African American Odyssey Introduction |
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- The U.S. War Department's Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands, called simply the Freedmen's Bureau, was established in 1865 with the purpose to feed, clothe, and rent land that had been abandoned or confiscated to black freedmen, and to white refugees, or displaced persons;
- From 1865-1869, the Freedmen's Bureau distributed over 21 million rations, set up forty-six hospitals, and spent over $2 million to treat illnesses;
- President Andrew Johnson vetoed the bill that would have extended the operation of the Freedmen's Bureau, but Congress overruled extending the operation through 1870.
After the Civil War, several aid organizations were created to help the free slaves, such as the American Missionary Society, the New England Freedmen's Aid Society, the National Freedmen's Relief Association, and the Friends Association for the Relief of Colored Freedmen. These organizations and others like them were comprised of both black and white men and women who wanted to help clothe, feed, shelter, and educate former slaves. This broadside, published by the Pennsylvania Freedmen's Relief Association, depicts "Sea-island School, No 1 St. Helena Island [South Carolina], Established April, 1862." Union forces liberated slaves who lived on islands off the coast of South Carolina and Georgia as early as November 1861.
May 1863 letters from teachers at St. Helena Island describe their young students as "the prettiest little things you ever saw, with solemn little faces, and eyes like stars." Vacations seemed a hardship to these students, who were so anxious to improve their reading and writing that they begged not to "be punished so again." Voluntary contributions from various organizations aided fourteen hundred teachers in providing literacy and vocational education for 150,000 freedmen.
- How did the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands, or the Freedmen's Bureau, as it became known, evolve? What were the goals of the Freedmen's Bureau? Was it successful?
- After Emancipation, former slaves organized into groups and communities to improve their position in American society, to protect themselves, and because prevailing sentiments in the South prevented blacks from settling in established neighborhoods. What examples illustrate the desire of African Americans to establish independence and gain control over their own lives and destinies? Why were former slaves eager to build schools and get an education? How important were the black churches in working to improve the condition of African Americans in the South?
- After the Civil War, the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments were enacted. These laws gave African Americans rights as U.S. citizens that they had never had. Now, not only had black men obtained the right to vote, but black men could now hold political offices. Black politicians ran and won senate and representative seats in the U.S. Congress. The image,The First Colored Senator and Representatives, in the 41st and 42nd Congress of the United States, portrays the first black senators and representatives. What were the backgrounds of these first elected senators and representatives? What southern states did these men represent? Were any black congressmen from the North? What were their political beliefs?
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(12/10/98)
