Introduction
The Freedman’s bureau is otherwise known as the United States bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned lands (Freedman's Bureau Act of 1865, 2009). This bureau was formed between 1861 and 1865 with the sole purpose of taking care of the black slaves and the poor whites that lived in the south after the war. Over four million blacks gained their freedom after the Union won the war (Dickerson, 1877). As a result, they were poor and suffered great distress. The reason for this poverty is that most of the economies in the south were entirely dependent of plantation farming. Freeing the slaves meant that the economy would suffer. The work of the of the freedmen's bureau was to cater for most of the basic needs of this people this includes providing food, shelter, legal aid, and educational facilities. The functions of the freedmen's bureau were not as smooth as it was initially supposed to be. First there were issues of racism that plagued the land at the time. The mentality was that blacks were by all definitions inferior to the whites. Second, the social reconstruction was more difficult than they first anticipated thus further derailing the process. Third the bureau was ineffective due to the limited resources could not cater for all the activities that the bureau had taken under its belt. At the very least, the freedmen’s bureau was an unsuccessful venture in its attempt to put the rights of the blacks and the whites.
Argument
One of the major issues that rendered the bureau to be a failure was the fact that there were not enough funds and man power to achieve the activities that the bureau sought to undertake (Baker, 2009). Combined with this fact was that the bureau did not have enough staff to complete all the projects that it sought to complete. The main agenda of the bureau was to provide food, shelter, medical aide and build schools among a host of other money and labor consuming activities. It is recorded that the bureau at the time of its peak it had only 900 agents (Baker, 2009). These agents could not accomplish all this work over the vast south and cater for all of the over four million blacks who were freed and the poor whites who were in the south at the time. The lack of money could only be attributed to the fact that the country was just from a war where they spent much money to win the war. The second factor was that since the abolishment of slavery the South's economy was on a down turn. This is because the largest plantations in the country were located in the south, and the halt of the slave trade meant that there was no one to work in the fields. Lack of finances meant that the projects undertaken could not be paid for and this in turn affected the staff negatively. The lack of staff also accosted the bureau's efforts. All the projects undertaken by the bureau were labor intensive in the very least. Fewer than 900 hundred agents that were under the employ of the bureau could not possibly take care of the over four million people in need of the attention of the bureau. Of the 900 hundred agents that were at any one particular time, a significant percentage was corrupt further hindering the efforts of the bureau. This ultimately led to the failure of the Freedmen’s bureau.
The second issue that made the Freedmen’s bureau was the politics that revolved around reconstruction. First was the fact that at the time, the tern freedom was not thoroughly clarified. This means that the effort of the bureau that was to make the freed slaves feel free was somehow thwarted. The definition of freedom differed from person to person depending on how slavery benefited the person. For the freed slaves, freedom meant freedom from the oppression that they were used to from the white southerners. This meant that the blacks could own the land they craved for so long. Freedom to the blacks meant that they could not be persecuted if they joined with their families at will. Another pertinent issue to the black towards freedom was the right to move around since during the years before the abolishment of slavery they could not move as they wished to. Freedom to the blacks meant that they could put up social structures like schools and hospitals that were only accessed by whites prior the bureau. The whites of the south were of a different opinion. They bargained to whatever lengths possible to maintain things as they were before the abolishment of slavery. They reason that the blacks lacked the ability to handle a civilized society. This was a ploy to retain as much of the status quo as they could. Since the south dependent on the plantations for economic soundness, the cheap labor that the blacks provided could come in handy. As such, the attempts by the bureau's agents to cater for the free men were hindered by the whites who were not served by this agenda. The agents were ridiculed, and they even faced violence since they were seen as helping the blacks. Thus, their attempts to bring some semblance of equality between the two races were a failure.
Another reason that the social reconstruction failed is the fact that during the process, the land that the blacks were to be allocated was not nearly enough. This was as a result of a mandate by the then president Andrew Johnson. The president pardoned a significant number of slave owners which meant that they could get their land back. Considering that this was land that the freed men were supposed to be allocated, this meant that they were back to the first step where they (the freed men) did not have land or the economic freedom that came with it (Calverton, 1929). Since it was a presidential decree, there was very little that the bureau could do. This translates to a loss in the mandate that the bureau was set out to accomplish. It is often argued that since it is the president who pardoned the slave owners, it was not the fault of the bureau that the blacks did not achieve financial freedom. However, considering the fact that only a few families got to have the allocated land of over 895,000 acres of land, it is clear that the bureau failed in their duties. In addition, since the bureau was tasked with helping the freed men achieve economic freedom, it is a failure on the part of the bureau that the freed men went back to work for the same oppressors even if they were under contract. This can further be explained by “the free labor” (Donnelly, 1866) policy that was adopted by the bureau. In the most simplistic terms, this philosophy meant that the free men had to work to achieve the economic freedom that the craved for. This is what caused the black men to work for the slave owners once again under contractual circumstances.
The third and most pertinent issue was that the politics of racism that made the bureau fail in its directive. The bureau was to build social amenities that could work in favor of the freemen so that they could achieve economic and social freedoms that were enjoyed by the whites. The first aspect of racism is the policy adopted by the bureau itself. The policy was the “free labor” policy. This policy was made under the impression that if the freed black slaves could be given everything on a silver platter, they could not have the motivation or industriousness to sustain it (Kaiser, 2010). Aspects of racism are evident in the irony of the situation. The presidential pardon saw the whites get vast amount of land they had not worked for free and issues of industrialism did not occur. This aspect led the blacks loose whatever little faith they had in the bureau that ultimately led to its failure.
Most of the agents in the bureau were white. In the carrying out of their duties, they participated in corrupt activities that did not only refuse the black their chance at having financial freedom but also led to the collapse of the bureau. The racist agents failed to conduct duties that favored the blacks thus rendering the bureau ineffective. Racism also saw majority of the reclaimed land also retaken back by the original white owners leaving the blacks in financial shackles and still working for their oppressors.
The bureau’s bid to address equality was marred by racism (Kaiser, 2010). The few schools that they managed to build were still segregated by race. This meant that the equality that the bureau was trying to achieve was still out of reach. Other cases of racism were on the part of the southern whites who openly rejected the bureau’s advances for the sole purpose of the fact the bureau’s agents were helping the blacks. This combined with the fact that the president of the times seemed to be on the side of the southern whites, derailed the efforts of the bureau and ultimately led to its demise.
Conclusion
The Freemen’s bureau failed in its mandate to acclimatize the freed slaves to the newly achieved freedom status. As much as they tried and managed to resettle a portion of the blacks and establish the concept of education to the black slaves, they failed to achieve their ultimate goal which was equality among all men. The basic reasons why the failed to reach their goal included lack of funds and personnel, the politics of reconstruction and racism. Without the man power and the finances, it was impossible to achieve the goals they set out to achieve. Second, since this was an undertaking never before undertaken, none of them understood what it entailed. This ignorance made them fail in their directive. Racism was the most applicable issue that made the bureau fail. For instance, the President’s action that could only be described as racist saw the freed men remain landless which was the most important issue to the freedmen.
Works Cited
Baker, Bruce E.. Freedman's bureau (critical documentary essay). Alexandria, Va.: Alexander Street Press, 2009. Print.
Calverton, V. F.. Anthology of American Negro literature,. New York: The Modern Library, 1929. Print.
Dickerson, Donna Lee. The Reconstruction era: primary documents on events from 1865 to 1877. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 2003. Print.
Donnelly, Ignatius. Freedman's Bureau. Washington, D.C.: McGill & Witherow, 1866. Print.
Freedman's Bureau Act of 1865. S.l.: Great Neck Pub., 2009. Print.
Kaiser, Mary. Freedwomen and the Freedmen's Bureau: race, gender, and public policy in the age of emancipation. New York: Fordham University Press, 2010. Print.
