Final answer:
The Freedmen's Bureau had the power to direct leases and land titles for former slaves, a promise of independence and economic self-sufficiency. President Andrew Johnson's policies, however, led to the land being returned to White landowners, and no significant land redistribution occurred. The Bureau's educational and labor efforts notwithstanding, the failure in land reform represented a significant setback for the freed people.
Step-by-step explanation:
The Freedmen's Bureau had the authority to address the issue of land distribution to formerly enslaved people by directing that leases and titles to lands in the South be made available to them. This was intended to be a significant step towards providing freedmen with the resources needed to start independent lives and potentially become economically self-sufficient as landowners. However, President Andrew Johnson's policies resulted in the return of confiscated land to White landowners, effectively undoing the progress that had started in places like the Sea Islands. The hope for widespread land redistribution in the South was never realized, and the reversal of these policies was a shock to the freed people who had begun to cultivate and settle the land.
Initially, there were high hopes with actions like General William T. Sherman's Special Field Order No. 15, but Sherman lacked the authority for long-term enforcement. Despite these setbacks, the Freedmen's Bureau did engage in various other initiatives to help freed people, such as providing food and clothing, reuniting families, creating labor contracts, and establishing schools, including the founding of respected institutions like Fisk University, Hampton University, and Dillard University.
Unfortunately, the promise of the Freedmen's Bureau to aid in land reform met with great resistance and ultimately failed due to the prevailing political climate and Johnson's policies, which favored the restoration of land to former Confederates and maintaining the status quo of power relations in the South.