Unit 5 7th and 8th Grade: Comparing and Contrasting the KKK and Freedmen's Bureau

Unit 5 7th and 8th Grade: Comparing and Contrasting the KKK and Freedmen's Bureau

by: Mrs. Booker

​The Freedmen's Bureau

The Freedmen's Bureau was created on​ March 3, 1865.

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The Bureau was established by Congress two months before General Robert E. Lee surrendered to the north to end the civil war.

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The Bureau was intended to only serve as a temporary department in the U.S Department of War to help provide resources and placement for the newly released 4 Million slaves in the U.S

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​Oliver Otis Howard was appointed to serve as the Commissioner of the Freedmen's Bureau in May 1865.

Multiple Choice

What year was the Freedmen's Bureau established? 

• 1862

• 1865

• 1867

• 1869

Multiple Choice

Who was appointed the Commissioner of the Freedmen's Bureau?

• Oliver Otis Howard

• Abraham Lincoln

• Andrew Johnson

• Jefferson Davis

Multiple Choice

The Freedmen's Bureau was created to serve as what type of department to assist the slaves with placement? 

• Permanent

• Temporary

• Both

• None of the above 

​Resistance

​*The Freedmen's Bureau faced a lot of pushback and resistance from various groups.

​*One of the groups were Caucasian southerners, who were upset that the Bureau was created.

​*Another source that provided resistance was President Andrew Johnson, who vetoed a bill that would have allowed the Bureau to continue operations for an extended period of time.

​*Johnson became embroiled in a bitter fight with the Radical Republicans in Congress, who viewed the president’s Reconstruction policies as too lenient, and the Freedmen’s Bureau suffered as a result.

​*Johnson’s actions, which included pardoning many former Confederates and restoring their land, as well as removing bureau employees he thought were too sympathetic to blacks, served to undermine the bureau’s authority.

​*The bureau’s mission was further muddled by the fact that even among the agency’s supporters in Congress and its own personnel, there was disagreement over what type of assistance the government should provide and for how long.

Multiple Choice

True or False 

The supporters of the Freedmen's Bureau disagreed on what type of support to give and how long to give support to the Bureau 

• False

• True

• both

• none of the above 

Multiple Choice

Which two sources provided the most pushback to the Freedmen's Bureau? 

• black southerners and Abraham Lincoln

• white southerners and Abraham Lincoln

• black southerners and Andrew Johnson 

• white southerners and Andrew Johnson

Multiple Choice

What is one factor that undermined the Bureau's authority? 

• Johnson Removing employees who were nicer to blacks

• Johnson providing land to African Americans

• Johnson stripping confederate owners of their lands 

• None of the above 

​Successes of the Bureau

Due to Understaffing and Underfunding from the government, the Bureau only employed around 900 employees across the country.

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​Despite these challenges, The Bureau was successful during their short time in existence.

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​Some of the successes included feeding millions of people, providing medical aid and hospitals to African Americans and negotiated various disputes for African Americans.

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​The Bureau also helped to establish some of the most well known institutions for African Americans, such as Howard University(D.C), Fisk University(Tennessee) and Hampton University(Virginia).

Multiple Choice

Due to understaffing and underfunding, how many employees were employed with the Freedmen's Bureau?

• 1900

• 1200

• 900

• 2000

Multiple Select

What are some successes that the Bureau was able to accomplish?

• feeding millions of people

• settled disputes for African Americans

• provided land for the confederate owners

• built hospitals and provided medical aid

Multiple Select

What are the three HBCU's (Historically Black Colleges and Universities) did the Freedmen's Bureau help to establish?

• Harvard University

• Fisk University

• Howard University

• Hampton University

​Demise of the Bureau

Due to pressure from Caucasian Southerners and the Government, The Freedmen's Bureau was forced to dismantle in the summer of 1872.

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​Despite some successes, many argued that the Bureau was doomed from the beginning and did little to help create a safe and peaceful transition for newly freed African American slaves.

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​Newly freed African Americans did not receive long term protection during the Reconstruction period, and would continue to endure racial inequality for many

​The End

​We will now take a look at the Freedmen's Bureau's article on the branch located in Georgia

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​We will list some of their goals and begin our Venn diagram comparing and contrasting the Freedmen's Bureau and the KKK this week.

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​Go ahead and take out your notebooks, and begin reading in your groups the article on the Freedmen's Bureau

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​We will list 5 unique characteristics that we find in the article, and students will write a reflection at the end of the paper.