior planning resulted in an ad hoc and largely uncoordinated effort. Similar failures to plan subsequent phases to military operations, act quickly, and ensure unity of effort among participants continued to plague recent US efforts in Iraq, Kosovo, and Somalia, and the Port Royal Experiment serves as a cautionary tale for those planning such transitions from combat operations to nation-building activities.
Kevin Dougherty
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- January 2016
- ISBN:
- 9781628461534
- eISBN:
- 9781626740822
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University Press of Mississippi
- DOI:
- 10.14325/mississippi/9781628461534.003.0008
- Subject:
- History, American History: Civil War
The Port Royal Experiment pursued economic development in terms of three fronts identified by Edward Pierce as “what could be done to reorganize the laborers, prepare them to become sober and ...
More
The Port Royal Experiment pursued economic development in terms of three fronts identified by Edward Pierce as “what could be done to reorganize the laborers, prepare them to become sober and self-supporting citizens, and secure the successful culture of a cotton-crop.” Integral to Pierce’s objective to “reorganize the laborers” was the issue of land distribution. Efforts to produce “sober and self-supporting citizens” would proceed in accordance with the free-labor ideology. Finally, the prized Sea Island cotton, either as a source of revenue for a cash-strapped Lincoln Administration, as a means of funding the development effort, or as a source of personal profit, lay at the center of all economic decisions. Thus, economic development on the Sea Islands involved the timeless considerations of control of the area’s principal natural resource, the individual and his pursuit of happiness, and a state directed land policy.Less
The Port Royal Experiment pursued economic development in terms of three fronts identified by Edward Pierce as “what could be done to reorganize the laborers, prepare them to become sober and self-supporting citizens, and secure the successful culture of a cotton-crop.” Integral to Pierce’s objective to “reorganize the laborers” was the issue of land distribution. Efforts to produce “sober and self-supporting citizens” would proceed in accordance with the free-labor ideology. Finally, the prized Sea Island cotton, either as a source of revenue for a cash-strapped Lincoln Administration, as a means of funding the development effort, or as a source of personal profit, lay at the center of all economic decisions. Thus, economic development on the Sea Islands involved the timeless considerations of control of the area’s principal natural resource, the individual and his pursuit of happiness, and a state directed land policy.
