Project Development

Brief Overview

Bureau Office
The Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands was established in March 3, 1865 after two years of bitter debate. The Freedmen Bureau, as it was commonly called, was to address all matters concerning refugees and freedmen within the states that were under reconstruction. The Bureau was not appropriated a budget of its own, but was instead commissioned as a subsidiary of the War Department and depended upon it for funds and staff. (Lawson and McGary 63)

The Freedmen's Bureau was headed by Commissioner General O. O. Howard who was appointed by President Andrew Johnson with the consent of the Senate. Commissioner Howard was received a salary of $3,000 and gave $50,000 in bonds. Assistant Commissioners were appointed to each of the ten states under reconstruction in the same manner. The Assistant Commissioner received a salary of $2,500 and gave $20,000 bond. The salaries of other positions were not stated in the bill, so the majority of the positions in the Bureau were filled by army officers. (Pierce 44)

In the beginning, the Freedmen's Bureau did not suffer from lack of funding. The Bureau sold and rented lands in the South which had been confiscated during the war. However, President Johnson undermined the Bureau's funding by returning all lands to the pre-Civil War owners in 1866. After this point, freed slaves lost access to lands and the Bureau lost its primary source of funding.

The majority of historians believe that the Freedmen's Bureau made a very small impact, if any, on the freedmen during reconstruction. A few of the reasons for the Bureau's failures as a provider for social welfare include the following:

  • lack of funds
  • weak organization of the Bureau's internal structure
  • opposition from conservatives
  • and apathy of the Southern community

Despite the many criticisms, the Freedmen's Bureau did help African-Americans gain access to the rights that they were denied during slavery. This site will address four of these rights.

  • Social Services
    The Freedmen's Bureau helped black communities to establish schools and churches. Under slavery, blacks had been denied the right to education and religion.
  • Violence and Justice
    The Freemen's Bureau monitored the civil authorities in cases that involved African-Americans. Initially, the Freedmen's Bureau conducted its own court of law when it was illegal for a black to testify in court in the majority of Southern sates.
  • Labor and Contracts
    The labor system of the South had to be completely restructured after the war. Many former slave owners attempted to trick former slaves into entering contracts under the same terms as under the slavery system. The Freedmen's Bureau acted on the behalf of blacks to negotiate fair contracts for labor and property.
  • Family Services
    Freedom offered blacks the opportunity to establish a firm family structure. The Freedmen's Bureau acted as a clearinghouse of information to aide blacks in finding lost relatives and mediated domestic disputes.

The advocates of the Freedmen's Bureau had genuine intentions to aide the African-American population prosper as freedmen, but the lack of funding and support from the federal govenment in conjuction with opposition at the local level tempered the Bureau's success.

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