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Running head: A STORY OF EXTORIONATE FREEDOM

An Account of Extortionate Freedom: The Freedmen’s Bureau

Ajene Holmes

Education Policy Foundations Seminar

Teachers College, Columbia University

The story of freedom in the United States of America is one that is unnumerable in

variety and often subjective in its elucidation. Freedom – how it looks, who deserves it, who

benefits from it, its cost, and how it is distributed – contribute to individual and collective beliefs

related to its definition and justification. From July 4, 1776, when the Declaration of

Independence was constructed by John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, Roger

Sherman, and Robert Livingston, freedom has been defined, authorized, and proscribed with

empirical and metaphysical reasoning.

The Declaration of Independence was drafted as a pronouncement by the colonists of

their active efforts to be relinquished from Britain’s control. The colonists were beginning to feel

that Britain’s control over them was an infringement of their rights and freedom. “We hold these

truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator

with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of happiness.”

(Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776) This statement marks the introduction to what

would become the “freedom papers” for colonists from Britain. Leading with the idea that there

are certain rights that are “unalienable” or unable to be taken away or transferred, the colonists

established this new country as one that is distinguished by freedom.

Freedom is defined by Merriam-Webster (2020) online dictionary as the quality or state

of being free: such as (a) the absence of necessity, coercion, or constraint in choice or action, (b)

liberation from slavery or restraint or from the power of another, and (c) the quality or state of

being exempt or released usually from something onerous. By this definition and its implications

on human existence, freedom is state of being and requires total removal of any barriers that

hinder one’s ability to act and exist without imposed restraint. With consideration of this
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definition, the creation of the Declaration of Independence by the United States standardized for

what causes could revolution be used to gain freedom and how freedom would or would not be

authorized for other humans with identities that varied from that of its authors.

Freedom For All: The Abolitionist Movement

One hundred fifty-seven years pre-Declaration of Independence, in 1619, is said to be the

time that marked the arrival of the first enslaved Africans to the Americas ([Link] Editors,

2012). While there are accounts of enslaved Africans arriving as early as the 1500s, the fact that

humans were brought here for the purpose of serving as free labor workers, against their will,

and under cruel management conditions. Ciara Torres-Spelliscy (2019), a professor of law at

Stetson University College of Law, reminds readers that the idea that slavery in the Americas

began in 1619 is only true if we disregard the “the Spanish-Afro-American historical experience

in Florida” during the 1500s. Torres-Spelliscy speaks to the use of Africans who were bought

and enslaved in what is known as present-day Florida. With this information, it is concluded that

the use of African bodies for the purpose of slave labor has almost a 500-year history.

As time moved beyond the early years of enslavement in North America to the 1800s, a

stark difference in opinion, within the United States on views of enslavement and oppression of

the African American people, became perceptible. Before Abraham Lincoln came into office and

certainly during his presidency, the topic of emancipation for the enslaved people was a topic of

peak interest. Many organizations were formed as a result of the conversation on abolition, many

of which were born as a result of their disapproval of the larger Christian church that was

believed to be tolerant of slaveowners and enslavement (McKivigan, 1980). Another very

prominent organization during that time was the American Colonization Society, 1816-1964.

The organization’s primary goal was to help ease racial tensions and gradually end enslavement
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by sending freed Black people back to Africa, specifically Liberia. The organization was made

up of majority white abolitionists and slaveowners who all believed that newly freed Black

people could not be integrated into white America (Brenton, 2008). The creation of organizations

like these, whose focus was primarily on “how-to-handle-free-Black-people” by white majority

groups set that tone for how decisions would continue to be made in response to growing

populations of freed Black people in the U.S.

Even with a growing trend for abolitionist-influenced movements, the freeing of the

enslaved people within the United States was not as streamlined as it is often portrayed through

mainstream emancipation narratives. One of the most commonly referenced events associated

with Lincoln’s presidency is his role in the emancipation of the enslaved people. In U.S. History,

Lincoln is regarded as the hero for emancipating the enslaved. To better understand the

Emancipation Proclamation and Congress’ passing of the act that led to the Freedmen’s Bureau,

Lincoln’s views on freedom must be assessed.

Abraham Lincoln and Emancipation

The civil war era and reconstruction: An Encyclopedia of Social, Political, Cultural and

Economic History (2011) includes a brief yet comprehensive description of Lincoln’s entry

views on humanity and enslavement. As a member of the House of Representatives, Lincoln

denounced the decision made against the human rights of Black people in the case of Dred Scott

v. Sanford. This court decision held that the American Constitution was intentionally not

inclusive of “a negro, whose ancestors were imported into [the U.S.], and sold as slaves” (Oyez,

n.d.). Additionally, as he came into office as president, Lincoln’s ability to win over the

Republican party laid in the promising idea that he would work to prevent the spread of slavery
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into the West (2011). Both ideas, openly expressed by Abraham Lincoln, set the stage for how he

would proceed through the Civil War and into emancipation.

In most widespread historical accounts on the liberation of enslave people, the narrative

follows a linear path beginning with Lincoln presenting enslavement as something bad, the Civil

War beginning and ending, and the enslaved being emancipated and continuing into their new

way of living. The brief summation of such crucial events omits and ignores the variance and

complex nature of emancipation. The editors of the well-known History organization note that

the initial reasoning for the war was said not to be for the purpose of freeing the enslaved but for

maintaining the Union (2009). Maintenance of the Union meant upholding the Union as a strong

force for the world to see. It also meant further proving that this fairly new nation made the right

decision in freeing itself from Britain’s control.

To further support the idea of this nation as a strong one, Lincoln wanted to reassure

states that their rights would not be infringed upon by the federal government. Lincoln reassured

citizens that the federal government, however, did not have the authority to abolish slavery in the

states where it already existed but could prevent it from spreading westward (Snoddgrass, 2011).

Upholding states’ rights, Lincoln was unable to name emancipation as a leading cause for the

Civil War with a purpose of ending an inhumane system that had for so long been imposed on

African American people. He was also unable to largely name the inaccuracies of White thought

in regard to African Americans’ humanity and discreetly reaffirmed some ideals that would

influence how the enslaved would be assisted once granted freedom from the specific form of

enslavement that had for far too long plagued the nation.

Emancipation for Preservation: The Creation of the Freedmen’s Bureau

freeing enslaved Black people for the purpose of preserving the Union. One key effort made for

this cause was the creation and signing of the Emancipation Proclamation. History Editors

(2009) summarize this document’s purpose as being an ultimatum for the purpose re-establishing

the Union. After a lack of compliance by the Confederacy, the document went into effect and

Black enslaved people began exercising their freedom from enslavement in the Confederate

states as members of the Union military. The African American people were being guaranteed

freedom at the expensive price of serving in the war on the side of the Union and refuting their

forced loyalty to the Confederacy. This move on behalf of Lincoln and the Union set, on a public

stage, the tone for how decisions would be made for freed people, without their input, and with

the benefits for white systems considered.

During this time of acquiring enslaved people to serve for the Union, under Lincoln’s

administration, was formed the Freedmen’s Bureau. On March 3, 1865 Congress passed “An Act

to establish a Bureau for the Relief of Freedmen and Refugees” to provide daily living essentials

such as food, shelter, and clothing to newly freed people and white refugees (United States

Senate Archives, 2017). The bureau was also said to offer legal services for newly freedmen and

family services for families who had been separated during enslavement (Westwood, 1980).

These promises made to newly freed people seemed to offer everything that had once been taken

away and an opportunity to exist as a human. This act encompassed hope, rekindling of

separated families, and the opportunity for a rebirth within the United States.

One of the additional guarantees made under the Freedmen’s Bureau was the provision of

education (United States Senate, 2017). During enslavement, the narrative for enslaved people

being denied the right to learn to read and write. Heather Andrea Williams (2005) writes about
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how the enforcing of antiliteracy laws allowed masters to maintain the business of enslavement

by being able to speak for the enslaved and further deny their humanity. Under the Freedmen’s

Bureau, schools such as Howard University, Fisk University, and Clark Atlanta University, were

founded for the purpose of educating freed adults for the purpose of helping them become

teachers ([Link] Editors, 2010). The creation of these schools marked the beginning of

public education for the newly freed Black people within the United States. This group of people

would now have the opportunity to publicly reclaim ownership over their minds and intellectual

property.

The Bureau Without Lincoln

Just eleven days after the legislation was signed, Abraham Lincoln was assassinated.

Andrew Johnson, the Vice president and an opponent of the Freedmen’s Bureau, took office and

the realities about the bureau began being revealed. Howard C. Westwood (1980) argues in his

review, The Freedmen’s Bureau and the Legal Rights of Blacks, 1865 – 1868, that there were

several issues as it concerned the handling of the newly freed people. One issue was the very

short time given to the newly freed Black people to acclimate to this new way of living under the

services provided by the bureau. The legislation itself stated that the bureau would expire exactly

one year from its beginning date (Statutes at Large, Treaties, and Proclamations of the United

States of America, 1866). This meant that newly freed Black people as well as the included white

refugees had 365 days of guaranteed support under this act. This time was very short as newly

freed people needed to acquire housing, land, jobs, food, and integrate into a new identity of

being free.

As the bureau made plans to service the over 4,000,000 newly freed people and white

refugees, it seemed that the plans for who the resources should allocated to resulted in the
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undermining of the experiences of the African American people. The act for the creation of the

bureau included White refugees who had lost land during the war (Westwood, 1980). Many of

the white refugees ended up being any white person who believed themselves to be in need of

the resources being offered under the Freedmen’s Bureau (1980). The inclusion of the white

refugees further white-washed an effort that was meant for the benefit of a group of people who

had suffered at the hands of the system of enslavement. This inclusion would not only lead to the

inability for formerly enslaved people to receive the support that was promised to them but to the

ultimate demise of the Freedmen’s Bureau.

In 1872, the Freedmen’s Bureau came to an end under the Andrew Johnson

administration. While there were many flaws in the plan to serve all of the people it was meant to

service, we must analyze the system as well as the people who were supposed to ensure its grand

success. In an interview with Jordan Friedman, Chandra Manning, a professor of history at

Georgetown University, stated that “I think to really understand the Freedmen's Bureau, we'll do

better if we can walk away from wanting it to be all good or all bad, or full of heroes, or full of

racists who sold free people out.” (2017) On the other hand, Ronald Butchart summarized the

bureau’s legacy as being primarily negative by saying that “The North simply turned their backs

on African Americans — provided them emancipation and then said, 'Sink or swim.” (2017) The

varying perspectives of the bureau’s success reflect the variances within the bureau on how

freedom looks, who deserves it, who benefits from it, its cost, and how it is distributed.

With either perspective, it is evident that the bureau was created with good intention but

as with many acts, laws, and provisions made for the purpose of largely assisting African

Americans within the United States, that price of true freedom is often overpriced and costs more

than what white systems are willing to give up – privilege. Full freedom and public assistance for
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Black people in the United States often equates to the complete deletion of a white supremacist

system built with a low regard for African Americans as humans. This extortionate freedom has

left Black communities behind, even with the signing and passing of civil rights legislation, in

their ability to recoup and fully recover from the system of enslavement that was eradicated

under the 13th Amendment over 150 years ago. The Freedmen’s Bureau further revealed the price

that comes with the asking for full eradication of white supremacist systems and the effects of

maintaining subhuman values of a group while attempting to provide them with human rights.
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References

Brenton, F. (2008, December 30) American Colonization Society (1816-1964). Retrieved from
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Dred Scott v. Sandford. (n.d.). Oyez. Retrieved October 25, 2020, from
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Freedom. (n.d.). Retrieved October 14, 2020, from

Freedmen's Bureau Acts of 1865 and 1866. (2017, January 12). Retrieved October 25, 2020,
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Friedman, J. (2017, February 23). Triumph or tragedy? Freedmen's Bureau left complicated
historical legacy. Retrieved October 26, 2020, from
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still-evolving-even-years/98282542/

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when slavery in America started. Washington Post.
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Troost, William. “Freedmen’s Bureau”. [Link] Encyclopedia, edited by Robert Whaples. June
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Westwood, H. (1980). Columbia Law Review, 80(1), 204-209. doi:10.2307/1122018

Williams, H. A. (2005). Self-taught : African american education in slavery and freedom.