Congress creates the Freedmen's Bureau

Background. The Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands, commonly known as the Freedmen's Bureau, was a U.S. government agency established during early post-Civil War Reconstruction. Its primary mission was to assist freedmen, defined as former enslaved people, in the South. The agency focused on providing immediate and temporary shelter, supply, and relief for destitute refugees, freedmen, and their families.

Legislative Action. Congress established the Bureau on March 3, 1865. The agency became part of the United States Department of War because Congress provided no direct funding for its operations. This legislative action created a federal structure to manage relief efforts, though the lack of appropriated funds initially constrained its administrative independence.

Early Operations. Oliver Otis Howard was appointed as the first Freedmen's Bureau Commissioner. Under his direction, the Bureau began operations in 1865. The agency started distributing rations in the summer of 1865, marking the transition from legislative authorization to active field implementation for the relief of refugees and freedmen.