A Just and Lasting Peace: A Documentary History of Reconstruction by John David Smith Page A
Authors: John David Smith
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Thirty-eighth Congress be affirmed and executed by the people. Let the gigantic monster perish. Yes, perish now and perish forever!
â A N A CT TO E STABLISH A B UREAU FOR THE R ELIEF OF F REEDMEN AND R EFUGEESâ
(March 3, 1865)
The establishment of the Freedmenâs Bureau by Congress in March 1865 constituted one of the most revolutionary results of the Civil War and Reconstruction because it created a large-scale federal bureaucracy to provide relief for the freedpeople and white refugees. Led by General Oliver O. Howard, the agency began a controversial policy of leasing plots of land to the displaced freedpeople. After Lincolnâs successor, President Andrew Johnson, ordered the restoration of all property, including land, to pardoned insurgents, Howardâs bureau directed its efforts largely to the legal relief and protection of the freedmen and -women. The Freedmenâs Bureau remained a lightning rod for Johnson and for the Radical Republicansâ critics. In 1869, as Northern interest in Reconstruction waned, Congress eliminated many of the agencyâs functions. Its educational work terminated in 1870, and the Bureau ceased operations entirely in 1872.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
That there is hereby established in the War Department, to continue during the present war of rebellion, and for one year thereafter, a bureau of refugees, freedmen, and abandoned lands, to which shall be committed, as hereinafter provided, the supervision and management of all abandoned lands, and the control of all subjects relating to refugees and freedmen from rebel states, or from any district of country within the territory embraced in the operations of the army, under such rules and regulations as may be prescribed by the head of the bureau and approved by the President. The said bureau shall be under the management and control of a commissioner to be appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, whose compensation shall be three thousand dollars per annum, and such number of clerks as may be assigned to him by the Secretary of War, not exceeding one chief clerk, two of the fourth class, two of the third class, and five of the first class. And the commissioner and all persons appointed under this act, shall, before entering upon their duties, take the oath of office prescribed in an act entitled âAn act to prescribe an oath of office, and for other purposes,â approved July second, eighteen hundred and sixty-two, and the commissioner and the chief clerk shall, before entering upon their duties, give bonds to the treasurer of the United States, the former in the sum of fifty thousand dollars, and the latter in the sum of ten thousand dollars, conditioned for the faithful discharge of their duties respectively, with securities to be approved as sufficient by the Attorney-General, which bonds shall be filed in the office of the first comptroller of the treasury, to be by him put in suit for the benefit of any injured party upon any breach of the conditions thereof.
S EC . 2.
And be it further enacted,
That the Secretary of War may direct such issues of provisions, clothing, and fuel, as he may deem needful for the immediate and temporary shelter and supply of destitute and suffering refugees and freedmen and their wives and children, under such rules and regulations as he may direct.
S EC . 3.
And be it further enacted,
That the President may, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, appoint an assistant commissioner for each of the states declared to be in insurrection, not exceeding ten in number, who shall, under the direction of the commissioner, aid in the execution of the provisions of this act; and he shall give a bond to the Treasurer of the United States, in the sum of twenty thousand dollars, in the form and manner prescribed in the first section of this act. Each of
â A N A CT TO E STABLISH A B UREAU FOR THE R ELIEF OF F REEDMEN AND R EFUGEESâ
(March 3, 1865)
The establishment of the Freedmenâs Bureau by Congress in March 1865 constituted one of the most revolutionary results of the Civil War and Reconstruction because it created a large-scale federal bureaucracy to provide relief for the freedpeople and white refugees. Led by General Oliver O. Howard, the agency began a controversial policy of leasing plots of land to the displaced freedpeople. After Lincolnâs successor, President Andrew Johnson, ordered the restoration of all property, including land, to pardoned insurgents, Howardâs bureau directed its efforts largely to the legal relief and protection of the freedmen and -women. The Freedmenâs Bureau remained a lightning rod for Johnson and for the Radical Republicansâ critics. In 1869, as Northern interest in Reconstruction waned, Congress eliminated many of the agencyâs functions. Its educational work terminated in 1870, and the Bureau ceased operations entirely in 1872.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
That there is hereby established in the War Department, to continue during the present war of rebellion, and for one year thereafter, a bureau of refugees, freedmen, and abandoned lands, to which shall be committed, as hereinafter provided, the supervision and management of all abandoned lands, and the control of all subjects relating to refugees and freedmen from rebel states, or from any district of country within the territory embraced in the operations of the army, under such rules and regulations as may be prescribed by the head of the bureau and approved by the President. The said bureau shall be under the management and control of a commissioner to be appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, whose compensation shall be three thousand dollars per annum, and such number of clerks as may be assigned to him by the Secretary of War, not exceeding one chief clerk, two of the fourth class, two of the third class, and five of the first class. And the commissioner and all persons appointed under this act, shall, before entering upon their duties, take the oath of office prescribed in an act entitled âAn act to prescribe an oath of office, and for other purposes,â approved July second, eighteen hundred and sixty-two, and the commissioner and the chief clerk shall, before entering upon their duties, give bonds to the treasurer of the United States, the former in the sum of fifty thousand dollars, and the latter in the sum of ten thousand dollars, conditioned for the faithful discharge of their duties respectively, with securities to be approved as sufficient by the Attorney-General, which bonds shall be filed in the office of the first comptroller of the treasury, to be by him put in suit for the benefit of any injured party upon any breach of the conditions thereof.
S EC . 2.
And be it further enacted,
That the Secretary of War may direct such issues of provisions, clothing, and fuel, as he may deem needful for the immediate and temporary shelter and supply of destitute and suffering refugees and freedmen and their wives and children, under such rules and regulations as he may direct.
S EC . 3.
And be it further enacted,
That the President may, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, appoint an assistant commissioner for each of the states declared to be in insurrection, not exceeding ten in number, who shall, under the direction of the commissioner, aid in the execution of the provisions of this act; and he shall give a bond to the Treasurer of the United States, in the sum of twenty thousand dollars, in the form and manner prescribed in the first section of this act. Each of
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