A stack of dusty paperwork, teeming with unheard voices. What do Civil War pension files reveal about one of the most successful slave rebellions in American history?
In this episode, Roman and historian Edda Fields-Black trace a story of fire, flight, and freedom. It begins on a South Carolina rice plantation in 1863, as an 88-year-old man named Minus Hamilton watches Union gunboats appear on the river, carrying Black soldiers unlike any he’s ever seen. The raid that follows will liberate more than 700 people in a single night. By piecing together the testimonies of Black soldiers buried in military pension applications, Roman and Edda resurrect not just the raid itself, but the lives and communities it transformed – stories of formerly enslaved people which, until then, had been written out of history.
A History of the United States in 100 Objects is a production of 99% Invisible and BBC Studios.
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I’m loving this series! I hope you’ll do a behind-the-scenes episode at some point. I’d love to know how your list of objects compared to the BBC’s list. How many objects did you initially consider, and how many slots did you leave open for listeners to suggest? Are you planning to have a website or repository for this project when you’re done?