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How Did The Freedmen's Bureau Help African Americans

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A common misconception of the Civil War is that when it was finally over, people think that all the African Americans were immediately freed and they lived happily for the rest of their lives. Well, that is not quite accurate, as there were many things that had occurred during the time right after the American Civil War, known as the Reconstruction Era. This includes the the numerous laws and institutions that were put forth to help African Americans, such as the Reconstruction amendments. Many white Americans, especially those from the south, had opposed the idea of giving blacks the same opportunities and rights as they were given. The Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution was passed by Congress on January 31st, 1865, stating …show more content…

Officially recognized as the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands, this federal institution aided millions of African Americans and poverty-stricken white people in the southern states after the Civil War. The Freedmen’s Bureau was able to accomplish many things in its years of operation, such as building new schools, colleges, and medical institutions; supplying food and medical provisions; and providing legal help by arranging employment agreements for African Americans. The Bureau was quite effective with hardworking agents, as they were able to contribute notably to the cause of the Bureau with its numerous accomplishments. In addition, they did not have a sufficient amount of funding and employees. But, some employees were not very diligent in their work as they were unscrupulous. Even though the Freedmen’s Bureau was able to provide a lot to the African Americans in the South, it was unsuccessful in arranging continued protection and racial equality for African …show more content…

White supremacist groups were formed, such as the Ku Klux Klan organization. They caused violence against African Americans who believed that white people were not supreme. Particularly in Memphis and in New Orleans, many blacks were killed or wounded, and the burning of schools contributed to the anti-black violence. So, Reconstruction, which was to improve to condition of African Americans, was quite unsuccessful as it caused white Americans in the South to cause turmoil for the African Americans. The situation faced by blacks and the conditions they had to live under was not made better by

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Another economic progress which occurred is the establishment of the Freedmen’s Savings Bank according to Professor Jenkins, lectures notes and his book Climbing Up to Glory the Freed man bank was created by Congress along with the Freedmen’s Bureau to aid Freedmen in their transition from freedom to slavery. Africans Americans wanted to show the whites that they were not “lazy” by depositing small amount of money in the bank. In this book, it depicts that “the Freedman Savings Bank was a morale booster and source of inspiration for blacks,” because when they arrived to the bank, they would be greeted by African American tellers, in addition at one point Frederick Douglas was the President of that said bank.

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The Freedmen’s Bureau provided many sorts of support for African Americans such as: food, the offering of medical aid or any aid, schools and legal assistance for anything. The Bureau is considered to be “one of the most singular and interesting attempts to grapple with the vast problems of race and social condition(Colby, Ira C.).” The passing of this Bureau served as a way of distribute certain things, like the acreage that was gained and abandoned for the South by the North during the Civil War. A couple years after the Bureau was introduced, the Congress decided to authorize reorganized states that were under the Congressional Reconstruction to be dropped from the care of the Freedmen's Bureau. By the end of 1868, eleven states that were passed the Congressional requirements, and they were no longer part of the Freedmen's Bureau.

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THE FREEDMAN 'S BUREAU The responsibilities of the Freedman 's Bureau The responsibilities of the Freedman 's Bureau were: a. To help former black slaves and poor whites in the South after the U.S. Civil War (1861-65). b. The Bureau also provided housing, food, established schools, offered medical aid and legal assistance.

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747 Words | 3 Pages

This bureau was designed for newly freed slaves or homeless white men to take shelter after the war. The bureau acted at a ‘early welfare system’ which allowed these people to receive food, shelter, and medical aid if needed. They were also allowed to offer people farms that had been confiscated after the war however this was demolished after Johnson took office and pardon the initial land owners from any wrong doings which caused many of these farms to be repossessed ad given to their initial owners. However, one of the biggest accomplishments of this bureau were the 3,000 schools they opened for blacks which resulted in as many as 200,000 blacks getting an education until they no longer received funding from the government which occurred in

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Historical ID’s Freedmen’s Bureau: Definition: An agency established by northern missionary societies and groups of ex-slaves in 1865 to protect the legal rights of former slaves and to assist with their education, jobs, health care, and landowning. Clarifier: The Freedmen’s Bureau was one of the largest federal agencies to protect and aid to the less fortunate creating a social revolution resulting in profound changes in the nature of citizenship, the structure of politics, and the meaning of American freedom.

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747 Words | 3 Pages

As a result of this, racist organizations were founded to wreaked havoc on former slaves. Secret societies in the southern united states, such as the Ku Klux Klan and the Knights of the White Camellia used violence against the blacks. Their goal was often to keep blacks out of politics. Our textbook states, “In other states, where blacks were a majority or where the populations of the two races were almost equal, whites used outright intimidation and violence to undermine the Reconstruction regimes” (Brinkley 368). The people involved in such organizations were using violence to take away the fifteenth amendment right from the former slaves.

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They provided help for the blacks that had just been freed from slavery. They created an organization to create structure for their voices to be heard, and to officially get things done, this organization was named Freedmen’s Bureau. The Freedmen’s Bureau was established by Congress as the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned lands in 1865, to aid and protect former slaves at the end of the war. The work of this Bureau concentrated on five areas: relief work for citizens in all war-torn areas, regulation of black labor, management of abandoned and confiscated land, regulation for the justice of blacks, and the education of blacks. The legislative body proved to be effective as they were able to establish education systems as well as help in the building of hospitals.

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I used this textbook to learn many things about the Freedmen’s Bureau. The Freedmen 's Bureau helped former slaves adjust to freedom by providing food, housing, education, healthcare, and employment prospects. The Bureau was created through the Freedmen’s Bureau Bill initiated by Abraham Lincoln. The Bureau distributed 15 million rations of food to African Americans, and set up a system where planters could borrow rations in order to feed freedmen they employed. The most widely recognized of the Freedman 's Bureau 's achievements are its accomplishments in the field of education.

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Did the US government help or hinder the progress of African Americans between 1865 and 1941? According to Thesaurus.com (2017), help is defined as, ‘to give or provide what is necessary to accomplish a task or satisfy a need; contribute strength or means to; render assistance to; cooperate effectively with; aid; assist’. On the other hand, hinder is defined as, ‘to cause delay, interruption, or difficulty in; hamper; impede’. In this essay, I will analyse the role that the American government played in both helping and hindering the progress of black Americans between 1865 and 1941 Two years prior to 1865, the Emancipation Proclamation, issued by Abraham Lincoln, declared that ‘all persons held as slaves within any part of a state … thenceforward

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748 Words | 3 Pages

Firstly, after Civil War ends, it became called as the Reconstruction. Soldiers were sent by American government to southern states with a purpose to protect the African Americans and their newly won freedom. Even though, they were partially free, most of them couldn’t escape from poverty and in very unpleasant conditions. In the South they cultivated land and could possess some part of growing crops because they worked like sharecroppers, and farmers in the white people’s farm. However, whites continued to discriminate the African Americans.

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Emancipation: False Promises After the Civil War? During a speech regarding civil rights and the role of Emancipation, American president Lyndon B. Johnson stated that the Emancipation Proclamation failed in a manner that it will not truly come into fruition until aspects of life and opportunity are no longer intertwined with race (Johnson 1973). Though emancipation gave African Americans a false promise of respect, Hunter argues that the proclamation was used as a tool for the South to confine the Black community to degradation while Du Bois argues that despite the restrictive nature of the proclamation, African Americans can be successful if they can adhere to societal expectations and conform in sectors such as the workforce and when exercising their civil liberties. When the ‘Work or Fight’ law

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290 Words | 2 Pages

The status, demographics, community institutions, difficulties, and advantages of free blacks varied by region in the United States during the antebellum period. The Jacksonian Era saw many improvements in life for white men, as the political process opened up and reform flourished in a variety of areas. The “Age of Democracy,” however, failed to spread equality to all races. Free blacks faced many difficulties in the North, as increased racism led to “black laws” restricting movement to certain states, disfranchisement in many Northern areas, as well as pervasive segregation in areas of transportation, education, and housing. Although life held challenges, strong, vibrant, black communities developed in the North.

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Before the Civil War most black people living in America were slaves. Once the Civil War ended slavery was abolished and black people were given rights. However, people in the south thought otherwise. After the civil war, slavery returned in the form of convict leasing, blacks lost rights again, and were arrested for petty crimes.

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Without the help of powerful government officials looking out for freedpeople unfair treatment continued. Another negative consequence of reconstruction was that after the north issued there land back they didn’t stay to insure the blacks were freed. Because, of this over sight many freedpeople stayed put and continued to be endure unfair

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473 Words | 2 Pages

Post Civil War, African Americans started to gain rights to gain rights, and soon gain rights equal to whites. While there were some people/things standing in their way (KKK, Black Codes), in the end they got what they needed; Equality. Many acts and laws were passed to aid the new rights now held by African Americans, as well as the numerous people willing to help. New Amendments were added to give African Americans rights after the war, all giving them some equal rights to whites. The first of the three added was the Thirteenth Amendment, it gave African Americans freedom from slave owners, and stated that no one could be kept as a slave in the U.S..

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