The Freedmen's Bureau
During the Reconstruction Era, the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments were developed. For the EOTO presentations, I was assigned the Freedmen's Bureau, also previously known as "the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands." This group had been around during the Reconstruction Era, the time when the three amendments were created and added to the US Constitution.
Some background of the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments explain why this time period was so important. Not only were they influential amendments that helped freed black people, but they were also Amendments that were beneficial to white people as well. The 13th Amendment abolished slavery, which had been the start of the creation of the next two Amendments. The 14th Amendment was the citizenship Amendment and it provided three clauses/freedoms. Those being: The privileges or immunities clause, the due process clause, and the equal protection clause. Lastly, the 15th Amendment which had granted black men with the right to vote. These amendments positively affected the US Constitution and the nation as a whole.
Established on March 3rd, 1865, by Congress, the Freedmen's Bureau's purpose was to help former black slaves and poor whites in the southern portion of the country with the aftermath of the Civil War. It had provided people with food, housing, and medical aid. They had even established schools and provided legal assistance for anyone who needed it.
The bureau was originally intended to be a temporary agency that lasted throughout the time of the civil war plus one year after. Congress placed it under the direction of the war department as it assisted with events regarding the war. Also, the majority of original employees for the bureau were Civil War soldiers. The agency had been organized in districts covering 11 former rebel states. Some of those states included Maryland, Kentucky, West Virginia, Washington DC, etc.
Even though the bureau's intention was to help the south, they were struggling with keeping the group together, as they were struggling with funding and volunteers. The struggle was also due to the politics of race and reconstruction. The organization had failed to protect black people long-term.
Eventually in the summer of 1872, the Freedmen's Bureau was dismantled, primarily to pressure from white southerners.
Work Cited:
https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/freedmens-bureau
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