The Freedmen's Bureau was an important agency of the early Reconstruction era, assisting freedmen (freed ex-slaves) in the South.
By the spring of 1865, there was
little doubt about the eventual outcome of the American Civil War. Anticipating
issues related to the disposition of nearly four million slaves freed by
President Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation, on March 3, 1865
Congress approved An Act to establish a Bureau for the Relief of Freedmen
and Refugees. Signed by President Lincoln on the same day, the bill
established the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands, more
commonly known as the Freedmen’s Bureau.
The original Freedmen's Bureau was
"established in the War Department, to continue during the present war of
rebellion, and for one year thereafter." The legislation granted the
agency "supervision and management of all abandoned lands, and the control
of all subjects relating to refugees and freedmen from rebel states." To
accomplish the Bureau’s goals, Congress authorized the President to appoint a
commissioner to manage the agency. In May 1865, President Andrew Johnson
selected Major General Oliver O. Howard as the Bureau's first (and only)
commissioner. Under Howard's leadership, the Bureau initially focused its
efforts on redistributing captured and abandoned lands in the South to
freedmen. President Johnson soon undermined redistribution aims, however, when
he began issuing pardons to white Southern landowners, which entitled them to
reclaim confiscated land.
As the one-year deadline for the
termination of the Freedmen's Bureau approached, Illinois Senator Lyman
Trumbull proposed legislation to extend the life, as well as the scope of the
agency. Trumbull's measure did not set an expiration date for the renewed
Bureau. Instead, he proposed that it exist "until otherwise provided by
law." The first Freedmen's Bureau Act stipulated that "the Secretary
of War may direct such issues of provisions, clothing, and fuel, as he may deem
needful . . . ." In its final form, Trumbull's proposal stated that
"the Secretary of War may direct such issues of provisions, clothing,
fuel, and other supplies, including medical stores and transportation, and
afford such aid, medical or otherwise, as he may deem needful . . . ." The
final bill also stipulated, "That the Commissioner shall . . . provide or
cause to be erected suitable buildings for asylums and schools."
After several weeks of debate in both
houses, Congress passed the Second Freedmen's Bureau Act, formally titled AN
ACT to amend an act entitled "An act to establish a Bureau for the relief
of Freedmen and Refugees," and for other purposes, on February 6,
1866. On February 19, President Johnson vetoed the legislation. In his veto
message, Johnson objected to the act for a variety of reasons, including:
- the act was unnecessary, because the original bill had not yet expired,
- the legislation was an unwarranted and unconstitutional extension of war powers in peacetime,
- the military tribunals the act  established were arbitrary and unconstitutional,
- the Constitution never contemplated a system of support for the poor,
- the Bureau’s cost under the new bill was excessive, and
- the unconstitutionality of legislation affecting Southern states enacted while those states were not represented in Congress.
Congress responded by passing a
slightly different version of the bill over the President's veto on July 16,
1866.
Commissioner Howard tackled his
duties with great enthusiasm, but over the course of the Bureau's existence, it
was understaffed and underfunded. Still, the Bureau provided a plethora of
services to freedmen and some poor whites in the South. With varying levels of
success, the Freedmen's Bureau:
- settled freedmen on abandoned or confiscated lands,
- provided food and clothing to displaced and unemployed people in need,
- operated hospitals and provided medical care,
- established refugee camps,
- helped locate family members,
- provided transportation to refugees attempting to reunite with their families,
- helped freedmen legalize marriages,
- provided transportation to refugees attempting to relocate to other parts of the country,
- oversaw labor negotiations and contracts,
- helped black soldiers, sailors, and their heirs collect bounty claims, pensions, and back pay,
- provided legal services in local and national courts, and
- acquired land and assisted benevolent societies to establish schools for freedmen in the South.
It was in the last category on this
list that the Freedmen's Bureau had, perhaps, its most profound effect. Prior
to the Civil War, no Southern state had a system of universal, state-supported
public education, and slaves were not educated at all. Working in conjunction
with missionary and aid societies, the Bureau acquired land and provided
teachers to educate former slaves who were eager to learn. By 1870, over ninety
thousand freedmen were enrolled in more than one thousand public schools in the
South. Many of them studied from a textbook published by the Bureau. Overall,
the Bureau spent five million dollars in its quest to empower former slaves
through education.
As the 1868 elections approached,
Congress began to lose enthusiasm for an expensive initiative that was
unpopular with some Northern voters. On July 6, 1868, Congress approved a bill
entitled An Act to continue the Bureau for the Relief of Freedmen and
Refugees, and for other Purposes. Not reflective of its title, the measure
actually mandated an end to the Bureau's activities (other than those related
to schools and education) after a period of one year in all states that
Congress considered reconstructed. Thus, by 1869, the Freedmen's Bureau began
closing down operations.
In March 1872, President Ulysses S. Grant
temporarily reassigned General Howard as Special Indian Commissioner to the
hostile Apaches of New Mexico and Arizona. During Howard's absence, on June 10,
1872 Congress declared "That the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned
Lands shall be discontinued . . ." effective June 30, 1872 (with the
exception of the payment of wartime claims of black soldiers and sailors, and
the administration of the Freedmen's Hospital in Washington, DC). Howard stayed
on as commissioner until July 1874, when he was placed in command of the
Department of Columbia.
Over the brief course of its existence, the Freedmen's Bureau had a powerful impact on Reconstruction. Defenders praise the aid that the Bureau provided to millions of uneducated, destitute, and displaced people throughout the South in their time of need following the Civil War. Critics point to corrupt agents, "carpetbaggers," and "scalawags," who they claim used the system to benefit themselves and the Republican Party at the expense of Southern whites and Democrats. Beyond its effect on Reconstruction, however, the Freedmen's Bureau had a more profound impact on American history. The Freedmen's Bureau Acts represented a shift in the traditional relationship between the Federal government, the separate states, and United States citizens. The Freedmen's Bureau became emblematic of the federal government's authority to intervene in the relationships between individual states and their citizens, when necessary, to advance the personal welfare of Americans in general.
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"Freedmen's Bureau," Ohio Civil War Central, 2022, Ohio Civil War Central. 16 May 2022 <http://www.www.ohiocivilwarcentral.com/entry.php?rec=1019>
APA Style
"Freedmen's Bureau." (2022) In Ohio Civil War Central, Retrieved May 16, 2022, from Ohio Civil War Central: http://www.www.ohiocivilwarcentral.com/entry.php?rec=1019
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