Question

What was one of the principal tasks and objectives of the Freedmen's Bureau (1865-1870)?

a) Closing down schools to promote a strictly agricultural society
b) Securing equal treatment in the business world for former slaveowners
c) Setting disputes between whites and blacks and among the freedpeople
d) Removing aid from the poor and aged to benefit only the most promising freedpeople

Answer 1

The Freedmen's Bureau's principal task was settling disputes within communities and providing services like education and help with labor contracts to transition from slavery to freedom.

Step-by-step explanation:

One of the principal tasks and objectives of the Freedmen's Bureau (1865-1870) was c) settling disputes between whites and blacks and among the freedpeople. It aimed to facilitate the transition from slavery to freedom, providing important services such as delivering food, securing labor contracts, family reunification, and most notably, establishing scores of public schools. These schools provided education for freed people and poor whites alike, laying the groundwork for essential institutions of higher learning such as Fisk University, Hampton University, and Dillard University. Despite its temporary creation, the Bureau's actions highlighted Congress's intention to play a more authoritative role in reconstruction and the promise of government aid in establishing independent lives for blacks and Unionists in the South.