EXTRACT TAKEN FROM https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/freedmens-bureau

FREEDMEN’S BUREAU’S SUCCESSES AND FAILURES

The Freedmen’s Bureau was organized into districts covering the 11 former rebel states, the border states of Maryland, Kentucky and West Virginia and Washington, D.C. Each district was headed by an assistant commissioner.

The bureau’s achievements varied from one location to another and from one agent to the next. Over its course of existence, the bureau was underfunded and understaffed, with just 900 agents at its peak.

Bureau agents, who acted essentially as social workers and were frequently the only federal representatives in Southern communities, were subjected to ridicule and violence from whites (including terrorist organizations such as the Ku Klux Klan), who viewed the agents as interfering in local affairs by trying to assist blacks. While some agents were corrupt or incompetent, others were hardworking and brave people who made significant contributions.

During its years of operation, the Freedmen’s Bureau fed millions of people, built hospitals and provided medical aid, negotiated labour contracts for ex-slaves and settled labour disputes. It also helped former slaves legalize marriages and locate lost relatives, and assisted black veterans.

The bureau also was instrumental in building thousands of schools for blacks, and helped to found such colleges as Howard University in Washington, D.C., Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee, and Hampton University in Hampton, Virginia. The bureau frequently worked in conjunction with the American Missionary Association and other private charity organizations.

Additionally, the bureau tried, with little success, to promote land redistribution. However, most of the confiscated or abandoned Confederate land was eventually restored to the original owners, so there was little opportunity for black land ownership, which was seen as a means to success in society.

EVALUATION

Since that time, historians have debated the agency’s effectiveness. A lack of funding, coupled with the politics of race and Reconstruction, meant that the bureau was not able to carry out all of its initiatives, and it failed to provide long-term protection for blacks or ensure any real measure of racial equality.

However, the bureau’s efforts did signal the introduction of the federal government into issues of social welfare and labour relations. As noted in The Freedmen’s Bureau and Reconstruction, “The Bureau helped awaken Americans to the promise of freedom, and for a time, the Bureau’s physical presence in the South made palpable to many citizens the abstract principles of equal access to the law and free labour.”

Originally published in Harper’s Weekly, July 25, 1868, p. 473. By 1863, the previously non-committal Harper’s Weekly came out strongly against slavery and for emancipation and black civil rights. Its cartoons after this period illustrate this stance. This particular cartoon “The Freedmen’s Bureau,” was published near the end of the Bureau’s effective phase, 1865-1868. It is part of a larger collection of African-American related material on the Harper’s Weekly website entitled, “Toward Racial Equality: Harper’s Weekly Reports on Black America, 1857-1874.”

The picture shows hostile white Southerners on the left raising their fists and knives at the freedmen on the right side of the picture. The Freedmen are holding rifles and bayonets and are equally hostile toward the whites. Separating the two groups is a military officer representing the Freedmen’s Bureau.

Certificate of land for James Hicks

After James Hicks swore an oath of allegiance to the United States and petitioned the Freedmen's Bureau for the return of his seized land, the U.S. District Attorney ordered that all legal obstructions to the return of his land be dismissed with this court proceeding.

Agreement of Labour for Truss B. Hall 8/28/1865

Following the Civil War, the Federal Government established the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands to aid former slaves. One of the services this agency provided was assisting freedmen with labour contracts. This contract, dated August 28, 1865, acknowledged that Robert McKenzie would pay Truss B. Hall $4 a month for his service until December 25, and that Hall would “obey all lawful commands as he use to when a slave.”

Contract Between James Mitchell and Dick and Wife 1/19/1866

Richard and Mary, former slaves, were hired by James Mitchell to labour on the land and perform any other labour that Mitchell deemed necessary.

Register of Marriages 9/30/1865

While many slave couples formed lasting bonds during their enslavement, slave marriages had no legal foundation or protection. The abolishment of slavery not only meant citizenship but the ability to have legally recognized marriages without fear of the loss of a spouse through sale. The Bureau helped facilitate and record marriages. The Freedmen's Bureau recorded these county marriages performed by D Maxwell, Clerk of the Court, for the quarter ending on September 30, 1865.

Teachers' Rules ca. 1865

This February 1865 report of teachers H.M and H.S. Barstow includes numbers of students taught, the number of hours spent teaching, and the condition of the school. The Barstows were affiliated with the North-western Freedmen's Aid Commission (NFAC) and were required to abide by that organization's rules

of conduct. Teachers, for example, were required to instruct their students for six hours a day and could be dismissed for filing false reports.

Dealing Out of Rations in Uniontown, Alabama 3/3/1865-6/1872

Application of Henry Jackson ca. 1865-1869

Former slaves could apply to lease abandoned or confiscated land held by the Federal Government. After President Andrew Johnson began to pardon former Confederates, much of this property was returned to its original owners. This register records the applications of freedmen who applied to the Freedmen's Bureau to lease seized and abandoned land.

EXTRACT TAKE FROM http://www.umbc.edu/che/tahlessons/pdf/The_Freedmens_Bureau_Success_or_Failure(PrinterFriendly).pdf

Historians have had mixed opinions about the success of the Freedmen’s Bureau. The biggest criticism of the Bureau is that it failed to secure land for the majority of freedmen, thus relegating them to the status of renter, not owner. This economic dependence made freedmen vulnerable to Southern white designs and contributed to the loss of their newly won civil rights. The failure to secure land for the freedmen cannot be entirely attributed to the Bureau, however. President Johnson’s generous pardons of white landowners in 1865 restored vast tracts of property, despite= Commissioner Howard’s efforts to exempt certain lands against this, so that by the time the well-intentioned Southern Homestead Act of 1866 was passed, there was little left for the freedmen. Also working against the Bureau was its limited funding and inadequate resources. Congress appropriated no money for it during its first year—it relied on the army for financial support. President Johnson’s opposition to the Bureau severely limited its effectiveness and encouraged Southern whites to challenge or ignore it. Finally, when Congress extended the life of the Bureau in the July, 1868, it specified a January, 1869 target date for terminating all Bureau activities except for the collection of bounties for black veterans and educational work. Despite these limitations, historians agree that the Freedmen’s Bureau played a significant role in the lives of the ex-slaves. It negotiated and enforced labour contracts between black labourers and white landowners. It helped to locate missing relatives and adjudicated custody disputes among freed men and women. It saw to it that the ex-bondsmen received justice in Bureau courts when justice was not available in state or local courts. The Bureau served as the freedmen’s counterbalance to white power. And perhaps its most enduring legacy was its contributions to the education of freedmen. It provided funds for the construction of schools. In some cases it paid the salaries of teachers. It founded teacher’s colleges and universities. It transported many teachers from the North into Southern communities.

EXTRACT TAKEN FROM https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedman%27s_Savings_Bank

Freedman’s Savings Bank

Establishment:

At the end of the American Civil War, the poor economic conditions of the formerly enslaved freedmen was aggravated by the economic devastation of the Southern states. The newly freed African Americans had few economic resources or capital and even less exposure to private enterprise. Many soon turned to sharecropping and forced labour in the South. To help alleviate their socio-economic conditions, the Republican-controlled U. S. Congress established the Freedmen's Bureau, passing an act of incorporation and a charter for the Freedman's Saving and Trust Company, which was signed into law by President Abraham Lincoln on March 3, 1865. Originally headquartered in New York City, the first branch of the company opened in Baltimore, Maryland. By 1866, the bank had established 19 branches in 12 states, mainly in the South. The national headquarters was moved to Washington, D.C. the following year.

Function:

The company had been created specifically as a depository for African-American veterans, as well as former slaves and their families to build their savings. However, it also enabled numerous community organizations to increase their financial strength and expand their activities. The company attracted a large number of societies, churches, charities, and other private organizations that opened accounts and established trusts with the company. With the assistance of the company, numerous hospitals, schools and institutions, such as the St. Elizabeth Home for Coloured Children and the St. Francis Xavier Church's Orphan Aid Society, were established. Noted community leaders and civil rights activists served as the management of several trusts and held other important positions in the bank. A large number of African American soldiers and veterans of the war opened savings accounts in the banks; the management of their funds was organized through an allotment system supervised by the officers of the various army regiments.

Failure:

A series of increasingly speculative investments caused the bank to go into debt, while the decision to build a new building in Washington, D.C. added to its financial troubles. An example is the Seneca Sandstone Company, the owner of the Seneca Quarry, which took out unsecured loans from the bank, approved by Henry D. Cooke, who sat on the boards of both the quarry company and the Freedman's Bank. When the Panic of 1873 stuck, the quarry could not repay its debts, which helped undermine the Freedman's Bank. Both institutions went bankrupt, and the bank closed its doors in 1874. A Congressional investigation recommended that Cooke and others be indicted, but that was never followed up. An 1874 court of inquiry cleared Howard of negligence, but he was transferred to the Northwest by President Ulysses S. Grant.

During the next decade, Congress established a program to reimburse depositors up to 62% of their savings, but many depositors never received any compensation. Some scholars claimed that the failure of the Freedman's Bank and the loss of their savings led to a distrust of all banking institutions for several generations among the black community.