What was the impact of the Freedmen's Bureau?

The Freedmen's Bureau was established during the Civil War by the United States government to deal with the challenges faced by the hundreds of thousands of former slaves in the South. It was really unprecedented at the federal level. Freedmen's Bureau workers, who included former Union soldiers, Northern teachers, lawyers, and many others, attempted to help freed people in a number of ways. They set up schools, hospitals, and even, in some cases, houses for African-Americans (and some poor whites) dislocated by the war. They helped freedmen negotiate labor and sharecropping contracts with white landowners, and tried to ensure that former slaves received fair prices on land purchases. The Bureau also attempted to help black men and women find their families, many of which had been separated by sale or by the war itself. There had never been a relief organization like the Freedmen's Bureau at the federal level, and many argued that it exceeded the constitutional authority of Congress. President Andrew Johnson vetoed it in 1868, and a Republican-dominated Congress overrode his veto. Eventually the Bureau died out, and it was no longer existent in 1872.

Its long-term legacy is complex. On the one hand, the Bureau failed to promote the kinds of structural economic reforms (i.e. confiscation of plantations and distribution of lands to former slaves) that the South's newly freed people desperately needed. The Bureau operated on the assumption that black men, as free laborers, would be best suited as farm workers, often on the same lands, and for the same people, they had served before the war. But the Freedmen's Bureau also set up many schools and universities that would be centers of African-American culture even during the depths of Jim Crow. It helped thousands of people who otherwise might have starved in the wake of the war. And it demonstrated, if only temporarily, that the federal government bore some obligation to the people it had freed by destroying the Confederacy.

How did the Freedmen's Bureau assist former slaves?

The role of the Freedmen's Bureau changed over time. In the immediate aftermath of the war, the Bureau was primarily responsible for providing freed slaves with food, medical care, and living quarters. As Reconstruction went on, the Freedmen's Bureau became more geared toward helping newly free blacks gain an economic footing in the South. In particular, the Bureau assisted slaves in negotiating labor contracts with whites, including, but not limited to, sharecropper arrangements. Perhaps its most important and most enduring contribution was the establishment of schools, the first of their kind, in the South. There were more than a thousand such institutions around the South, a remarkable accomplishment considering the region had no history of public education. The Bureau also, on occasion, handled lawsuits involving former slaves, especially those related to labor contracts.

What is the significance of the Freedmen's Bureau?

The Freedman's Bureau was a federal agency created immediately after the Civil War to help the South's ex-slaves by giving them educational opportunities, health care, and job training.  The organization was also helpful in uniting families that had been separated in slave sales.  This was one of the largest federal agencies that offered aid to the less fortunate--other than the military, the federal budget in 1865 was quite small as people did not believe it was government's job to provide direct aid to people.  The Freedmen's Bureau also was the federal government's first foray into public education as it sent teachers to the South in order to teach the former slaves how to read; it was illegal to teach a slave this before the war.  The Freedman's Bureau was controversial in the South as ex-Confederates called the Northerners coming south "carpetbaggers" because they saw them as opportunists.  The program ultimately closed to due a lack of Congressional funding.  Radical Republicans in Congress wanted the program to be larger, but the Johnson White House wanted the program cut.  This would be the first of many flashpoints between the administration and Congress.  

What was the role of the Freedmen's Bureau for former slaves?

The Freedmen's Bureau was established by the United States government near the end of the Civil War. As the war was drawing to a close, the U.S. government realized that they would need to provide assistance to recently freed slaves as they began to adjust to free life. The Freedmen's Bureau attempted to provide care and greater opportunity for newly freed African Americans. Some of the efforts of the Freedmen's Bureau included providing medical care for former slaves, as well as providing education for former slaves. As slaves, many African Americans did not receive proper medical care and education was forbidden. The Freedmen's Bureau undertook the task of helping to feed recently freed African Americans who were in need of food. The Freedmen's Bureau also attempted to help former slaves acquire land on which they could use their agricultural skills to establish greater independence and economic opportunity.

While the Freedmen's Bureau made many attempts to improve the situation for freed slaves, they also faced many obstacles. Many southern whites opposed the efforts of the Freedmen's Bureau and actively hindered their progress. Groups like the KKK harassed and threatened representatives of the Freedmen's Bureau. The Freedmen's Bureau eventually came to an end as it lacked funding and faced great opposition from white southerners. While many of the efforts it undertook are viewed positively, it also often noted that the longterm success of the Freedmen's Bureau was not achieved. Many of the longterm goals the Freedmen's Bureau set out to achieve were ultimately unrealized.

What was the Freedmen's Bureau?

The Freedmen’s Bureau was created after the Civil War ended to help the former slaves. The former slaves had little experience with freedom. Many of them had been born into slavery. They had no idea how to provide for their basic necessities since their master handled these needs. Being free was a new experience for many former slaves.

The Freedmen’s Bureau was created to help the former slaves adjust to freedom. The Freedmen’s Bureau provided the former slaves with food, clothing, and medical care. The Freedmen’s Bureau helped the former slaves establish schools for their kids. The Freedmen's Bureau helped them get jobs, get fair wages, and sometimes get transportation to their jobs. Later on, the Freedmen’s Bureau got more power by being able to prosecute people who violated the rights of former slaves. Special courts were established to for this purpose.

The purpose of the Freedmen’s Bureau was to help the former slaves adjust to being free. It was able to do this after the Civil War ended and during Reconstruction.

What was the role of the Freedmen's Bureau?

During its short existence (from 1865 to 1869) the Freedmen's Bureau provided crucial support to the immense population of freed slaves in the South at the end of the Civil War. In the immediate aftermath of the war, the Bureau provided food, shelter, clothing, and medical care to the enormous quantities of former slaves who chose to flee their plantations and became refugees. Subsequently, the Freedmen's Bureau took steps to improve the economic situation faced by freed blacks in the South. They attempted to find occupations for freed slaves, and took a leading role in negotiating labor contracts betwwen freedmen and large plantation owners, many of whom were desperate for labor. These arrangements frequently took the form of sharecropper agreements. By far the most enduring legacy of the Freedmen's Bureau was education. The Bureau set up schools for African-Americans around the South, and employed many Union veterans as teachers. These schools were part of the foundation of the public school system in the South. Additionally, the Bureau founded, or helped to found, many colleges for young black men. Many of these institutions still exist today. 

Get Ahead with eNotes

Start your 48-hour free trial to access everything you need to rise to the top of the class. Enjoy expert answers and study guides ad-free and take your learning to the next level.

Get 48 Hours Free Access

Already a member? Log in here.