Most Port Royal Black soldiers had freed themselves before enlistment

Evidence

The men adore campfires, spelling books, and tobacco, but none of them drink. Most have freed themselves. Take a ride on a federal gunboat and join the Cause. A bayonet for a pick, a rifle for a spade. — Nikole Hannah-Jones et al., The 1619 Project, 745

Categorization

• XREF: This directly contradicts the common ‘liberated-by-Lincoln’ narrative — the men emancipated themselves and delivered black military manpower as leverage, which is the heart of the reframing argument the reader is mapping.