The Sea Islands are a chain of over a hundred tidal and barrier islands on the Atlantic Ocean coast of the Southeastern United States, between the mouths of the Santee and St. Johns rivers along South Carolina, Georgia and Florida. The largest is Johns Island, South Carolina. Sapelo Island is home to the Gullah people. All of the islands are acutely threatened by sea level rise due to climate change.[1]
 Map of the Sea islands | |
  Sea Islands | |
| Geography | |
|---|---|
| Location | Atlantic Ocean |
| Total islands | Over 100 |
| Administration | |
United States | |
History
editSettled by indigenous cultures thousands of years ago, the islands were selected by Spanish colonists as sites for founding of colonial missions. Historically the Spanish influenced the Guale and Mocama chiefdoms by establishing Christian missions in their major settlements, from St. Catherine's Island south to Fort George Island (at present-day Jacksonville, Florida).[2] The area was home to multiple plantations; in 1863 Fanny Kemble published Journal of a Residence on a Georgian Plantation in 1838–1839 about her experience on her husband's plantations in St. Simon's Island and Butler Island.[3]
The Sea Islands were known historically for the production of Sea Island cotton.
After President Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation became effective on January 1, 1863, more than 5,000 slaves on Union-occupied islands obtained their freedom.[4]
In 1893, a deadly major hurricane struck the Sea Islands.
List
editSouth Carolina
edit- Bay Point Island
- Cane Island
- Cat Island
- Coosaw Island
- Dataw Island
- Daufuskie Island
- Distant Island
- Fripp Island
- Gibbes Island
- Harbor Island
- Hilton Head Island
- Horse Island
- Hunting Island
- Lady's Island
- Morgan Island
- Parris Island
- Port Royal Island
- Pritchard's Island[5]
- St. Helena Island
- St. Phillips Island
- Spring Island
Georgia
edit- Tybee Island
- Little Tybee Island
- Cockspur Island
- Wilmington Island
- Talahi Island
- Whitemarsh Island
- Oatland Island
- Skidaway Island
- Isle of Hope
- Williamson Island
- Dutch Island
- Burnside Island
- Wassaw Island
- Ossabaw Island
- St. Catherine's Island
- Isle of Wight
- Hampton Island
Florida
editSee also
editReferences
edit- ^ "Rising seas threaten the Gullah Geechee culture. Here's how they're fighting back". National Geographic Society. 27 July 2022. Archived from the original on 25 October 2022. Retrieved 25 October 2022.
- ^ "Mission Santa Catalina de Guale" Archived 2011-06-06 at the Wayback Machine, New Georgia Encyclopedia, 2008, accessed 13 May 2010
- ^ "Journal of a Residence on a Georgian Plantation in 1838–1839". Encyclopedia.com. Archived from the original on 2022-07-05. Retrieved 2022-07-05.
- ^ William Klingaman, Abraham Lincoln and the Road to Emancipation, 1861-1865 (NY: Viking Press, 2001), p. 234
- ^ "University of South Carolina Beaufort - Pritchards Island". www.uscb.edu. Archived from the original on 2 September 2006. Retrieved 12 January 2022.
Further reading
edit- Gibson, Count D. (1948). Sea Islands of Georgia—Their Geologic History. Athens, Georgia: University of Georgia Press. ISBN 9780820334943. Retrieved 3 July 2019.