Freedman's Bureau was an organization that aided newly freed African Americans. The bill that created the Freedman's Bureau, Freedman's Bureau Bill, was passed by Abraham Lincoln in March 1865. It was intended to last only approximatly one year after the Civil War ended, just long enough to help get the freedmans in the south on their feet.
Their goals were to get African Americans jobs working with whites as equals, not as the dominants and the submissives. They wanted the blacks to be bank owners, or entrepeneurs, or business men. They wanted them to become people who added to the economie's success, in a way more than just picking cotton.
However, when a community has been one way for a while, it's hard to break their habits, but the Freedman's Bureau was dedicated. They expanded the time limit of the bill to ensure the freedmen were okay. Soon after, the Freedman's Bureau was doing much more than helping them to start businesses and to educate, it started a program to find their lost families. Imagine being seperated from your mother or father or sister and brothers for decades, and thanks to the help of this organization, you can finally be reunited.
Even though their chains from slavery were broken, they weren't guarenteed a good life. The Freedman's Bureau was the push they needed to start their lives as free, independent African Americans.
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