Reconstructions
In 1869, Church Vaughan’s relatives in South Carolina heard from him for the first time in years. While they were struggling in the Reconstruction South, their kinsman had moved to Lagos, now a British colony, and was building a prosperous business and a new family. His success was clear from the gifts that he sent: gold coins. In comparing the lives of Church Vaughan and his American relatives, this chapter considers the prospects for freedom in postbellum South Carolina and early colonial Lagos. Although slavery had been outlawed in both places, the key difference between the two was white supremacy. In South Carolina, not only did former slaveholders and their supporters endeavor to restrict the freedoms of the previously enslaved; in their vision, all people of color should occupy the lowest economic and social status. In Lagos, to the contrary, colonial rule did not bring an influx of Europeans, and white supremacy did not flourish. Church Vaughan and other newcomers to Lagos were largely free from extractive patronage relationships and personal violence, and they were free to make a good living. In this way, Vaughan had opportunities in colonial Lagos that his relatives in South Carolina no longer enjoyed.