The Sea Islands are a chain of tidal and

barrier island Barrier islands are coastal landforms and a type of dune system that are exceptionally flat or lumpy areas of sand that form by wave and tidal action parallel to the mainland coast. They usually occur in chains, consisting of anything from a ...

s on the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...

coast of the

Southeastern United States The Southeastern United States, also referred to as the American Southeast or simply the Southeast, is a geographical List of regions in the United States, region of the United States. It is located broadly on the eastern portion of the south ...

. Numbering over 100, they are located between the mouths of the Santee and St. Johns Rivers along the coast of

South Carolina )''Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no) , anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind" , Former = Province of South Carolina , seat = Columbia , LargestCity = Charleston , LargestMetro = ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

, and

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and ...

. The largest of these is Johns Island in South Carolina. The Sea Islands, particularly

Sapelo Island Sapelo Island is a state-protected barrier island located in McIntosh County, Georgia. The island is accessible only by aircraft or boat; the primary ferry comes from the Sapelo Island Visitors Center in McIntosh County, Georgia, a seven-mil ...

, are home to the Gullah people. The islands are very acutely threatened by

sea level rise Globally, sea levels are rising due to human-caused climate change. Between 1901 and 2018, the globally averaged sea level rose by , or 1–2 mm per year on average.IPCC, 2019Summary for Policymakers InIPCC Special Report on the Ocean and Cr ...

due to

Climate Change In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to ...

History

Settled by indigenous cultures over thousands of years, the islands were selected by Spanish colonists as sites for founding of colonial missions. Historically the Spanish influenced the

Guale Guale was a historic Native American chiefdom of Mississippian culture peoples located along the coast of present-day Georgia and the Sea Islands. Spanish Florida established its Roman Catholic missionary system in the chiefdom in the late 1 ...

and

Mocama The Mocama were a Native American people who lived in the coastal areas of what are now northern Florida and southeastern Georgia. A Timucua group, they spoke the dialect known as Mocama, the best-attested dialect of the Timucua language. Thei ...

chiefdoms A chiefdom is a form of hierarchical political organization in non-industrial societies usually based on kinship, and in which formal leadership is monopolized by the legitimate senior members of select families or 'houses'. These elites form a ...

by establishing Christian missions in their major settlements, from St. Catherine's Island south to Fort George Island (at present-day

Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the seat of Duval County, with which th ...

). The area was home to multiple

plantations A plantation is an agricultural estate, generally centered on a plantation house, meant for farming that specializes in cash crops, usually mainly planted with a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. Th ...

; in 1863

Fanny Kemble Frances Anne "Fanny" Kemble (27 November 180915 January 1893) was a British actress from a theatre family in the early and mid-19th century. She was a well-known and popular writer and abolitionist, whose published works included plays, poetry ...

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. After President

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation throu ...

Emancipation Proclamation The Emancipation Proclamation, officially Proclamation 95, was a presidential proclamation and executive order issued by United States President Abraham Lincoln on January 1, 1863, during the American Civil War, Civil War. The Proclamation c ...

became effective on January 1, 1863, more than 5,000 slaves on Union-occupied islands obtained their freedom.

Major Sea Islands

South Carolina

Charleston County Charleston County is located in the U.S. state of South Carolina along the Atlantic coast. As of the 2020 census, its population was 408,235, making it the third most populous county in South Carolina (behind Greenville and Richland counties). ...

* Bull Island *

Dewees Island Dewees Island is a barrier island, located approximately 11 miles north of Charleston, and has an area of 1.875 square miles. The inlet between it and the Isle of Palms An isle is an island, land surrounded by water. The term is very common in ...

* Edisto Island (also in Colleton County) *

Folly Island Folly Island is a barrier island in the Atlantic Ocean near Charleston, South Carolina. It is one of the Sea Islands and is within the boundaries of Charleston County, South Carolina. During the American Civil War, the island served as a major ...

* Isle of Palms * James Island * Johns Island *

Kiawah Island Kiawah may refer to * Kiawah Island, South Carolina Kiawah is a sea island, or barrier island, on the Atlantic coast of the United States. Located southwest of Charleston in Charleston County, South Carolina, it is primarily a private beac ...

Morris Island Morris Island is an 840-acre (3.4 km²) uninhabited island in Charleston Harbor in South Carolina, accessible only by boat. The island lies in the outer reaches of the harbor and was thus a strategic location in the American Civil War. The ...

* Seabrook Island * Sullivan's Island * Wadmalaw Island * Yonges Island

Colleton County

* Bear Island

Beaufort County

* Bay Point Island * Cane Island * Cat Island * Coosaw Island * Dataw Island *

Daufuskie Island Daufuskie Island, located between Hilton Head Island and Savannah, is the southernmost inhabited sea island in South Carolina. It is long by almost wide – approximate surface area of (5,000 acres). With over of beachfront, Daufuskie is sur ...

* Distant Island * Fripp Island * Gibbes Island *

Harbor Island Harbor Island is an artificial island in the mouth of the Duwamish River in Seattle, Washington, US, where it empties into Elliott Bay. Built by the Puget Sound Bridge and Dredging Company, it was completed in 1909 and was then the largest art ...

Hilton Head Island Hilton Head Island, sometimes referred to as simply Hilton Head, is a Lowcountry resort town and barrier island in Beaufort County, South Carolina, United States. It is northeast of Savannah, Georgia, and southwest of Charleston. The island is ...

* Horse Island * Hunting Island * Lady's Island *

Morgan Island Morgan Island is a small island while also being the largest feature in a group of islands located east of Cape Bidlingmaier, off the north side of Heard Island in the Indian Ocean. The island group was charted as extending across "Morgan Bay" ...

* Parris Island * Port Royal Island * Pritchards Island * St. Helena Island * St. Phillips Island * Spring Island

Georgia

Chatham County

* Tybee Island * Little Tybee Island * Cockspur Island *

Wilmington Island Wilmington may refer to: Places Australia *Wilmington, South Australia, a town and locality **District Council of Wilmington, a former local government area **Wilmington railway line, a former railway line United Kingdom * Wilmington, Devon *W ...

* Talahi Island * Whitemarsh Island *Oatland Island * Skidaway Island *

Isle of Hope An isle is an island, land surrounded by water. The term is very common in British English. However, there is no clear agreement on what makes an island an isle or its difference, so they are considered synonyms. Isle may refer to: Geography * Is ...

*Williamson Island *

Dutch Island Dutch Island may refer to a location in the United States: *Dutch Island, Georgia, a census-designated place *Dutch Island (Rhode Island) Dutch Island is an island lying west of Conanicut Island at an entrance to Narragansett Bay in Rhode Island ...

*Burnside Island * Wassaw Island * Ossabaw Island

Liberty County

* St. Catherine's Island *Isle of Wight *Hampton Island

McIntosh County

* Blackbeard Island *

Glynn County

* Jekyll Island * Little St. Simons Island *

St. Simons Island St. Simons Island (or simply St. Simons) is a barrier island and census-designated place (CDP) located on St. Simons Island in Glynn County, Georgia, United States. The names of the community and the island are interchangeable, known simply as ...

* Sea Island

Camden County

Cumberland Island Cumberland Island, in the southeastern United States, is the largest of the Sea Islands of Georgia. The long-staple Sea Island cotton was first grown here by a local family, the Millers, who helped Eli Whitney develop the cotton gin. With its ...

Florida

Nassau County

Amelia Island Amelia Island is a part of the Sea Islands chain that stretches along the East Coast of the United States from South Carolina to Florida; it is the southernmost of the Sea Islands, and the northernmost of the barrier islands on Florida's Atlanti ...

Duval County

* Big Talbot Island *

Little Talbot Island Little is a synonym for small size and may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Little'' (album), 1990 debut album of Vic Chesnutt * ''Little'' (film), 2019 American comedy film *The Littles, a series of children's novels by American author John P ...

St. Johns County

* Anastasia Island

References

External links

Sea Islands: Erosion Remnant Islands and Barrier Islands -- Beaufort County Library
{{authority control Barrier islands of the United States East Coast islands of the United States Islands of Florida Islands of Georgia (U.S. state) Islands of South Carolina Southeastern United States South Carolina in the American Civil War Lists of islands of the United States