At Abraham
Lincoln's instigation, Congress established the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned
Lands, informally known as the Freedmen's Bureau, on March 3, 1865. This was just two months
before Robert E. Lee, the Confederate general, surrendered to Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox in
Virginia, the event which effectively ended the Civil War. The bureau's purpose was to assist
millions of recently emancipated blacks and poor whites to recover from the war by providing
them with food, clothing, and housing, as well as seeing to their medical, educational, and
legal needs.
Although the bureau was hindered by a lack of funds and
personnel, it managed to feed millions of impoverished African Americans and whites, construct
hospitals, and provide medical care. It also helped blacks locate missing relatives, legalize
their marriages, learn to read and write, and negotiate labor contracts with plantation owners.
The Freedmen's bureau played an integral part in establishing many schools for African
Americans, including institutions of higher learning such as Howard University, Hampton
University, and Fisk University.
The bureau was originally meant to last for
only one year after the close of the war, but Congress renewed its tenure in 1866 despite
President Andrew Johnson's attempted veto. Due to ongoing controversies over the bureau's
effectiveness, expense, interference with states' rights, and other issues, the Freedmen's
Bureau was dismantled in 1872.
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