Graphic of part of the Emancipation Proclamation
Rights and POwer: The POlitics of Reconstruction
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"Office of the Freedmen's Bureau, Memphis, Tennessee," Harper's Weekly, June 2, 1866.

"Office of the Freedmen's Bureau,
Memphis, Tennessee,"
Harper's Weekly, June 2, 1866.

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In 1865, Congress established the Freedmen's Bureau to provide assistance to former slaves. Union Army general Oliver O. Howard was the Bureau's Commissioner.

Among other responsibilities, bureau agents negotiated labor contracts and settled disputes between black and white Southerners. The Bureau's jurisdiction in civil matters eventually became a point of controversy.

Read An Act to establish a Bureau for the Relief of Freedmen and Refugees
Copyright 2003
he Meaning of Freedom: Black and White Responses to Slavery From Free Labor to Slave Labor Rights and Power: The Politics of Reconstruction The Ending of Reconstruction Epilogue: The Unfinished Revolution Additional Resources Credits for this Exhibit Link to return to Digital History Home Link to return to Reconstruction Home Introduction