Grand Contraband Camp, Virginia facts for kids

The Grand Contraband Camp was a special place in Elizabeth City County, Virginia, near Fort Monroe, during and right after the American Civil War. It was a safe haven for enslaved people who had escaped. The Union army refused to send them back to their former owners in the Confederate states. Instead, the Union called them "contraband of war". This camp became the first self-contained Black community in the United States. It was located where downtown Hampton, Virginia is today.

A New Kind of Freedom: "Contraband"

When Virginia left the United States in 1861, the US Army kept control of Fort Monroe. This fort was at the tip of the Virginia Peninsula. For much of the American Civil War, Brigadier General Benjamin Butler was in charge of Fort Monroe. He was a lawyer and did not support slavery.

Three enslaved men, Frank Baker, James Townsend, and Sheppard Mallory, were working for the Confederate Army. Their owners had hired them out to help build defenses. One night, they escaped by rowing a small boat to Old Point Comfort. They asked for safety at Fort Monroe.

Before the war, slave owners could legally demand their enslaved people back under a federal law. But since Virginia had left the Union, General Butler said he did not have to return the three men. He decided to keep them as "contraband of war." This meant they were like enemy property that could be taken during wartime. The Confederate states saw enslaved people as property. When a Confederate officer asked for the men back, Butler said no. The three men then worked for the Union Army for a small payment.

The word "contraband" for escaped enslaved people first appeared in official records in August 1861. The Confiscation Act of 1861 later made it clearer. This law said Union forces could take any property used by the Confederate military, including enslaved people. Many people, especially enslaved individuals, saw this as a way to gain freedom. They began to go to Union lines.

Their journey to freedom was very hard. They risked being re-enslaved by Confederate patrols. Sometimes, Union soldiers also treated refugees badly. For example, some soldiers would steal money or other items from them.

Building a New Home: The Grand Contraband Camp

News of Butler's decision spread quickly among enslaved communities in southeastern Virginia. Becoming "contraband" did not mean full freedom, but many found it better than staying enslaved. The day after Butler's choice, many more escaped enslaved people came to Fort Monroe. They also asked for "contraband" status. Families, including women and children, who were determined to escape, came to the area.

Soon, there were too many former enslaved people to fit inside Fort Monroe. So, they began to build homes using materials from the ruined town of Hampton. The Confederates had burned Hampton. They named their new settlement the Grand Contraband Camp. They also nicknamed it "Slabtown." By the end of the war in April 1865, about 10,000 enslaved people had sought "contraband" status. Many of them lived near the fort.

The contraband enslaved people of the Virginia Peninsula are known for creating the first self-contained African-American community in the United States. They quickly built schools, churches, businesses, and other community groups.

Other contraband camps appeared in many places during the Civil War. They were often near Union army bases. One mile from Slabtown was Sugar Hill. This was another contraband camp started in 1861. It was connected to the Union's Camp Hamilton, which later became part of Phoebus, Virginia. Another important camp was on Roanoke Island in North Carolina. This was the same place as the "Lost Colony" from almost 300 years earlier.

Contrabands Join the Union Cause

Many contraband enslaved people and free Black individuals chose to serve in the Union Army. They formed groups like the United States Colored Troops (USCT). Some also worked as scouts, guides, spies, cooks, and hospital workers. They also became blacksmiths and mule-drivers. They helped the Union war effort greatly. Many Union officers saw the potential and struggles of the contrabands. They worked to help them get an education, even after the war ended.

Education for a New Future

Near Fort Monroe, outside its protective walls, pioneering teachers began to teach former enslaved people and free Black individuals. This area later became part of the Hampton University campus. One of these teachers was Mary S. Peake. She had been teaching secretly, even though a Virginia law from 1831 made it illegal to educate enslaved and free Black people. This law was passed after Nat Turner's slave rebellion.

Groups like the American Missionary Association helped these efforts to teach former enslaved people. This group was based in the North and included Black and white ministers. Reverend Lewis C. Lockwood arrived at Fort Monroe in September 1861. He was the first missionary to the former enslaved people. He supported Peake and others. By the winter of 1861, there were three day schools for contrabands.

Mary Peake held her first classes outdoors, often under a large oak tree. In 1863, President Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation was publicly read to the contrabands and free Black people under this tree. Because of this, the tree became known as the Emancipation Oak. It is now a National Historic Landmark and is part of the Historic District of Hampton University.

For most contrabands, full freedom came when the Thirteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was approved in late 1865. This amendment ended slavery.

Southern states had made it illegal to teach enslaved people. Because of this, educating freedmen during and after the war was a major goal. The American Missionary Association helped start Hampton Institute and many other historically Black colleges. These schools trained teachers who could then teach children and adults.

Later, former Union Army officers, soldiers, and wealthy people helped fund education for African Americans in the South. They helped create schools to train teachers for the millions of new Black students. Two of these schools eventually became Hampton University and Tuskegee University.

In the early 1900s, a generous person named Julius Rosenwald worked with Dr. Booker T. Washington from Tuskegee. They created a plan to build and improve rural elementary schools for Black children. These schools often received less money from Southern states because of segregation. The Rosenwald Fund helped build over 5,000 schools in the South. Other generous people like Andrew Carnegie and George Eastman also gave a lot of support to Tuskegee and other Black institutions.

Lasting Impact

During and after the American Civil War, former enslaved people and their families made huge contributions. They helped in education, politics, business, law, medicine, and many other areas. They even started a financial institution in Hampton.

Today, their descendants have formed the Contraband Historical Society. This group works to honor and share their story. Authors like Phyllis Haislip have also written about the contraband enslaved people.

Some of the streets in the Grand Contraband Camp, named at that time, still exist near downtown Hampton. These include Grant Street, Lincoln Street, Union Street, Hope Street (now High Court Lane), and Liberty Street (now Armistead Avenue).