What Was the Freedmen's Bureau and What Did It Accomplish

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Established in 1865 to provide food, clothing, and fuel to destitute former slaves; its scope was enlarged by Congress in 1866 although President Johnson vetoed this bill; veto overridden by Congress

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Education: built schools and paid teachers, establishing the foundation for southern public education; supported "wayside schools" that were organized by African Americans in rural areas; supervised nearly 3,000 schools that served over 150,000 students in the South; assisted in the founding of several black colleges designed to train black teachers

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Courts and legal assistance: prosecuted those charged with depriving African Americans of their civil rights; allowed freed people to bring suits against whites for multiple reasons; provided an important psychological challenge to traditional notions of white racial domination

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Assisted freedmen in locating long-lost family members

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Land distribution: charged with supervising and managing "all the abandoned lands in the South and the control of all subjects relating to refugees and freedmen"; "40 acres and a mule" in confiscated plantations would be leased to freed slaves or white Unionists with an option of purchasing it three years later; President Johnson soon ordered freedmen's evictions from here

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Voting: collaborated with the Urban League to demand voting rights for African Americans and instructed freedmen on their rights and duties of citizenship

What Was the Freedmen's Bureau and What Did It Accomplish

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