oliver o. howard headed the freedmen's bureau following the civil war.
oliver o. howard headed the freedmen's bureau following the civil war.
who headed the freedmen's bureau following the civil war?
oliver o. howard
the freedmen's bureau bill, which established the freedmen's bureau on march 3, 1865, was initiated by u.s. president abraham lincoln and was intended to last for one year after the end of the civil war. the freedmen's bureau was an important agency of early reconstruction, assisting freedmen in the south. the bureau was made a part of the united states department of war, as it was the only agency with an existing organization that could be assigned to the south. headed by union army general oliver o. howard, the bureau started operations in 1865. throughout the first year, its representatives learned that these tasks would be very difficult, as southern legislatures passed laws for black codes that restricted movement, conditions of labor, and other civil rights of african americans, nearly duplicating conditions of slavery. the freedmen's bureau controlled a limited amount of arable land.
freedmen's bureau
to provide help in education and managing the transition of the people to freedom, including negotiation of labor contracts and establishing the freedmen's bank, president abraham lincoln created the freedmen's bureau. in 1865 secretary of war edwin stanton was looking for an army officer to run the freedmen's bureau. general ulysses s. grant proposed general john eaton, a chaplin with an established reputation as a humanitarian, and who had authority over black refugees after the civil war. however, the position of bureau commissioner went to another christian general and civil war veteran, general oliver otis howard, whose close associations to freedmen's aid societies had earned him the title of "christian general". the bureau was largely staffed by ex-union officers who distributed food to needy blacks and whites. they supervised the establishment of free-labor agriculture and provided needed funding to set up schools for ex-slaves, however, some were suspected of collaborating with planters to enforce repressive regulations, or to ignore the cheating of blacks. some southern whites suspected the bureau of being part of a conspiracy to undermine relations between blacks and whites in the south by agitating blacks against those whites who had their true interests at heart. both freed people and planters, however, turned to the bureau for help, which the agency did provide regardless of any plans by individuals to undermine their efforts.
freedmen's town