The role of the Freedmen Bureau in African-American development during the Reconstruction era has been a polarizing topic since the Bureau’s inception. While most concur that the Bureau was well intended, some scholars, believe that the Freedmen’s Bureau was detrimental to African-American development. One such scholar was W.E.B. Dubois, who in his book The Souls of Black Folk, expressed his discontent with the actions of the Bureau and suggested that the Bureau did more harm than good. Upon further probing, research refutes the position that the Freedmen’s Bureau was chiefly detrimental to Black development. While far from flawless in its pursuits to assist the newly freed Negroes, the actions of the Freedmen’s Bureau did not impede African-American progress; instead, these actions facilitated African-American development. The Bureau for Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands, more commonly known as the Freedmen’s Bureau, was created with the passage of the Freedmen’s Bureau Act on March 3, 1865 (United States). The bill, which was supported by Abraham Lincoln as well as Radical Republicans in Congress, faced a great deal of opposition from Southern states and passed with only a two vote majority (Dubois). The bill is intentionally vague in order to allow leniency in its implementation. The flexibility provided by refraining from outlining specific programs was intended to benefit the freedmen by allowing the program to mold and fit his needs (Colby). Though flexibility in the Freedmen’s Bureau allowed the Bureau to attempt to solve many different problems, Dubois found fault with all sections of the Freedmen’s save the education sector. Dubois labeled the Bureau, “ one of the most singular and interesting of the attempts ... ... middle of paper ... ...progress made by the Freedmen’s Bureau, albeit modest, was nonetheless beneficial and certainly not detrimental to race development. Works Cited Abbott, Martin. "Free Land, Free Labor and the Freedmen's Bureau." Agricultural History 30.4 (1956): 150-56. JSTOR. Web. 23 Nov. 2011. Colby, Ira C. "The Freedmen's Bureau: From Social Welfare to Segregation." Phylon 46.3 (1985): 219-30. JSTOR. Web. 23 Nov. 2011. Dubois, W.E.B. "Of the Dawn of Freedom." The Souls of Black Folk. 13-40. Print. Groff, Patrick. "The Freedmen's Bureau in High School History Texts." The Journal of Negro Education 51.4 (1982): 425-33. JSTOR. Web. 23 Nov. 2011. Lieberman, Robert C. "THe Freedmen's Bureau and the Politics of Institutional Structure." Social Science History 18.3 (1994): 405-37. Print. United States. Cong. Freedmen's Bureau Act. 38th Cong., 2nd sess. Cong. Bill. Print.
In 1865, the Freedmen’s Bureau was introduced in Congess. It was formed because the government realized that it could not longer meet the needs of Southerners. It was created to look after freed slaves as well as refugees and abandoned land.
Russell B. Nye: Fettered Freedom: Civil Liberties and the Slavery Controversy, 1830-1860. East Lansing, Mich., 1949
The thesis “The New View of Reconstruction”, Eric Foner reviews the constantly changing view on the subject of the Reconstruction. The postwar Reconstruction period has been viewed in many different lights throughout history but one fact remains true, that it was one of the most “violent, dramatic and controversial” times in US’s history (224). In the beginning of his thesis, Eric Foner talks about the way the Reconstruction was though as before the 1960 as a period of intense, corruption and manipulation of the freedman. After mentioning the old way of thinking before the 1960’s, Eric Foner reveals the reason for this train of thought, the ignored testimonials of the black freedman.
Eric Foner, Give Me Liberty: An American History (New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2008), 326.
Foner, Eric. "Chapter 9." Give Me Liberty!: An American History. Brief Third ed. Vol. One. New York: W.W. Norton, 2012. N. pag. Print.
The Bureau was established in the War Department in 1865 to undertake the relief effort and the unprecedented social reconstruction that would bring freed people to full citizenship. It was supposed to be a temporary agency, under the “guidance” of the U.S Army and General Oliver O. Howard, which issued food and clothing, operated hospitals and temporary camps, helped locate family members, promoted education, helped freedmen legalize marriages, provided employment, supervised labor contracts, provided legal representation, investigated racial confrontations, settled freedmen on abandoned or confiscated lands, and worked with African American soldiers and sailors and their heirs to secure back pay, bounty payments, and pensions. The Bureau also had the huge task of helping southern blacks and whites make the transition from society based slavery to one allowing freedom in every sense of the word. They had the backing of the Northerners who influenced Congress help to re...
In 1893, when Frederick Jackson Turner delivered his speech on the significance of frontier at the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago, he was addressing an audience that had witnessed the drastic changes that swept through the country over the past sixty or so years. The United States had gone from the agrarian nation of Jefferson’s vision—one with a relatively balanced division of wealth, a population of homogenous skilled workers, and a narrow definition of equality based on a broad definition of freedom—to the highly industrialized urban nation glorified by the World’s Fair itself—one of polarized wealth, vast and increasing numbers of unassimilated, unskilled workers, and a demand for a return to the old equality at the expense of the old concept of freedom. Turner’s thesis was threaded with observations of these changes, and made an attempt to account for them in terms of the changing geography of America. “Each frontier did indeed furnish a new field of opportunity, a gate of escape from the bondage of the past; and freshness, and confidence, and scorn of older society, impatience of its restraints and its ideas,” Turner wrote (Turner, 17).
Once freed, African Americans believed that the rights of a citizen were granted to them. They truthfully believed this because after a brutally fought war, basic rights such as education, land, and employment were so modest, they were undeniable. Even though they were proclaimed as free, their place is society remained unaffected. The Freedmen's Bureau became one of the earlier agencies to provide support for newly freedmen. The agency offered education, advice and protection to its members. The most significant asset of the bureau was education. The literacy rate of African Americans rose about twenty percent due to the organization. Some freedmen even attended colleges to earn degrees. Many white Southerners viewed the African American attempt at education as a waste of time. They condemned the efforts of their social improvement. With much criticism by racist whites and inadequate funds, the Freedmen's Bureau concluded by 1872 injuring African American hopes of social equality.
The Freedmen’s Bureau, also known as The Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands, was created in the South after the Civil War in 1865 by Congress with the intention of providing assistance to the less fortunate whites and newly freedmen. Congress had decided that the organization would operate for one year after the end of the Civil War. In 1866, Congress passed a bill which stated that the Bureau continue to function as a peace cooperation for longer than one year, increasing its powers throughout the South. Major General Oliver Otis Howard was the head of the Bureau from 1865 to 1872 under the regulated War Department; he converted from a soldier in the War to a believer in emancipation for all. Ultimately, the Freedmen’s Bureau
The Petition of Committee on Behalf of the Freedmen to Andrew Johnson was a document written by the freedmen. This document was a response written by Henry Bram on behalf of the freedmen to President Andrew Johnson, who ordered that nearly all land in federal hands be returned to its former owners. Coming from a background of slavery had much impact on what on what they had to say, as if things were moving back in the direction of what rights slaves had before they were freed. The intended audience of this document was directed towards President Andrew Johnson, I would assume including anyone who agreed with what he wanted and helped him accomplish it. The main point the freedmen were trying to make by this document is to try and convince President
Roark, J.L., Johnson, M.P., Cohen, P.C., Stage, S., Lawson, A., Hartmann, S.M. (2009). The american promise: A history of the united states (4th ed.), The New West and Free North 1840-1860, The slave south, 1820-1860, The house divided 1846-1861 (Vol. 1, pp. 279-354).
In the previous year, Congress had passed a bill known as the New Freedmen’s Bureau. This bill assisted the integration of former slaves into freedmen society in the southern states for one year. The Bureau was directed under the War Department and provided many services such as: food, medical aid, and schools. In 1866, the Freedmen’s Bureau Bill was renewed by Congress, but was vetoed by President Andrew Johnson. He believed: “...the bill before me contains provisions which in my opinion are not warranted by the Constitution, and are not well suited to accomplish the end in view”. 1 One of the key reasons why Johnson vetoed the bill was due to his opposition of the federal government securing the rights of blacks. Johnson felt that it should
Nabrit, James M. Jr. “The Relative Progress and the Negro in the United States: Critical Summary and Evaluation.” Journal of Negro History 32.4 (1963): 507-516. JSTOR. U of Illinois Lib., Urbana. 11 Apr. 2004
28.) Foner, Eric. Give Me Liberty! An American History. 4th ed. (W.W. Norton, 2012), 920.
John A. Kirk, History Toady volume 52 issue 2, The Long Road to Equality for African-Americans