What was the Freedman's Bureau?

Answer 1

On March 3, 1865, Congress established the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands, commonly known as the Freedmen's Bureau, which was intended to address all of the concerns of the refugees and freedmen who lived within the states during Reconstruction. It was to be in service for only one year but, on July 16, 1866, Congress extended the life of the bureau despite the veto by President Andrew Johnson. The bureau's main purposes were to establish schools, to help the freedmen to resettle, to provide food and medical care, to manage abandoned or confiscated property, to ensure justice for the freedmen, and to regulate labor. In many cases, it also provided aid for destitute whites.

The bureau opened 4000 free schools, including several colleges, and educated 250,000 African Americans. By 1870, 21% of African-American population could read.

Although the bureau was successful in its educational goals, it failed in its goal to help the freedmen to resettle. While the bureau gave 850,000 acres to the freedmen, President Andrew Johnson revoked the land and gave it to the Confederate landowners, instead. Consequently, the bureau focused upon employment and encouraged the freedmen to work on plantations. However, problems arose when the freedmen became sharecroppers and tenant farmers.

Even though there were many problems, the Freedmen's Bureau did help the newly freed African-Americans to get the rights that they had been denied. These included the right to an education, the right to due process, the right to the practice of religion, and the right to contract.

Answer 2

The Freedman's Bureau was established post -Civil War, to educate and help former slaves adapt to and blend into white society. The intentions of the Bureau were well founded, however, the battle for Afro-American equality carried on well into the late 20th century. And, in some cases, that problem has not yet been solved.

Answer 3

the people who ran the freedmen's bureau were the federal troops. they did this in1865 to provide schools, food, and medical care for the freed slaves of the south